Very regularly, we spotted small shrines and sometimes even small buildings with picknickareas and bbq’s, covered in red. We wondered what it was and why all the red and looked it up. They are shrines for Gauchito Gil, a legend here in Argentina. Continue reading
After another well deserved day of rest in Tilcara, it was time for the final stage to the Bolivian border. The first 65 kms (40 miles) were all uphill and therefor hard. We arrived in the town of Abra Pampa, the last larger town before the bordertown of La Quiaca. From here it’s another 70 kms (42 miles) to the border, so we hope to cross it tomorrow.
After 2 days there was work to be done. Because the next 2 days were hard work. We had to climb about 2200 meters (6600 ft) in about 55 kms (33 miles) and that was hard. Continue reading
We spent 2 days in Salta. The first one to get the administration updated, do the laundry and relax and the second one to visit the city center. We could take a bus from the campground to the city center, so that was easy. We didn’t think the city was very special, it’s a city like many others but one with a nice church. But we’re not city people. We did have a nice lunch at the main square. Continue reading
After 5 days in San Pedro and a total of almost 3 weeks of doing (almost) nothing, it was time to start the very hard trip to and over the Paso de Jama to Argentina. The Paso de Jama is the bordercrossing between both countries, but to get there you have to cross 2 passes of over 4800 m (14.500 ft). Just as high as the Mont Blanc in France… Continue reading
There are 2 different routes from Junin toward the Chilean border. The one is a sheltered route through a forest of monkey trees and the other is more open and passes the base of the volcano Lanin. Because the wind was going to be favorable for a change, south/southeast instead of the usual west, we decided to do the open route. With tailwind on a paved road that should not be a problem. Continue reading
Finally, it was already 11:30 am, we could leave Bariloche. First to Villa de La Angostura, about 85 kms (51 miles) away. We wanted to try and get there that day, but if we’d make it all depended on how the road would be. The only thing we knew was that it was paved. Continue reading
We had to stay another obligatory day in Bariloche. Went back to customs on Monday for the zippers only to discover that they had probably arrived (on Feb. 6th) but that the bag where they must be in hadn’t been opened yet. It was only the 18th so…. The next bag would be opened the next day. All international mail must be opened and looked at by somebody from customs to see if taks needs to be payed. I could come back on Wednesday to check if it was there. Continue reading
From Futaleufu it was 10 kms (6 miles) of heaven, cycling on a very good paved road with only a few little hills. After that, there was the Chilean border and it was over with the good road. For a change it didn’t take another at least 10 kms (6 miles) to get to the Argentinian border. It was right around the corner. After that we had another 40 kms (25 miles) of very bad road to Trevelin. Continue reading
And then the walking part; 4 miles of very, very hard work… We left around 9 a.m. the following morning. It had rained very hard the night before, so the track was wet and slippery. The first part went very steep up through a very narrow ‘gorge’. We had to take the front panniers off right away. Continue reading