As mentioned in the last article, we met Claire and Sam (UK), a couple of cyclists, in Belén. They’ve been traveling by bike for a good two years now—all over the world. Together, we continued north. We were accompanied by winds from various directions and, as a result, occasional sandstorms.

Fortunately, however, these were kept to a minimum. It can apparently be much sandier… The area along Ruta 40 remained desert-like. We crossed river valleys every now and then, but there was practically never any water. That would continue to be the case, even though, surprisingly, there were quite a few thunderstorms on some days. However, the rain only reached the ground on a few occasions…

Finally, the vineyards of Cafayate came into view, and we took a short break to enjoy some wine and empanadas.

Not to mention a day trip to the red shell mounds (Quebrada de las Conchas) nearby.

Claire and Sam continued on the paved road toward Salta. Susanna and I chose Ruta 40. We knew that the pavement would end very soon there and that the route would be considerably more challenging overall. But we wanted to test ourselves and our gear a bit before things got really serious on the way to Salta.

The first part was still pleasant to ride. Shortly after San Carlos, however, that came to an end and the gravel road (ripio) began. It got really tough before and after Angastaco, with steep climbs and lots of sand. At times, we could only move forward by pushing our bikes.

But the area was very beautiful (Quebrada de las Flechas).

Finally, we arrived in Cachi, a little tired but happy. Between there and our stopover in Salta, there was just one more challenge: the 3,400-meter-high Piedra de Molino Pass and the Cactus Park. (Parque Nacional los Cardones).

We decided to camp along the way, since it was too far for us to cover in a single day. So we set up our tent a little off the road (we tried to stay out of sight as much as possible). My goal was also to photograph the starry sky. But that only worked to a limited extent, since the moon soon appeared on the horizon.

In the morning, everything was pretty wet, so we had to wait a while for the sun to come out so we could dry our things a bit. After that, we set out to climb the last few hundred meters of elevation to the top of the pass. It was a tough climb, but we made it in the end.

After taking a few photos, we made our way down via the Cuesta del Obispo. We headed straight into the fog, and for the first time in a long while, we were freezing on the descent.

It was so foggy that we could hardly see anything of the scenery. Since it was getting dark soon, we spent the night at a simple hosteria along the way.

The next morning, the sun was shining, and the scenery looked completely different.

And so we enjoyed the final meters of elevation on the descent—a good 2,000 meters “long”—to El Carril and Salta.

In Salta, we took a longer break (and I gave my digestive system another rest). Tomorrow, Saturday, we’ll continue on. First to San Antonio de los Cobres (with a pass over 4,000 meters high in between). If all goes well, we’ll then continue over the Paso Sico (4,578 meters) to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. And we won’t be doing this alone—we’ll be joined by Heidi from Switzerland and Jeremias from Liechtenstein.

As you can see, we have a challenge or two ahead of us :-). Feel free to follow us via the tracker in the top right corner of the homepage and join us on our journey. The area should be worth seeing :-)).

Warm regards from Salta,

Stefan and Susanna

P.S.: The next post will probably be in about two weeks or so.