As mentioned in the last article, we met Heidi from Switzerland and Jeremias from Liechtenstein in Salta. They’ve been traveling through South America for quite some time and had planned a similar route from Salta as we had. So it made sense that we’d continue on together. And so we left Salta (a good 1,200 meters above sea level) together.

Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that they were considerably fitter than we were and therefore traveled faster (which we already knew). So, with a heavy heart, we decided to travel on our own again and hoped to meet up with them later. Heidi and Jeremias set out that very same day to climb the Abra Blanca Pass, which rises to over 4,000 meters. Susanna and I decided to spend the night in Campo Quijano. A thunderstorm raged through the area during the night, and so the road to the pass was closed the next morning due to a landslide. So, whether we liked it or not, we had to take another day off :-).

The next day, however, there were no more excuses, and we continued on. First, we rode under the bridge of the Tren de los Nubes (which isn’t running right now).

We then followed the valley—and thus the train’s route. When you see the tracks, it’s actually a little surprising that this train apparently still runs. I’d guess at a brisk walking pace…

In any case, we made reasonably good progress and enjoyed the beautiful views of the colorful valley time and again.

At the end of the day, though, things got a little tight after all. We couldn’t find any lodging, and there wasn’t a suitable spot to camp either. So for the last 10 km—or 200 meters of elevation gain—of the day, we accepted a ride from a pickup truck and ended up camping in the village square in Santa Rosa de Tastil.

The next day, we continued our climb. The scenery was still very beautiful.

Unfortunately, the wind was slowly shifting. Whereas we’d previously had a bit of a tailwind, it was now getting stormy. Several thunderstorms rolled by.

Just before reaching the top of the pass, one of the thunderstorms forced us to get off our bikes. Fortunately, the lightning subsided just before the storm reached us. Otherwise, it probably wouldn’t have been much fun…

Quite exhausted (I, at least), we reached the pass. I was clearly struggling with the altitude…

Susanna was still well.

From there on, it was supposed to be all downhill to San Antonio de los Cobres. And supposedly on a paved road. Susanna was understandably optimistic.

Yeah, unfortunately, only a short section was paved after all… And it wasn’t just downhill, either.

The mountains slowly turned red as the sun set. But San Antonio de los Cobres was still nowhere in sight… By the time we finally reached the town, it was pitch black. We were pretty exhausted and very hungry. So the first thing we did was treat ourselves to a hearty dinner at the hosteria. That helped :-).

San Antonio de los Cobres is located at more than 3,700 meters above sea level. I had a severe headache and felt nauseous—the first signs of altitude sickness. So we decided to stay in San Antonio for a few days first, so we (and especially me) could get used to the altitude. After all, a few more high-altitude challenges were still waiting for us: among them, the Paso Sico. But more on that in the next blog post.

Thanks so much for reading, and best regards,

Stefan and Susanna