por favor no limpiar las botas… To Guandacol & Villa Union

I was on the road out of San Jose before 9am on Wednesday, still feeling rough but restless enough to move on.
late night cybercafe in San Jose
The morning was perfect for cycling – a high overcast keeping things cool and no wind. A chap on a battered old tractor yelled directions at me over the noise of his machine as I happily pedalled away from town through the surrounding fields.
The first 40km or so to the little mining town of Huaco were stunning as the road wound it’s way through narrow red rock gorges and tiny tunnels hewn from the rock. At the turning to Huaco there was a police checkpoint… up until now the local coppers haven’t been interested in me and my bike so I just cruised on by the apparently deserted checkpoint until a whistle from inside the roadside hut called me back. The copper was a nice chap and took down my details… and on his form for vehicle registration details wrote down the name of my bike…
From there I cruised steadily through the desert along a mostly flat, mostly straight road to the village of Guandacol.. I was sorely tempted to keep going another 50km towards Villa Union as it was only 2pm when I arrived… but figured what with being off colour and all 110km for the day was probably enough ;-)  A few km south of Guandacol I also left San Juan Province and entered La Rioja… there was a checkpoint here too.. an inspection for fruit and vegetables in an effort to prevent the spread of pests from further south. The chap manning the post was happy to take me at my word when I told him I only had biscuits, rice and cereals on board (true) and sent me on my way with a cheery “buena suerte”.
Arriving in Guandacol mid-afternoon was the usual ghost town experience with the exception of flocks of squawking parrots in the trees along the road into town. There was however a kiosko , equipped with the usual basic selection of snacks, open on one corner of the overgrown plaza where the only sign of life was a rangy looking dog burying a turd in the dry undergrowth…..

I’ve decided to avoid camping (and heavy duty ripio!) for a few nights in the interests of laziness… I mean  recovery – saving energy and getting as much rest as I can… there was supposed to be cheap hostal in town but with no-one around to ask I was buggered if I could find it.. there was also a hotel however, very easy to find being all new and shiny… I guess it’s built to serve visitors to the mines in this area… my room had a sign on the wall saying “please do not clean your boots with the towels”… yep, probably miners ;-) I was the only guest which meant a price as cheap as a hostel with the added bonus of a swimming pool…. oh, and a sofa with a 40” wide screen TV and 900 channels of satellite including such delights as Wet Bikini Car Wash*… <ahem>. All a bit surreal in this tiny adobe pueblo :-|
From Guandacol to Villa Union was an easy ride of about 45km, I had thought I might go all the way to Chilecito, 150km, but body and mind, especially body, were mush as I rolled out of town so decided I need another short day for recovery… The road was good, climbing gently through a multicoloured landscape of rock.. sand, brown, red and black in colour. With better light this morning I had a closer look at the parrots, as vocal as ever, on the road out of town… no bright hues as in their rainforest cousins, these guys were dark & dusky in colour… very much the same as the surrounding desert.
multi-hued rocks enroute to Villa Union
So as I write this I’m in a cafe in Villa Union where my request for some salad has resulted in a slice of tomato being served on top of a great slab of fried chicken… also topped heavily with cheese and ham…. :-|
It’s a pretty little place surrounded by rich red cliffs and a street named after an engineer.. respect at last, lol!
Villa Union
Villa Union
Villa Union
* subscription only… not paid :-)

5 thoughts on “por favor no limpiar las botas… To Guandacol & Villa Union

  • Tomorrow (Friday 5th March 2010) in the UK Gordon Brown faces the Chilcot enquiry – don’t you just wish you were back home!!

  • Hello Mike,

    I’m Naomi, your newest, biggest fan. I’ve just started my first long cycling tour and have completed the first leg of Seattle to San Francisco. I’ve come across your blog and am overwhelmed with delicious information.
    The question I have for you is quite straight forward.
    I saw that you have an overall review of cycling through Columbia and Ecuador. I wonder if you also have such a post for the countries further south. Peru, Chile, Argentina. I’ve red some of your posts from the countries but didn’t find a consolidated review like that of Ecuador and Columbia. If so, guide me to them! If not, the question is, of the South American countries that have had the pleasure of your company, which did you find the most enjoyable. Allow me to define enjoyable, since your definition may be a bit different: condition of roads, frequency of designated places to stay (camping, hosteling, beaching), and the feeling of safety and compassion towards cyclists.
    Once reaching San Diego, it has yet to be determined if I will cross over into Mexico or fly further south. Your contribution to this discussion will help guide my decision.

    I encourage you to reply to groganhurlich@gmail.com

    Looking forward to a response,

    Naomi

    • HI, really the reason I wrote a page dedicated to Colombia and so one was because no-one seemed to be touring there at that time due to the guerrilla war, drugs and generally terrible reputation of the country. There are many more folk cycling there these days as Colombia’s international image improves. I didn’t bother writing a review for Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile as there is already a ton of info on the web. And I got lazy. Try http://www.crazyguyonabike.com or Trento Bike Pages http://www.trentobike.org/ for archives of trips. I will take the time tho to give some useful pointers…

      Chile and Argentina – both similar experience for cycling – generally well developed countries with lovely people and interesting towns/villages and lots of wilderness. If you want to get anywhere interesting you need to be prepared for long stretches on terrible dirt roads.. but it is well worth it. Argentina has vast desert wilderness, you need to be able to carry plenty of water and getting decent food in remote areas can be challenging.. bread, meat and cheese are standard fare with fruit and vegetables a rarity. Northern argentina was wonderful I thought. The south of chile and argentina is stunning too… oh all of the Andes are good, just be aware the bit between Salta and Mendoza is the driest section of the Andes.. some long desert days.. but an essential part of the journey.

      Bolivia has amazing adventure cycling, it’s very hard going once you get away from La Paz/Oruro.. unless you cut the corner and take the paved road to Chile.. which I wouldn’t recommend – the attraction of Bolivia is the vast wilderness of the altiplano. Roads are in very poor condition, I rode something like 800km continuous km on dirt and salt. Well worth it, it is a remote and wildplace of epic landscapes. The people are lovely too, as usual more so once away from the tourist trail. Food supplies are very difficult, in remoter parts between towns it is a case of subsisting on rice, crackers and canned sardines.. you rarely find anything else in the villages – being a subsistence economy in rural areas they have little need for shops.
      Really useful resource for Bolivia (and other S American locales) is here: http://www.transamazon.de/links/ivan/ivan.html

      Peru is easier than Bolivia – good network of well surfaced roads. I’d put economy and facilities for the cyclist on a par with Ecuador. Lots of travellers and facilities, especially around the obvious tourist areas. Locals in the touristed areas have become hardened to travellers unfortunately and not so immediately friendly – but do open up if you make a real effort to engage in Spanish and show a little respect.

      The thing with Peru and Bolivia is the altitude, you can spend weeks around 4000m and above which takes its toll. Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile the cycling is generally lower altitude unless you decide to use some of the high passes between Chile and Argentina which go to over 4000m.

      If you do head to Mexico and Guatemala I have a friend who has been meandering around there by bike for a few months now.. he is at http://whileoutriding.wordpress.com/ well worth a read :-)

      Safe trip!

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