Rides bikes, paddles sea kayaks, takes pictures. Life on the road & my home in Cornwall.
Pampa to Puna – La Quiaca to San Antonio de los Cobres
Posted on
The winds of the high puna of northern Argentina and Chile are infamous amongst touring cyclists. They are to be expected but every so often, as with weather anywhere, the winds can reach an intensity somewhat greater than might normally be expected. One of those days turned into one of the most testing days on two wheels I can remember, far more intense than anything I recall experiencing in ‘windy season’ down in Patagonia, probably because of the sand…
This part of the Andes is criss-crossed by various routes that have become the established ‘norms’ for cyclists heading up and down the Andes; with good reason too – they’re beautiful and take in some interesting places. With the benefit of being in more of a mode of filling in gaps from previous visits rather than exploring for the first time, my route from the Argentina / Bolivia border at La Quiaca / Villazón didn’t follow any of those. As such I enjoyed quiet trails and some spectacular sights that are perhaps less familiar. Besides, I think it’s good thing to go a different way from time to time.
As I write I’m having a couple of days of rest in the small town of San Antonio de los Cobres in Salta province. It’s a chilly, windswept place sitting at about 3800m. I imagine there will be some street photography at some point. I’m feeling quite a deep tiredness, mental and physical, so from here rather than continuing across the high puna I think just one more high pass, Argentina’s highest at 5000m, before descending all the way down to just 1600m. It will then be time anyway to start making my way southeast away from the Andes to meet my friends in San Luis.
From there just 30km of high speed downhill to San Antonio de los Cobres, where I have just finished my litre bottle of cerveza Salta Negra. Must mean it is time for siesta, so before I do that, below is the GPS with villages and water marked. The route of 350km has about 55km of asphalt. Not too onerous.
As a footnote, it’s possible to ride Ruta 40 all the way from La Quaica. It goes west right up into the far northwest corner of Argentina. I have no doubt it would make a stunning ride. There were a couple of reasons I didn’t go this way, but mainly to do with feeling worn out beyond that which a couple of days off can fix, and hence the additional 100km and 2000m of climbing not being terribly appealing at that moment….
Like this:
LikeLoading...
4 thoughts on “Pampa to Puna – La Quiaca to San Antonio de los Cobres”
Awesome blog Mike, yet again! What an enchanting description of what must have been a ‘tough’ night in the outflow of a couple of RB211s! Safe travels, sir … oh, and nice sunrise image, dare I say! ;-)
Ahh, I remember that Viaduct. I was desperate to reach San Antionio de los Cobres from memory. Nice town & empenadas to boot.
Thanks for the story & pics, much appreciated. Enjoy your rest!
hey Jon, thanks for writing, good to hear from you. As for being desperate to reach San Antonio, haha… I get that! I’m having 3 days here, just utterly worn out at the moment (and underweight…)
Awesome blog Mike, yet again! What an enchanting description of what must have been a ‘tough’ night in the outflow of a couple of RB211s! Safe travels, sir … oh, and nice sunrise image, dare I say! ;-)
haha, cheers and yes, can’t beat an RB211 for a spot of white noise to help with insomnia….
Ahh, I remember that Viaduct. I was desperate to reach San Antionio de los Cobres from memory. Nice town & empenadas to boot.
Thanks for the story & pics, much appreciated. Enjoy your rest!
hey Jon, thanks for writing, good to hear from you. As for being desperate to reach San Antonio, haha… I get that! I’m having 3 days here, just utterly worn out at the moment (and underweight…)