I’m going through a ‘bit’ of mental downer at the moment… I left Oruro on my bike a couple of days ago… and got about 500m down the road before giving up.. I was feeling stupidly weak so did a u-turn and slung my bike on a bus to La Paz… so ashamed to say I skipped 200km of riding… having said that though there was no way I could have ridden it and from …
South America Archive
Oruro… a flavour
I’m still in Oruro today, bit of a tummy bug and fever and so on… all that hard riding over the last couple of weeks must have left my immune system somewhat hammered.. so got run down, little bit sick.. hey ho, occupational hazard so I haven’t been out much today, you know when things ain’t right when all the food stalls stop smelling great and instead turn your stomach… I have tracked down a …
on from Uyuni… salty salty :-)
I’ve been away from a connection for a few days so presenting this as a day by day diary flavour of entry… it just means I have to remember what day it is today and count backwards… it’s a long post too.. hope you are sitting comfortably ;-) Tuesday 6th… leaving Uyuni was something of an emotional experience… for the lady we stayed with… with hugs and kisses and waves as we rolled off down …
Uyuni etc..
a few words on Uyuni are in order I think…. I wasn’t expecting much having heard many travellers along the way refer to it as ‘a dump’ but having spent 2 days here I’ve decided they were wrong… sure it’s not that pretty to look at it but it’s a great little place, I’ve found the people to be brilliantly friendly (as usual a smile goes a long way), I’ve had great food (Bostonian chap …
riding the rails… on to Uyuni..
I’m writing the first part of this entry in a little town called Atocha about 105km from Tupiza …. getting here has been amongst the most fantastic bonkers biking I can remember.. well on a sustained basis, the Himalayas had it´s moments but most of that was on defined tracks/roads… This is a photo heavy post too… the tiny photos and poor web colours on here can never come close to doing the journey justice …
rum & vodka… the last of Tupiza
here’s my last diary entry for Tupiza…. a very social evening on Tuesday up on the roof under a full moon in the company of Malena, Kate, James and a couple of Argentinian motorcyclists… also present at the party a cheap bottle of local rum (very tasty) and an even cheaper bottle of vodka (not so tasty). Don’t know what happened much after midnight but hangovers much in evidence next morning as the two girls …
another day, another country, another beer…
..enjoyed some terrific kippage in La Quiaca so felt OK on Monday morning, still weary though and I’ll have a few more lines to my face when I get home, but quite up for the ride to Tupiza… Getting across the border into Bolivia was a doddle, a 5 minute queue before the bridge to Bolivia to exit Argentina and just another 5 minutes in a shed on the other side of the bridge to enter …
the top of Argentina
..diary entries for the last couple of days… 27/03: Above the cactus line… Humahuaca to Abra Pampa.. I knew today would be the hard day on my way up to Bolivia… It was. It was 51km of steep at times climbing to the high point of the day at 3850m (about 13,000 ft), the worst of it was there was also some descending before climbing again so total elevation gain would have been around 1200m …
a melancholy ascent…
I’ve been climbing steadily for the last couple of days…. from Jujuy to Purmamarca, and from Purmamarca to Humahuaca as I make my way up onto the altiplano. The riding itself has been wonderful… from the green valley of San Salvador de Jujuy the road took me up above the moisture laden clouds to the pampa… back to a mountain desert landscape with terrific cliffs upon which cacti stand sentry once again below the eagles …
cones etc: in San Salvador de Jujuy…
I’m writing this bit at about 3.30pm during my enforced day off in San Salvador de Jujuy, having slept another 3hrs this afternoon I’m feeling a lot better… but, with reference to my words of yesterday, so much for expecting to be on form today, lol. However, I have time in my schedule I think having reached the north of Argentina quicker than I expected and, as is so often the case, spending time in …
via armadillo… Salta to Jujuy
as I sit here in San Salvador de Jujuy I have a free wifi connection so may as well write something I think… it was a lovely ride up from Salta, a very mellow 100km/4 1/2hrs through what can only be described as a very green and pleasant land… a massive contrast to the desert just a few days ride south. This morning as I left Salta under cloudy skies in a relatively cool 25 …
Shelterbox first-hand, and other stuff..
just a short post.. there is a fascinating first hand account of life as a Shelterbox Response Team member during January’s floods/landslides in Peru here: http://shelterbox.org/news.php?id=280 and if after reading it you’d like to make a donation then my JustGiving page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/mikesimagination …as for me, well getting ready to leave Salta in the morning.. part of which involved demonstrating my intelligence by managing to sew a button back on my trousers while still wearing …
a slower pace of life…
The police were playing in the plaza this morning… not The Police but rather the local ‘policia’ band. I was there purely by chance enjoying coffee in the morning sun and watching the slower pace of life on a Saturday morning… and having been very much seeing in colour yesterday this morning I was feeling distinctly monochrome… I chatted with some of the guys during a break and for the first time was confronted directly …
Streets of Salta (& stuff…)
Salta is a great city, it took me a couple of days to get a feel for it but have decided to stay a few days longer and enjoy it, especially as have found some good company here including friends from Cafayate. Salta has a very different feel to Mendoza.. whether it’s the heat or the narrow streets or just the colour but life here feels more ‘intense’. For once I also have some useful …
a day of transitions.. Cafayate to Salta
hehe, I think I may have stacked up some bad backpacker karma with my comments below about the generic backpacker… the night before I left Cafayate the place I stayed filled up with new folk and was no longer quite so “muy tranquilo” as when I arrived… was like sleeping with a bunch of asthmatic horses.. mind you they were probably equally as suspicious of the skinny idiot with the strange tan lines and funny …