Tag: Cafayate

The Green Room

The change in riding environment has been so rapid, and so profound that I still have not fully rationalised it. The memories of the months spent on the high, cold, austere altiplano amongst the volcanos and salt pans feel as if they belong to a different life. The transition from parched desert to dripping cloud forest happened within the space of a mere 40km or so. Sitting in the perpetual sunshine of Cafayate it was …

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Cafayate

Cafayate is the point at which my route intersects that of ten years ago. It was a lovely place to spend some time then, and remains a lovely place to enjoy the same today. The only difference I can see on this occasion is the almost complete absence of foreign tourists, particularly the backpacking crowd. I’m not certain why that would be; perhaps the economic and political turmoil is putting people off, but it seems …

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Cactus Country

The high puna/altiplano can be a punishing place to ride a bicycle, and inevitably at times when battling the wind, the cold, the altitude it is impossible on occasion not to want to be somewhere else. The moment it is left behind however it is missed; the landscapes, the quality of light, and the sheer emptiness of the place. It is something of a drug in that respect. Having descended from the puna all the …

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