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9.9.11 - Argentina - colourful land
Friday, 09 September 2011 15:38
As soon as we leave the outskirts of Arequipa the clay houses get replaced by the empty landscapes of the driest desert in the world: the Atacama. We have been travelling through the Chilenean part of this dusty and salty environment already three years ago. This time the Atacama surprises us with a carpet of blue, violet and white flowers that cover the hilly sand- and stone area like a colourful carpet. This is a very rare sight because it rains only every 6-10 years here...
But there’s little time to enjoy this fantastic scenery. As the sun hits the horizon we do already hurry across the border - pushing bikes and bags through the border control posts. After almost four months we finally leave Peru. The sight of wealthy Chilenean houses, green grass patches and noble cars make it clear: we finally crossed into Chile!
We know the border town Arica already and catch our third bus on the lab - overnight to Calama. Transporting the bikes hasn’t been a big deal so far. In two days a bus is scheduled to leave to northern Argentina. But: when we arrive one already leaves in ten minutes! Sure we hop on board! Again flying images of salt lakes, doted with pink flamingos on an altitude of more than 4000m. The high desert has some surreal snow fields on that altitude, which are shaped strangely by the sharp blowing winds up here. After not even 12 hrs in Chile we get our entry stamps for Argentina... Unbelievable.
After this 33 hrs nearly non-stop bus ride we arrive in San Salvador de Jujuy. The town has little to offer: accommodation is hard to find - expansive or non cyclist friendly - and we have to look around until nearly midnight until we manage to find some expensive shabby hotel. Bienvenidos a Argentina...
However things look different next morning: it’s 1st of September and we are finally back on the bikes!!! We enjoy every moment of it after going wide eyed through the fantastic super markets Argentina has to offer. And that steaks... Well - first of all we enjoy the green around us. We see tall pine trees and all sorts of fruit trees are in full bloom. It’s spring time all over.
The next days we slowly make our way up north. Our aim is the area around Purmamarca - famous for it’s fantastic coloured mountains. After riding through the hot valleys with cacti as twice as tall as Rene we can see this natural wonders already from far away, glowing in red, yellow, green and blue. The village itself lives a German beer garden rhythm - a long siesta is part of the day. In temperatures over 40 degrees there’s no other way of surviving.
We join in on the lifestyle and find a place to stay on family run farm. Rene caught cold again - airconditioned buses made it possible - and so we have a lot of time to explore this fabulous mountains. In some days we will ride back to Jujuy and further on to Salta and Cafayate.
For statistic lovers: Argentina is the 8 biggest land in the world, eight times as big as Germany and it’s name comes from the latin word argentum (silver) - despite the fact that silver was later only discovered in Bolivia. It’s also home of the highest mountain of the American Continent: the Aconcagua 6962m.
Since the last report: 90km and 1700 altitude metres
Monique
23.9.11. Argentina - a diverse country
Friday, 23 September 2011 19:50
Argentina becomes our favourite SA country (so far) within the next weeks. Its just like it’s steaks are: tasty, good-looking and varies a lot! After passing through Jujuy the second time we are surprised by thick fairy-tale like forest with old, moss overgrown trees and bromeliads growing. Lots of butterflies fill the grass patches. Soon it becomes farm land - dry and dusty, dotted with little lakes.
On the way down south we encounter a group of pilgrims who carry the statue of the Saint of Salta from the Bolivian border to the city of Salta within 20 days. Only walking and singing through megaphones all day. It’s an amazing job they do. As we finally arrive in Salta we find the city full of people who celebrate the biggest fiesta in whole North Argentina for their city patron. We are still not keen on big cities when it comes to cycling and it’s no fun to get out of Salta. The heat and a pot hole I don’t see and crush the bike brings it all together... We are glad to pitch the tent on some farm that night and to listen to the music of all the pilgrims, heading to Salta.
As we have a rest under a big tree in the middle of some village a radio reporter wants me to give an interview. What? Me? In Spanish? Well... Only minutes later we are live on air. I don’t really know what to say because we are not since a very long time in Argentina. Somehow we manage that and carry on through the heat of the day to the second biggest dam of South America.
Promptly I get sick with the same sort of cold Rene had. We have to stay some days in Coronel Moldes - a silent little town and with the friendliest people we met on the whole trip through SA so far! We stay in an old Adobe style house which turnes out is the first house of the village. Thick adobe walls, heavy wooden doors and a 400 year old palm tree in the lovely garden makes it the perfect place to get back to health... We use the time to catch up with some local costums and watch people baking empanadas (filled dough pieces) in clay ovens, gauchos (Argentinian cow boys) riding in the evening sun along the dusty back roads and we do just enjoy the silence.
In time for the beginning of spring time we pass through one of the most impressive parts Argentina has to offer. A canyon which is incredible colourful with rock formations which are shaped by wind and water to all sorts of different phantasy figures. Finally we ride through sand dunes to the wine growing area of Cafayate. What a diverse country!
Did you know that the Argentinian national drink is mate - a tea, which is made of bush leaves of a plant, related with thorn apple? A very bitter drink which is topped up with warm (never boiling!) water.
Since the last report: 400km, 2800 altitude metres
Monique
06.10.2011 Argentina - hot desert, high mountains
Thursday, 06 October 2011 13:32
Cycling out of Cafayate early in the morning the big vineyards soon make space for endless desert landscapes. 4m high cacti grow here and their 15cm long spikes reflect the life hostile land, surrounding us. That’s why we are really glad to see a green dot on the horizon. The village Santa Maria doesn’t see many tourists and soon we are surrounded by school kids, asking questions every kind. The local television wants an interview. We have to escape to a campground where a family invites us to our first assado (BBQ) in Argentina.
But Sta Maria has another surprise for us: The German guy Bernhard lives here since 26 years and brews his own, traditional German beer, named after the longest road in the world that runs through here: the Ruta 40. The red beer tastes fantastic and Bernhard tells us his life story. He came to Sta Maria as a backpacker and ended up in a marriage to a local woman. He still misses green and can’t cope with the desert climate. He tells us about all the problems the village encounters here and his local knowledge is very interesting.
The thermometer shows 63(!) degrees in sunshine when we sit in the shadow of a service station, wet shirts and heaps of water. We realise that it would be insane to ride one day more in this heat - which is only possible three hrs in the morning anyway. We decide to hitch and soon an old, lovely man picks us up, followed by a big truck which takes us two hours through the endless stretch of the desert. In there are two funny guys, giggling all the trip about the strange colour of our eyes (it is very rare here to see anything but brown eyes). We become good friends and have a lot of fun. In the midday heat we wait 3 hours more to see a wonder happening: a Swiss motor home picks us up!
Ursula and Peter are in their 60ies, travelling from Alaska to Fireland in two years time. We accompany them four days long. The images of flying landscapes in front of the window, red gorges, wild canyons, endless desert and the talks let the time pass very quickly.
On 3. October we leave the fast four wheels to change back on the slow version. We are in higher terrain again and the rough dirt road is surrounded by snow capped mountains. Their ridges are painted in all sorts of colours and rise radical from a yellow grassy plain. „This is the habitat of the cougar“, a road worker warns us, as we pitch our tent. But the night is calm, filled with the clearest air in the world and guarded by the highest peaks of the American continent. The Aconcagua is just around the corner...
Finally we made it to the village of Uspallata. From here we will continue south of Mendoza to San Rafael.
Did you know that there are many shrines in Argentina for the national Saint Difunta Correa? The legend says she died of lack of water with her baby on the breast. The baby was found by gauchos, still alive. This wonder made her to one of the most adored woman and people pray to her for every kind of wonders and bring tons of water bottles to her shrines.
Since the last report: 390km, 2200 altitude metres
Monique
21.10.11 Argentina - to the south
Friday, 21 October 2011 19:37
The Andes are covered in new snow! What a fantastic scene and what cold temperatures we had the day before. Not even a week after the highest temperatures of the whole trip we get the lowest of 4 degrees only during the day. Drizzle let us freeze on the bikes and the coming down snow fall border is hunting us...
South of Medoza we’re hitting lower terrain again. The area is very unsafe and not even the police or locals want any foreign campers on their grounds - the chance of robbery is too high. So we have to pitch our tent that day under some telegraph mast near the autobahn in the bushes - a very romantic place to be... Next day we only want to escape - cycling on an autobahn isn’t as tough as we thought. Families with their children stroll along the busy asphalt.
To get as fast out of that area as we can we decide to hitch another time. After long hours of waiting we are picked up by a truck and soon we cycle on a big loop around the city of San Rafael. We come to some nice village where we see a butcher’s already from far away. Sure - a cyclist has to stop there! But oh - the prices! As we tell our story to the elderly man he smiles and opens his shop again - coming back with salami, cheese and soda. “Suerte!” (good luck) he’s calling behind us and we are back in real Argentina. The hospitality is overwhelming...
The town of Malargue has a surprise for us: a cyclist couple from the US we met ages ago in Cusco, Peru, is having a rest here! It’s great to meet these guys after such a long time again. The days pass with lots of good food (cyclists petrol), stories and a lot of freezing rain.
But right in time for our 7-day cycle trip to the next township the weather changes and the wind picks up. Headwind! This part has everything to offer: smooth asphalt and the worst road we have ever been riding on. Boring pampa and great landscapes: imagine there’s big sand dunes on one side of the road, covered in cacti and spiky bushes. To the other side is a broad river, running through a bed of yellow grass where gauchos chase herds of goats and horses. Behind that fields are stunning mountains of cold lava. The whole valley is guarded by a snow caped volcano. A fairy-tale like scenery.
Right in time to kilometre 7000 on pushies we cross the border to the famous landscapes of Patagonia. This is the country of wind-swept travel stories, of lonesome, harsh land to live in and which stretches all the way down to southern tip of South America. We will start to tell our story in the next report. Until then we are back into Chile.
Did you know that there’s not much change in coins available in Argentina because the coins are more worth when you sell them to a scrap metal dealer?
Since the last report we did 520km and 5050 altitude metres
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