Today we rode from 1200 m altitude to 2400 at the tiny village of Purmamarca in Ju Juy Province. Ju Juy is pronounced "Who Whoey" which is quite funny in Australian terms. We are now about 120km from both the Chilean border to the west and the Bolivian border to the north, which we will cross tomorrow.
While the distance was short at 158km, the road was particularly narrow and winding through dense forest. With the very narrow road, watching for any cars coming the other way was a key priority, and passing them often required leaving just a metre and a half on my side of the road. Nonetheless everyone was at a slow speed so it was quite manageable. As we climbed higher, the cloud came down with dense fine rain, so everything became very slippery especially if there was mud or horse dung on the road. I took some very good video from the back of my bike using a GoPro camera mounted on the top-box.
About half way, we came across a large tree across the road, and a road crew with a skid-steer front end loader trying to remove it. The driver did not have much skill in this, so it took a while to send the tree down the incredibly steep slope.
Further on, we came to a few farms and before them many horses on the road and in one case a huge wild pig. Wildlife is very active in South America as in Australia.
We arrived at the tiny mountain village in an area that just looks like Santa Fe with the multi-coloured hills surrounding us and houses made of mudbricks in pueblo or adobe style. Our hotel was like this, and our room was magnificent with separate lounge and kitchen. Sheryle and I really like this style of home.
We had a "picnic lunch" supplied by Compass and prepared by Willy under an awning which was meats, salad and sandwiches, which I always enjoy, then I went for the recommended ride up the hill to the west towards Chile. The ride climbs to 4127 metres altitude over many hairpin bends and with a good surface was fun to ride. All trucks going either direction were travelling at about 10km/hour so passing was easy. At the top I continued onto the saltflats, still in Argentina,but heading towards the Atacarma which is over the border in Chile. Then I returned after trying to get off the road for a pee and getting myself buried in mud and salt! The cleanup took some time.
Tomorrow we head to Bolivia.
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