The Argentinian Blues.(Back home)

I knew we would miss all this as soon as we left it behind.

My lips were gruesome. All the time we were in argentina my bottom lip was blistered. There was no kissing on this trip!

Well. Its our usual wriggly sort of route. It comes out at just over 8000kms in just over 100 days.We like the way we nearly met ourselves [in a different time dimension !] 3 times . We did actually double up on 1 day near the beginning and end. It was not a memorable section so it was like new on the return ! 

See.....we are glad to be back

Probably the last post. Tomorrow the vast nothing back to B.A begins.!

Ola.! Todays computer misfunction is the last 2 photos on this post should be first .Ha !

So,after dragging our bikes across the too too muddy sections....great sport at over 4500mtrs  ..(at least it made me giggle twice, Jon was a bit more grim )...we got to the top just in time to put all our clothes on.

Look what happened! The summit is still in the picture. this is the first stop to do star jumps and sprints to try and keep warm . Hail,thunder and lightening.

Frio....but muy lindo.

Usual breakfast. Porridge with our argentinian addiction.....a good dollop of dulche de leche.

We have looked at quite a lot of cactuses now

A not very good picture of a whole nest of spiders coming out for an evening of web spinning and catching things.We were camped nearby and they were all bundled up together at the base of a tall grass. Then at dusk the bundle came alive ! They are quite chunky spiders too. But...

...not as big as this fella.

Back to another pass where we had to do star jumps and sprints. Luckily it sort of cleared near the bottom ,because though we knew it was spectacular we could,nt see for rain/mist.

Jon displaying his courage.

Jon displaying his command over dogs.

Jon. Yesterday.

How could you not go for it when it looks so good.

Ha .ha. Fun with mud at riduculous altitude.

Feeding time at the zoo

We have both had quite allot to eat whilst we have been in Salta...

we started off feeling full all day long after eating just one normal meal, but now can eat ice cream after it as well... 

I think Nic said I would go on about the vehicles here in a blog.. well there are lots, and not to bore you too much.....The most exciting vehicle that I have seen here is the Hillman Avenger!!! yes still alive and kicking here in the big A. There are also many Renault 12 still going strong (some not so strong) but they seem to be able to keep just about anything going here.Good to see loads of bull nosed Mercedes trucks hauling everything around, but it looks like Scania are the trucks to have out here.

The picture above is of me looking at a piston!! these types of shrine are to be found on the side of all roads. Some are shrines to Gaucho Gill (a saint of the road I think) others like this one seem to be a shrine to the motor vehicle.. Very interesting I hear you say....

What more can I say..... Beer cake and crisps.

Just a shot of happier days... The shirt you see me wearing is no more.. It was a sad day when I realised that the sun had reduced it to shreds... What fun we had together.. Farewell old shirt, you will not be forgotten.

Tomorrow we will set off again, up into the mountains, sort of heading back to Buenos Aires, but as I am sure you realise... it will not be that direct a route.

Until next time.

Llama drama

Of course, NOT a good photo. But it does illustrate typical llama behaviour. You see, even though it is totally beneath their dignity to exhibit any interest in people at all , here they come. Drifting by in the early morning, ever closer and closer , because secretly they HAVE to know what Jon,s up to, and its not until they have their heads virtually over the coffee pot, that they can then move on, pretending that they just happened to be going past you. 

Salar del Hombre Muerto !!!

Jon is letting his normal high standard of sartorial elegance slip a bit. 

 

Over a couple of days we dropped down from the high "puna" (over 4000mtrs ) to the semi-tropical lowlands of Jujuy and Salta (1000mtrs ).Cruisy cycling down the stunning Unesco Quebrada de Humahuaca.....the rocks colours are quite fancy.

 Llamas. Quite distainful creatures....they really look down their noses at you, ignoring the fact that their owners have decorated them with ridiculous tufts of coloured wool. Vicunas . Are wilder and well camourflaged....they don´t photograph easily. Chinchillas. Bonkers animals. (also a bit of a photo challenge.....have several though....(photos not chinchillas ). They also live high and they have to have steep eroded rock formations to bound around on....they are inbetween a rabbit and a kangaroo but on cliffs at around 4000mtrs. All these animals have something in common with us . They can´t stand mosquitos...which is obviously the reason for living so high.

 Somewhere highish in the morning

 Here we are. The Salar del Hombre Muerto. You can see why .....

 Jon in high altitude cycling mode....stylish eh ?

I like this sign. Regardless of the fact that there´s not a tree capable of growing anywhere near here , you know what they mean.
The inter active bit. Now if you like bit of  challenge you can enlarge this....maybe spin it around ...and then you might be able to see our wandering route from Buenos Aires out west across into Chile, up the coast , back into Argentina, up north , and then back southwards to Salta where we are now. Last night was 4th night in an actual bed since we started. We are carbo loading on ice -cream before making up the final stage of our trip.

Atacama antics?

Actually we are now in Antofagasta de la sierras in argentina, and if you look at a map of this huge country it is inevitable that we would end up here. We have 1 hour before this internet closes to try and get some pictures on for you . ( There is some high intensity perfumed spray cleaning going on ....not much better than my rotten trainers smell )

 The Coffee Lure. My favourite part of the day. Jon can now entice me out of the tent. At over 4000mtrs its worth staying inside til the sun is up.
( p.s Have loaded all the pics back to front...so not only is blog already out of date its backwards too !)

 My new project. Coffee table books do not do justice to the amount of rubbish that is littering the world. It can look quite pretty from a distance.

 Camping near the coast....desert camping is always lovely.

 Miss this bit if you are squeamish. Been having big problems with permanent non-healing lower lip blister. Sticks to top lip in night ....gruesome bloody separation in morning.....(have pic but not suitable for general release ).This is a selection of remedies that do not work . Now ,under medical advice ...thanks Kath....trying antibiotics. Not convinced it is working yet despite full force optimism .

 This is unfotunately what happens if you drink too much salty water

 Whoops.In case you did{nt get a good look before

 Cacti with lichen growing on them . Wierd .Probably only in coastal deserts

 Jon getting a cacti fruit in case things get desperate later

Just to prove we did get to the pacific coast.All my pics of pelicans and penguins are blurry ....but you may get some at an inappropriate time in another blog. Fingers crossed this will publish...will try for a more stylish and well ordered one next time.Adios for now

One Month in

 

 jon is trying to remain calm in the face of the eternal struggle with technology. Since it is clearly impossible, there might not be many entries !

DAY 1 Only a fool would set off from Buenos Aires across the flat pampass in the mid summer heat. A perfect project for us then. First day . A bit hot.A bit lost. A bit of a dead dog smell. Just about to make the decision to go the dirt road route. Guess how good that was .

The pampass was more beautiful and interesting than expected. Whilst it was definately FLAT... the bird life was incredible.

An armadillo. Unfortunately have´nt seen a live one yet.

Spot Cav......Found out the Tour of San Luis was happening, so did a huge detour to get back to it. Had a chat with Mark though ! (best mates now )

Quite a lot of desert riding . Camping out is beautiful but its like sleeping on a hot oven as the ground does,nt cool. We always get thorn punctures as soon as we leave tarmac

A bit of an adventure . Crossing the high Andes . We had just enough food for 3 days and it took more ! We are experiencing problems keeping our shorts up. (I´ve put a tuck in mine !)

Dropping down into Chile. These roads are quite bonkers and yet ¨normal¨: people drive routinely across the border in their family cars.

Keeping entry short and sweet . Now in Vicuna Chile (really ! ) and off to coast to see penguins (really !).

jon may do a special "mechanical observations " feature another time .Something to look forward to then ,eh .

fun fun fun

Well what an exciting start to our trip!
first... delay on the first flight got us running al the way across the airport.. i fealt like Mo Farah going down the travelator !!! But in true Nic and Jon style made it just time, phew.
Then a long and sleepless flight!!
Arriving at Buenos Aires at about 7 in the morning..
good news to start with..... Welcome to Argentina... yes they let us in?
next good news.. here are the bikes.. this is looking good.
only the bags to come..... only the bags to come....
no bags!!!! Looks like the were not as fast as us and our bikes in Amsterdam!!

so you find us now in a hostel in Buenos Aires waiting for the bags to arrive. Ho Hum!!
can think of worse places to be,!

should get the bags back in the morning.. then we will see what goes on ....

Ready for the off

All packed and waiting for our lift towards the Airport.. its the normal routine... Have we got everything?? Will we be there on time?? How do we get out of the Airport?????
Keep tuned to find out..