The two-day track. Short rides because the border was epic

And now the really good news, we’ve been loosing elevation fast over the last three days. I think its been about a month over 10,000′ and much of that over 12,000′. Day one

Day two, down to about 4000′

The elevation high was 16,000′ back in Peru. The worst experience was being tired after walking around too long at that elevation and having difficulty sleeping well.
A fine way to start out of Tupiza

As I cashed up in town (just a bit, border and exchange coming up) there was another bike in the main square. Out of the bank comes a German, Wolfgang. Whoa, two riders in one week, both Germans (as I’ve mentioned before, the majority of riders are Canadian, German and Aussie, in that order. But this may be just my experience.) We chat and are both going south. He’s under pressure to get further south than I have to today, Christmas eve is tomorrow and he has friends in Tucuman waiting for him. He’s lived in Argentina. But he’s got business at the bank, so I say I’ll get a start on the border and hopefully see him there.
Two hours later I’m outside Villazon, the border town and stop to get a pic of the usual truck washing station, this time by a river

Then into the town

Through downtown

To complete madness. It’s Dec 23rd and everyone is trying to cross, both ways. I hadn’t expected it to be this bad

First, by accident, Bolivian aduana to clear Lucinda, I’d made a mistake and gotten into the wrong of two parallel line-ups. This turned out to save me time later. The door on the left

Then across the street to Bolivian immigration. The line up here was two hours long but an immigration official showed me how to jump close to the front, so only an hour

People stressing out. Me – I can wait, I’m armed to the teeth with the correct paperwork and don’t expect problems. Everyone else seems to be having problem, specially the families. I wait behind one mother who can’t fill out the paperwork, she can’t read or write and is very unhappy as someone walks her through it. It’s super hot – 100F and there’s no usual water merchant

Then Wolfgang shows up right here. He walks up to where I am and by some brilliant manuever manages to get in the line beside me without getting a knife between his ribs. Very lucky. I go through first, get cleared out then just to the left get cleared in to Argentina and head off to Argentine aduana, back over the other side again, door to the right

This is no fun. I’m now 3 hours into it and the Argentine aduana chief doesn’t like my Guatemalan title. He’s not looking to be a jerk, he just can’t figure out why I would ride down from Vancouver with a Canadian bike then turn it into a Guatemalan bike later. It’s a very long story and I go through it with him slowly, twice. It takes forever.
Then, for the first time ever, I have to unpack Lucinda and shove everything through an X-ray van. Wolfgang’s bike on the left

Then we’re done. 4 hours for me, 3 for Wolfgang. Photo opp

We’re dying of thirst and head into Argentina looking for water past beautiful hills

For maybe 30 miles

Following a railway line

We stop in a small town, get cold drinks and he tells me a few rider things about Argentina. Yes, the paranoia can be backed off just a bit. Yes, the Argentines are a friendly bunch. He gives me a final warning though – always keep your eyes open. No surprises. We say our goodbyes.
Further down the road, fields of huge cactuses

Nearby, an old village

Further south we speed up, trying to get ahead of the rain in the hills to our left

We do, and pass the Tropic of Capricorn, my ‘sign’. I take it as a good omen.

Shortly, we arrive in Tilcara. I walk around for a few minutes, slightly shocked. Unfortunately I had photo blackout and don’t take any pics, this has happened before when my priorities in the moment change, so you’ll have to wait for the next example of what I see and feel. It’s completely different from anything I’ve seen in a year. The people look somewhat European. The structures are modern. People look middle class. I haven’t seen anything like it in so long I’m slightly exhilarated. Off I go to the hotel, where a group of guys and I talk bikes for 20 minutes and I settle in to the awesome Posada de Luz. I’m spoiling myself in celebration. I sit up talking to the owner, Luz (which means light) for hours. Funny, Lucinda’s name comes from the Greek goddess Lucine, the giver of light.
A fabulous view from my room

The next morning I set off down the same valley I’ve followed since the border. remembering I don’t have picture of Tilcara I stop and take this. It’s in the trees there somewhere

Down the valley

Thistle in bloom by the road

As we get close to Jujuy the landscape changes dramatically. It becomes fertile lowland and very green

Past Jujuy its lush and hot

Lakes in the distance everywhere. It’s paradise

We get onto Ruta 9 in the countryside and immediately we’re on a section of road that looks like this

So I guess you’ve noticed. The road is only about 8 feet wide and there’s a stripe down the middle, kind of indicating two lanes of traffic. But this can’t be, it’s hilariously narrow, like a footpath. So I expect it to widen after this little bit of local humor. But it doesn’t widen, and we’re headed into hills

OK, now, we’ve never been in a road like this ever, so we’d better think about traffic. Into the forest

We get a glimpse of the road behind us, a fairytale

It becomes like a rainforest

And then it is a rainforest. The huge trees are covered in bromeliads and orchids not in bloom. Incredible

Super-dense

And the whole time we’re riding this 8 foot paved footpath. It does crazy things to your head as you try to determine the right speed. Normal speed has you zipping through the twisties with no room for error. It’s a blast, if a little insane.
A section

It keeps it up for nearly 50 miles, by which time I’m tired from concentrating, the corners have been crazy small too, sometimes so tight you wonder how you got through. This is definitely one of the best paved roads I’ve ever done.
It eventually flattens out and we’re beside a lake

Interesting birds

Can you believe this

Then approaching Salta, we’re on this big highway, and overhead are these completely high-tech green signs and I go into a kind of shock again. I’m not sure if we saw these in Mexico or not, but definitely not in any major city since. Nothing in a year. It’s like rolling into Vancouver. Check this sign out. Whoa, fancy

So now I’m smiling like a fool, even though I know this level of technology might be very short-lived given where I’m headed, maybe only one week, but we’re enjoying it, just like it’s Christmas or something.
Then later into big city of Salta, just before the rain
