Cafayate is quite a touristy town, well organised and developed but not so big that it is overwhelming. There are three museums there and the town is surrounded by vineyards where you can taste the different wines. Continue reading
The hostel in Belen turned out to be a real find. It was well-built and all the services worked. There was even slow wi-fi in the rooms. Continue reading
We had a relaxing, if frustrating, day off in Villa Union, where the promised wi-fi ‘paratodos’ (for everyone) in the main plaza didn’t work. The computer shop nearby advertising wi-fi paratodos directed me to the petrol station which had an open network and I spent an undignified hour on the kerb reading emails. Continue reading
We had been told the Argentinian Automobile Association had free wi-fi in their café, so we paid them a visit before leaving San Jose de Jachal, dutifully buying two coffees to find out the password. The wi-fi wasn’t working, other people were also having problems and there was no one in the office to put it right. Continue reading
Just as we left the campsite at Calingasta the drizzle started. The sky was overcast and it was clear we would need our wet weather gear at some stage. We cycled alongside a small river with trees, houses and a variety of plants that were not pampas. The road was a series of ups and downs for about 45km so pleasant and not too tiring. We were heading towards some North Wales style black clouds, with blue sky above us and more black clouds behind. Continue reading
Friday 16th. We set off from Upsallta to reach the town of Callingasta. It was a two day ride of about 160km. The start of the route was great on a perfect asphalt road that would shame most UK or Italian councils. Continue reading
When we arrived at breakfast in the hotel, the television news was discussing the closed pass between Santiago and Mendoza again. The weather was still unseasonably cold. Our destination was west to Uspallata, a town on the way back to Santiago. We had actually driven through on the coach but it hadn’t stopped. From Uspallata we could get on a road heading north and avoiding the ruta 40 that runs from Mendoza to the city of San Juan. We wanted to join ruta 40 later but at this point it was far too busy. We weren’t too sure how the weather would be in Uspallata but didn’t want to hang around in Mendoza waiting for the ideal moment. Continue reading
(Sorry no photos)
Arriving in the Mendoza bus station we were immediately accosted by someone offering ‘cambio blu’ this is the informal exchange of currency. We were surprised it was done so openly. The Government has pegged the Argentinian pesos at 10:1 to the US dollar. We were able to exchange for 15:1. We did however later find that the rate went down if you had small dollar bills. Continue reading
While waiting for our various flights we had been able to establish that we could not change our flight from Santiago to Calama in northern Chile. As buying another one at short notice was expensive, we decided on a different strategy. We would stay in Santiago to rest for a couple of days and see the city and then make our way to Mendoza in Argentina and start our cycling there. It would be easier to start with than the Andes pass we had planned originally. Continue reading
Fourteen years ago Rob and I cycled the ‘Great Divide’ off-road cycle route in North America. The route follows the water divide as much as possible through the continent starting in Glacier National Park in Canada via the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to the Mexican border in New Mexico. After finishing the ride we planned to tackle South America next. Continue reading