Mental challenges

November 6, 2023

Coming out of the Yungas, we turned to the northern city Salta for some rest. The legs and mind needed it, and we had a lot of chores to do too. Watch some Netflix. Very important. Get some extra weight in our panniers with a gigantic pile of pesos to cover our expenses in Argentina's cash-driven economy suffering from inflation. Get Aimée medicine for her asthma, which surprisingly they sell here off the shelf. Get a new saddle for Aimée... as her good old Brooks broke off the rails! Boy were we lucky it happened right before a big town with a bike shop. Do laundry. And finally get the bikes serviced again. Which was really needed as for the last two hundred kilometers a highly annoying ticking noise per pedal revolution on Jaap's bike was driving him absolutely mad!

Back on the bikes we embarked on our next little adventure. Climbing out of the Salta valley was beautiful. The downhill didn't disappoint either, but the wind... My oh my, sometimes we had to pedal in the lowest gear to be able to move at all! A crazy sensation. Wind blasts smashing sand in our faces every few minutes stopping us completely. You could see them coming. Sudden waves of sand in the distance approaching. To minimize the damage we stopped before they hit us. Face down, body turned away and wait. It took us over 3 hours to complete the 25 km descent. Normally, a little over half an hour would have been enough.

The next 130 km we moved at walking pace. The hilly road we travelled is among the most beautiful in northern Argentina. But as always these routes come at a price. Reminiscent of a pebble beach and completely turned into washboard, the road was not particularly intented for two Dutch cyclists. Slowly we progressed like two overweight snails on a hot, dry summer day. It took 3 long days to cross. A mental challenge more than anything. But it gave us plenty of time to soak up the wondrous scenery :)

Route: Libertador General San Martin - Salta - Escoipe - Payogasta - Molinos - Cafayate