Greetings from Salta, north-east Argentina!

[Claire]

Hello hello and greetings from the city of Salta in North-East
Argentina. We are in our 1,800th kilometer and doing very well. We
have seen some of the most unforgetable landscapes, met some of the
lovliest and friendliest people, and learned a great deal. We have
spent days after days in a never ending desert, crossed over mountain
passes and hurdeled through lush forests. Since Mendoza we have
pedaled 24 days and many many km. We regret not having the chance to
update our blog sooner, but our access to internet and ability to stay
multiple days in towns with internet has been very limited. That´s the
way the road works. We aplogize and will do our best to have more
frequent entries in the future!

Dec. 8 Mendoza-Jocoli 53km (left at 4pm) We left late in the day and
cruised on over to a vineyard to camp.
Dec. 9 Jocoli- 46km a check point in the middle of the desert. Today
we had EXTREME wind, infact, it was a sandstorm and we couldn´t pedal
after a while because we kept being blown off the road. Luckily the
one household within many kilometers took us in and gave a place to
hide from the wind as well as a "ducha del campo" (country shower).
They also shared thier delicious mate with us, mixed with mint.
Besides the wind, the heat was a killer.
Dec. 10 checkpoint-Caucete 85km We cruised today as we had a little
bit of tail wind and were in good spirits, so we averaged 22km/hr.
Caucete made us happy because there were a ton of cyclists, but it was
the worst night of the trip as we stayed in a city camp site (many
small cities and towns have campsites in Argentina that are free or
very cheap, it´s great!) that was quite sketchy and we felt unsafe and
therefore slept very little. It was the only night of our trip that we
have felt unsafe, and for that we are grateful. One amazing aspect of
the bike culture in Caucete was that many parents carried thier
infants on thier bikes, but carried them in one arm while they steered
with the other. Wow! One bump and thier little 1 year old could go
flying. It made us a little nervous, but its seemed to be normal in
Caucete, just one part of the culture.
Dec. 11 Caucete-Vallecito (Difunta Correa) 39km Again we left late in
the evning and had a huge climb in intense desert heat but we arrvied
at last and campd behind a tienda. We saw in the pavement graffitti
which spoke out about the mines for gold in the region. It was our
first taste of the intense environmental-social situacion here in
Northern Argentina, which is rich in minerals and which has very
little water. The Difunta Correa is a folktale of the region, where a
woman left here town with her infant to search the mountains for her
husband who had disappeared (supposedly in one of the many genocides
against indigenous people that has occured here in Argentina) and died
in the process. Days later her baby was found still suckling from her
breast, alive and well. The miracle is that a dead woman could sustain
the life of a baby, and many people believe profundly in the miracle,
so much so that they make giant pillgramages from all over Argentina,
Chile, even the US we heard, to visit. In addition there are many
Difunta Correa replicas all over the highways of Argentina. But even
more so there are shrines for the famous Gauchito Gil, a folkhero,
basically a robin hood who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
The Catholic church doesn´t not recognize him, but he has a huge
following, and you can see his colorful red shrines every few
kilometers on the highways of Argentina.
Dec. 12 Vallecito-Bermejo 42km We left very late because Cristhian was
sick (stomach) and we headed out into some intense heat well into the
siesta (which is about 1pm to 6pm) We struggled against a strong
headwind and finally arrived in Bermejo where we had a contact, thanks
to a kind man we met in Caucete who told us a great deal about
Argentine culture. We stayed with Gustavo who lent us his kitchen and
shower and we slept in his yard with the dozens of giant desert frogs.
At dusk they moved the TV and the rest of the living room outside onto
the lawn as the climate was so much better outside. When we left at
6am the next day we got to watch the whole town waking up in thier
beds which they had moved into thier front lawns in order to sleep
more comfortably. Gustavo´s girlfriend told me about the conflicts
that exist in Bermejo, how many people go to the cerros (mountains) to
collect wood to sell, but that it´s illegal as it is a natural
reserve, and that the deforestation is polluting the water. Also that
sometimes the river that they depnd on never reaches the town because
more and more people are moving upstream in order to take advantage of
more water for thier animals and farms. They were a little worried the
day we arrived because they hadn´t recieved any water for 4 days and
the government still wasn´t doing anything about it. The desert life
indeed is intense...
Dec 13 Bermejo-Valle Fertile (St. Agustin) biked 70km. Hitch hiked
another 70 or so. We left super early and had a wonderful morning, but
then we tried to push through the siesta 55 more km, and did not bring
enough water wiht us. It reached 114 degrees F and we were sweating
out every drop of hot boiling water that we drank. The hot water
became so unbearable that we tried to make mate and hot chocolate with
it in order to drink it with more ease. I struggled with all my might
to go 1 km, the air was so hot I couldn´t breath, I had to look to the
side of the road in order to not panic with the site of a long
straight road in front of me. It was one of the most traumatic
experiences I´ve had and it has taken a while for my body to forget
it. It got to a point where we realized we needed help or we would
truly be in trouble. At first we asked for water from several
different cars as we were down to 3 bottles (and we were drinking
about 1 bottle every km!!) and then we decided to hitch hike to save
ourselves. We were so very lucky and a truck with an Argentine family
stopped for us and right after them a car with a french couple. The
family took the bikes and the French took us in thier air conditioned
car and fed us chocolate. We were scared to be separated from our
bikes but ever so grateful for these kind people who really saved our
lives. We arrived in San Agustin and found a hostal.
Dec. 14-18th We were traumatized from the heat the day before and
spent the day resting. We still felt weak and strange. We never
expected the desert to be so powerful.
Later, I found out that my dear friend from College was in the area,
so we waited for her a few more days in San Agustin, and took a bus up
to Valle de La Luna, a provincial park. Then, in the middle of the
dark morning at 4:30am we biked 3 people on 2 bicycles for 17km. Me
with my friend on my rear rack, and Cristhian with her luggage. We
couldn´t see a thing but the shooting stars. We went surprisingly fast
into the dark nothingness and at sunrise we stopped to eat crapes,
dulce de leche and fruit. It was an incredible experience, and a bit
funny too. We figured, no problem, the next time we see a hitch-hiker
we´ll pick them up!
Dec. 19 57km circuit in Valle de la Luna We biked the circuit of the
park, the rock formations were incredible, and the best part was to
see ferns that are millions of years old imprinted in the rocks and to
think about the dinosaurs that used to live there (it´s home to the
oldest known dinosaur!)
Dec. 20 Valle de la Luna-Badecitos 22km Said goodbye to the very kind
people who took us in at Valle de la Luna, biked to town, which was so
far in the middle of no where that the only vegetables they had were
shriveled up potatoes, then saw my friend off on a bus going south,
and camped by the side of the road.
Dec 21 60km Baldacitos-Talampaya Our first day with clouds! I´ve never
appreciated clouds so much in my life--they saved us, protecting us
from the fierce sun that burns the desert. We raced to Talampaya,
arriving mid-day just in time for the sweltering hot siesta in which
we ate and slept. It was impossible to bike in the afternoon in the
deserts of San Juan, the heat was killer. It zaps all your energy.
Later on we got a free tour of the beautiful canyon of Talampaya.
Dec. 22 Talampaya-Pagancillo 31 km (another 30 in bus to the hospital
in Villa Union) Arriving in Pagancillo we went straight to the
"Hospital" which is really a clinic because Cristhian´s arm was
getting more and more infected. He had gotten a small thorn in it days
ago, and never was able to get it out. Now his arm was very infected
and very painful. The nurses there told us we needed to go to Villa
Union for the bigger hospital there to get help. So we took a bus,
without the bikes, thinking we could return to Pagancillo that day
(left our bikes at a police control). But we arrived at the hospital
and they told us we should stay 2 days while Cristhian is hooked up to
an IV, that I could stay as well and that they´d feed us. All for
free. We said, Okay! We never imagined it´d be that serious, but thank
goodness health care in Argentina is free! It´s amazing and we
appreciate it so much. So I went back to Pagancillo in a rented truck
to get our bikes (we couldn´t sleep without them!) and Cristhian got
hooked up to antibiotics.
Dec. 23 Day in hospital, Villa Union After a day and a half, Cristhian
´s arm was much better.
Dec. 24 Villa Union-Tumbillos 54km strong headwind and a climb We left
the hospital feeling much better and exicted to get moving again. The
headwind was a bummer but when we started the climb into the
mountains, our spirits were much better.
Dec. 25 Christmas! Tumbillos-Chilecito 62km The most unforgetable
Christmas! We crossed the cuesta de Miranda, an impressive climb over
mountains on dirt and gravel roads! And then one of the most amazing
bajadas (downhills) I´ve ever done as the view was absolutely breath
taking with a snaking river, then a layer of red mountains, then green
mountains then giant grey mountains with amazing rock formations. We
stopped by the river, our very first river with real water in it since
we left the Andean range! We were so excited we stayed the whole
siesta bathing and washing clothes. Then we bombed down hill and
entered into a town with a giant rainbow overhead. It had just
finished raining when we got into Nonogasto and we had a bite to eat,
and then headed off to Chilecito in the dark. We biked 18 km in the
night and arrived at a hostel late Christmas night, very tired but
satisfied and happy.
Dec. 26 Rest day in Chilecito Right before the Cuesta de Miranda I
realized my expensive Velocity rear rim was completely broken up, even
though I had only put about 1,000 km on it! So I contacted them for
the gaurantee and had a local mechanic build me a wheel with a used
rim he had, which has served me well so far (until Salta).
Dec. 27 Tried to leave Chilecito but Cristhian got 2 broken spokes. We
camped outside and came back the next day to rebuild his wheel with
new spokes. Lots of mechanical problems all at once!
Dec. 28 Chilecito-middle of the desert 45km We finally were able to
make it out of Chilecito (at about 4pm)!! Rode til we found a nice
spot in the desert to camp.
Dec 29 Desert-Putuil 36km We thought we´d do more km this day, but we
stopped in Pituil for the siesta (in this time it was impossible to
bike in the afternoon, the heat was too much). We had a picnic in the
plaza, and just as we were packing up to leave, 2 Argentine couples
touring on bicycle arrived to camp. We talked with them for hours and
hours, they were by far the nicest cyclists we´ve run into. One
couple, who was traveling with their 2 year old in a bike cart (!
wow!), was very experienced in low-budget touring as they had done a
tour from Patagonia all the way to Alaska, with only a little money
for food. They helped us out greatly, giving us a lot of good advice,
and gave us a lot of energy and motivation to continue. Thanks to them
we almost did 100km the next day!
Dec 30 Pituil-middle of another desert! 97km It was a fun day, we went
very fast and quite far, and camped under a giant thorny tree in the
hot desert.
Dec. 31 desert-Belen 52km We arrived in Belen for New Year´s Eve!
Camped for free at a private campground to the sound of fireworks.
Happy 2008!
Jan. 1st Belen Just as we were biking out, we were called to a house,
confused for a moment, we realized the man from a bike shop we stopped
at the evning before was there, and he invited us to celebrate the New
Year with them. So we sat, drinking beer, chewing coca and playing
music, all day long, bringing in the New Year Argentine style. It was
a lot of fun to learn about the culture and music of Belen, and I got
to share some music from the US (and Fabalosos Cadallacs, "Siguindo La
Luna"!). It was an incredible day, and we left in the early evning to
camp in the city campsite just north of Belen.
Jan. 2 Belen-desert near Cienga 36km The day started out nice, with a
lovely ride in a river gorge, but then it got too hot and I felt sick,
I couldn´t bike anymore, so we camped behind some shrubs.
Jan. 3 desert-Haulfin 25km We were all set to ride all day long, but
we got stuck in Haufin... they had had some storms and had no
electricity so we couldn´t buy gas for our stove, and without that, we
couldn´t cook or eat! So we spent the night under some trees (the
first lush trees we´d seen in a long time!) behind a ACA (Automobil
Club de Argentina) where the owner had taken us in for coffee and
given us advice and support in our journey.
Jan. 4 Haulfin-Punto de Balasto 83km, 30 of which was on dirt roads
and a large climb. This day was incredible. It was like 3 in one. The
first part consisted of us climbing slowly on rough dirt road in
beautiful hills and mountains, and meeting 2 cyclists from the US, and
eating crackers and cheese for lunch. The second was when we returned
to pavement after about 50km of dirt roads. We had a tail wind and we
FLEW going 30km/hr or more! It was fun and we covered kms very fast.
But then we had a third part, where we turned a curve and were hit by
a fierce headwind. We creeped down a mountain until we arrived in the
town and stayed in a farmhouse of a finca with grapes. We had a roof
over our heads and were protected from the rain, and for this we were
very grateful. This day we crossed about 5 rivers, none of which had
bridges. We were helped out a few times by people in camionetas (pick
up trucks) so that we didn´t have to get too wet.
Jan. 5 Punto de Balasto-Amaicha de Valle 56km All was a huge head-
wind! We woke to a beautiful view of a snow capped mountain in the
distance, and took off to Santa Elena, where we took a siesta and I
worked on trying to get new rims from Velocity. When we took off from
Santa Elena at about 4pm, we were struck by one of the strongest
headwinds we´ve seen and were quite discouraged. However, somehow we
got a burst of energy and did a lot of pace-lining so we could move
forward the two of us without tiring out too much. We basically
sprinted as fast as we could the last 15km, against the wind. It was
intense but felt good. We arrived in Amaicha and turned into a
campsite which ended up being abandoned, but we asked the man next
door about the campsite and he invited us to come stay with them. And
so we met the family Mamondes, an amazing and warm family, who are
very political and proud of thier indigenous identities. They were
making a traditional drink from the fruit of the Algarrobo in a giant
pot over a fire. They offered us mate, pan casero (home baked bread),
and a drink made with maiz (corn) which was incredibly delicious. They
also offered homemade aguadiente (a sugarcane based alcohol). The
family was very large, and there were bunches of children playing. The
senor was very excited that Cristhian is indigenous from Ecuador, and
I sat and talked with the senora about the terrible gold mine that has
been contaiminating the land. I also hung out with two very sweet
girls who loved taking pictures with my camera and asking me how to
say different words in English. Later in the night we went to the town
center to see a festival which was designed for tourists. The folk
music was lovely but the Miss Amaicha where pre-teens walked around in
bathing suits was strange, so we bought some papas fritas and went
back to the house.
Jan. 6 Amaicha del Valle-Entrance to the Ruins of Quilmes. 20km. We
unexpectedly spent almost the entire day (until 7pm) at the house of
Mamondes... because I started talking with one of the daughters,
Cinthia, and we talked all afternoon. She is an artist and student and
we could relate a lot. She told me about the campaign to close down
the mine which came to the area 10 years ago and has destroyed thier
water and land. She was very involved in the campaign but has left it
as it has been so frustrating going up against the transnational
corporations (from Canada and the US) which run the mine and which are
very much subsidized by the Argentine government. The mine is a very
sad story. It has given many less jobs than promised, it will only
last about 10 more years and then will be abandonded, it´s using a
huge quantity of water in a dry desert where the people don´t always
have enough to drink, it´s contaminating the rivers, it has destroyed
the mountain ecosystems, and all the profits leave the country and
stay in the hands of foriegners. All in the name of "Progress". It´s
very sad and the people have tried to fight back but have been
discouraged. I just hope they can find the energy to continue the
struggle.... We talked about the Pacha Mama (mother earth) and a
University in Quito where the perspective is Andean instead of
Western. We both have hope in changing education. It was incredible to
stay with the family but we decided to move on, and we headed off to
the Ruinas de Quilmes, where Cynthia told me we should go to learn
more. Basically it is a sacred site for the people of Quilmes, which
for years had been exploited by a rich man who put up a hotel and a
restaurant and was making lots of money. Last fall the people of
Quilmes decided that enough was enough and blockaded the entrance and
demanded that the man leave and that the sacred site be put in the
hands of the indigenous communities of the area to care for. The
amazing part of the story is that they won in court, and just last
week the ruins were put back in the hands of the people! It is an
amazing story of the power of resistance, and truly an inspiration. We
spent the night with the folks who were gaurding the entrance,
exchanging stories over a pot of thick stew.
Jan 7 Ruinas (o Sitio Sagrado) de Quilmes-Cafayate 48km. We took a
slow morning hanging out with the activists at Quilmes and then took
off for Cafayate, where we were surprised by a mountain of tourists!
We found out that summer vacation had just begun for college and high
school students, so the campsites were full of mochilleros (people who
travel with a backpack). We slept poorly because there was a giant
thunderstorm and a river formed under our tent, but luckily we had
plastic bags to put on the floor and in the morning we were dry.
Jan. 8 Rest day in Cafayate. Running errands as usual. White gas is
almost impossible to find. So we´re experimenting with Kerosin now. It
works okay.
Jan. 9 Cafayate-middle of the countryside near Alemania. 76km. In the
morning we took a free tour of a vinery (Cafayete is famous for its
high altitude wines) and took off to the Quebrada de las Conchas,
which was just incredible, one of the most beautiful landscapes we´ve
seen all trip. We followed a river snaking through the mountains and
saw so many neat rock formations and mountains. We camped in the yard
of an elderly man with a vineyard, and as night fell we were surprised
to see 2 cyclists go by!
Jan. 10 Campo-la Vina 36km. We crossed the mountains and arrived on
the otherside... and saw green, green, green for the first time since
we crossed the Andes. It was like a tropical rain forest. What a
relief to see green, but let me tell you, it wasn´t any less hot. In
fact the humid heat hurts more than arid heat. We stopped in La Vina
and stayed at the city camping because we were hit by a hailstorm with
huge hail, the side of golfballs! We were grateful to be under an
overhang. We hung out with 2 mochileros who were staying there as
well.
Jan. 11 La Vina-Merced 64km. Our first rain while biking! We put on
all our equiptment for the rain and it held up pretty well. At one
point the road, thanks to a flash flood, turned into a river and we
had to bike hundreds of feet through water a couple feet deep. It was
quite funny, and people passing in cars took photos of us. And some of
them tried to splash us!! We arrived in La Merced, mostly dry, and
stayed at our first Church, which just that night was putting on a
theatrical production. It was fun to see the young people acting in
the play enjoying thier religion so much. It seems that this is the
season of Missionaries in Argentina, we also met a group of young
missionaries in La Vina.
Jan. 12 La Marced-Salta 16km We got to Salta faster than expected, and
found the house of Luis (whom we had met New Year´s Day in Belen).
Luis and his family welcomed us in and were incredibly nice hosts. We
ended up staying with them for 4 nights here in Salta, as we´ve been
running around doing errands (there seem to be constantly things to
repair, parts to buy, supplies to buy, information to obtain, etc...
so we spend a lot of time in cities running errands)..
Jan 12-17 Salta The day after arriving we took off with our bikes
without our luggage, and I had my first bike crash! What happened is
that I was not used to riding without weight and so the bike felt
strange, and then the road was poorly made and had a 3 inch difference
in height from one side to the other so when I crossed my wheels
slipped from under me and I crashed. Luckily some nice women helped us
to the clinic which was only 1 block away and they cleaned me up and
gave me a shot for the pain. I went back to the house and rested, and
it took a few days for me to feel normal biking again. It was my first
real crash since I was a child! Slightly traumatic, but to be expected
in a bike tour, and I´m all better now. Now I have some cool scars to
show after the tour... In Salta, the biking is... crazy! We can barely
understand how the cyclists survive here, and there´s a surprisingly
large number of them considering the conditions. It´s as if they don´t
exist. There are no facilities for them and absolutely no respect.
There´s one "bike lane" which is consistantly full of cars, and one
bike path, which was never completed and has holes and piles of dirt
and rocks on it. The cyclists survive where they can. They have to be
super aware, careful and aggressive to survive. No surprise that the
huge majority of them are young men, who are raised with the
confidance to battle in the streets. The streets are so narrow here,
and the buses huge, and the cars go so fast, and the traffic is thick.
It´s probably the worst city I´ve ever biked in. And yet there are
quite a lot of cyclists! It´s really quite impressive to me. Talking
to some cyclists in the bike path, we found out that there is
absolutely no help on the part of the city in terms of promoting
biking, and that there is no respect from drivers, but that people
bike anyway because it´s the cheapest and most autonomous form of
transportation and therefore is necesary for many people. The most
amazing thing has been to see all the crazy things people bike with,
including many string trimmers, a few lawn mowers, and multiple
children. I have a lot of respect for the bikers in Salta and hope
that someday they will be respected and supported.

And now we head off to Jujuy, and later to the Bolivian border, which
we hope to cross in about 10 days (though it depends on when my new
rims arrive in the mail in Jujuy). We are very excited to climb to the
Altiplano (we´ll be climbing a couple thousand meters in the next 2
weeks!) and eat more quinua, humitas and maiz in Bolivia.

We have been impressed by the huge generosity and kindness of the
Argentine people, and very interested by the culture. They have taught
us so much. And the landscapes have been incredible. At first the
desert was trying but once we adapted to it, went more with the flow
(stopped trying to bike in the afternoon!) we realized the beauty and
diversity of the desert. Now we are in a more humid region where we
have to deal with the new challenge of rain. But we are up for it,
because we know there is much to learn and to see. And many more
kilometers to bike!

Until next time, best wishes in the New Year!
Claire