Part 2!!

Eric, Emilio, and Natalia


Laguna Blanca, Bolivia


Creek in the desert....ahhhhhh water


Lake along the route to Paso Jama


Hello Chile!!!!!!!

Awesome, we made it to Chile! Oh, shit…to get our Chilean entry stamp and be legit and all that we had to plummet (cannot emphasize enough!) down 2500 meters to San Pedro de Atacama because there are no immigration offices at either the border with Bolivia or Argentina. So, within the course of 40 kilometers of hair-raising 70 kph descent we arrived at the lovely little town. It is quite touristy, but we enjoyed the utter luxury of a real campground complete with friendly staff, a kitchen, sinks to wash dishes in, picnic tables, hot water for showers (SHOWERS!!), great fellow campers, and not having to wear every article of clothing we owned just to stay warm at night. There were only two drawbacks – very expensive prices for everything, and the brutal climb back up the hill awaiting us. Luckily our time in San Pedro was quite lovely, so it was a nice little place to get cleaned up, wash the dirt and sweat out of our overused riding clothes, and enjoy the milder climate.

We were worried about the ascent to 5000 meters and the 160 km ride to the Argentine border…carrying enough food and water would be a price in weight that we would pay for dearly while struggling up the sharp grade for 3 days. Enter Emilio and Natalia, a lovely couple from Buenos Aires that we met in our campground. They generously offered to bring food and water to various kilometer posts along the route as they would be passing by us in a car on their way home. So, we were able to lighten our load a bit and still have fresh fruit and drinking water on the road. THANK YOU!!! Our last night in the campground was very enjoyable…Emilio and Natalia invited us to share a bottle of Chilean Malbec wine with them, and we each had our own improvised camping dinner (aka cook everything you have together in the same pot).

The next morning we chatted with other campers, did the last of our errands, got our exit stamp, and headed up the hill. Between 1 in the afternoon and sunset we managed to get to kilometer 31. The first 12 kilometers were lowest gear worthy, but still gradual and pedalable. Then the road headed straight up, and we zigzagged the whole rest of the day. Doug, sometimes in the Andes the hill never stops :c) Exhausted, we pushed our bikes off the road, ate lentil soup we had prepared in the campground, and fell asleep.

In the morning we set off again, swerving our way up the last 10 kilometers to the 4800 meter mark and less intense grades up to 5000. It´s the only time on the trip that Eric has said to me, ¨Let´s never do this again.¨ Emilio and Natalia caught up with us early, dropped us off some provisions, and we made arrangements to pick up more water at kilometers 50, 100, and the border. Again, thank you so much – we´ll see you in Buenos Aires!! Camping was very easy along the route, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. I can´t say enough how much we´ve really enjoyed the access to wild camping that we´ve had here in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. It´s so peaceful, the starry night skies are spectacular, and it´s wonderful not to have to worry about whether or not our stuff is really safe, or if someone will find us in the middle of the night.

Quick question for the readers here; at night, does anyone know what the fuzzy looking haze near the Milky Way belt are (not clouds wise guys!)? They look like the Milky Way but are separate from the band you can typically see. Perhaps they are only visible in the Southern Hemishphere....