It was raining in Salta as we prepared to leave so we kitted up appropriately, which meant that the rain immediately stopped and the temperature hit 30°C .Typical. We had to stop and repack our gear. We had a short 200km ride to Tilcara on what turned out to be lovely scenic roads - some of them only 4m wide, so lorries and buses were not allowed to use the road. You also had to stop at sharp bends as there was only enough room for one vehicle at a time. This really suited Paul and we had a nice leisurely ride. Then the road opened out and we had more multicoloured mountains as we arrived into Tilcara. We hadn't expected much of the day, but in the end it turned out very well.
Tilcara itself turned out to be a very nice little town too. And it certainly came alive in the evening. We treated ourselves to some Andean nouvelle cuisine which turned out to be quite something. Francoise couldn't face the llama dishes, so we went vegetarian.
The following day was also not a big ride. We had broken the journey into two because it involved us riding to an altitude of 4,800m. Breaking into two then meant that we would also be staying midway at 3,900m. The staff at the Andean nouvelle cuisine restaurant were both lovely and very Andean and as often seems to happen with us, we got chatting with our still very poor Spanish. Where are you from? Where are you going? How old are you? The wine is from just down the road etc. And when it got to the 'Where are you going to bit', altitude sickness entered the conversation as did the local way of dealing with it.
So in the morning we asked at the hotel where we could buy Coca leaves. We then went to the local market in Tilcara and bought our stash. Maximillian at the hotel then gave us a lesson on what to do. And we are sucking on them now, well at least Paul is. We will only be at high altitude for a couple of days, so it's unlikely we will become addicted but here we are in our mid 60's in possession of illegal substances. We will probably have to ditch the stash before entering Chile as taking in all fruits, plants and meat is banned, let alone leaves that are the basis for drugs.
Not only high altitude but also rather a large number of hairpin bends. The roads are, however, wide enough for Paul to safely wobble round. We avoided any embarrassment. We are finding ways of dealing with the right turns, but it is still quite stressful in towns and cities.
Once we got up to altitude we then came across the Argentinian salt flats, Salinas Grandes. Probably not as famous as the Bolivian ones but still very impressive. We pulled over onto the parking area thinking it was gravel. The bike almost tippled over as we put it on the side stand as we were on quite loose salt. We found something a little more compacted.
We are really in a one llama town for the night. We had booked somewhere but the owner didn't turn up and we couldn't understand his Spanish on WhatsApp - something to do with either not being safe or he couldn't be bothered? Luckily the other place in town had a bed for the night. Nonetheless it was the sort of place that didn't seem to welcome customers. We got inside just before thunderstorms started - exceedingly loud and reverberating around the mountains, which was pretty scary but there was only the odd drop of rain. Completely out of proportion with the son et lumiere show. We don't understand where these remote, high altitude, dry places get their water from. It will be a question we ask. As we head West now we are going to the driest place in the planet...
