A few days waiting on an ATM machine to be fed in san pedro de atacama, which didnt happen, then out. back up the hills past the bolvian border again but onto Argentina. It felt strange to know this was the last country i am visiting. Not feelings of sadness though. Basically im suprised i even made it passed canada. Its not the last time i cross a border thouh. down south i have to cross into chile a couple of times, to see the wonders that are down there. Patagonia is split between Argentina and chile. Knowing xmas was just around the corner i wanted to try and get to a large town to try and celebrate in somesort of way that seemed to be what i know. i imagined maybe catching the blues , without being in the company of family and friends. Didnt get the blues at all. its full on summer down here and i had no sense of xmas what so ever. Anyway. i crossed the border straight away riding into a greener landscape and higher octane fuel. After seeing yellow and orange landscapes for ages, it was lovely to see green again. Purmamarca was the town night caught us. A high pass with strong cross winds brought us into this gorgeous town. winding roads splattered across the mountains. hairpins that completely double back and more.
purmamarca is very layed back. boca juniors, argentinas man utd, are fighting for the championship. all wear their shirt. just like man utd in the UK. the town isnt layed back for 90 minutes.
the surrounding hills and mountains are all filled with extreme coloured sand. the whole place changes as the sun moves over the sky.
incredible riding here.
heading south now to salta. salta is a large town. 3 nights and some sorting stuff out and we are off. i look at the map, it seems like i havent got anywhere. argentina is humunguss. everywhere is layed back. salta was packed with people, but everything is slowed down. even a day before xmas, the pace is calm. cafayatte turns up. a beautiful wine producing village. vineyards roll around on the surrounding hill sides. small trees line the avenues. the plaza is empty , except for the locals siestas in the cafes. this is my xmas town for 2 days, spent in a hostel with 4 germans, mike and dan and dans huge steak dinners. a top munch.
boxing day riding out of cafayatte, the bikes starts spluttering down. im not at altitude now so im concerned. keep the revs down and all seems alright. the starter button doesnt work constantly. somethings not right all over with the bike. mikes ktm is gaining problems by the day now also. tucuman is the town with a ktm dealer. im here now. both bikes are being taken care of by an ex argentine enduro champion. raul becker. now a mechanic. spent today overseeing and getting in the way in his work shop. the bikes will be sparkling reliable tomorrow im sure. towards buenos aires. who knows how many days . argentina is huge. style is everywhere.
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