Resolving unfinished business with this loop was one of the main reasons we began heading south again from Peru. Back in May we’d had grand plans to complete the route in reverse but had retreated after only a few days, tails between our legs, in the face of a huge storm. This time we thought we’d fare better – the weather, we assumed, couldn’t be as bad again, we are super acclimatized now, and as both borders are open in summer it would be possible to do the trip legally.
But our plans were nearly floored less than an hour out of Fiambala. As we left town we filled a Paso de los Toros bottle with petrol, and as it didn’t fit in her usual petrol bottle cage, H placed it in her usual drink bottle cage. It’s bright blue, it smells slightly different to water, we didn’t think we’d have a problem. But that ignored the fact that we’ve become creatures of habit, we do bike things on autopilot. At the first break H reaches down, grabs the bottle in her water bottle holder, unscrews top, starts glugging away…oops. Fortunately her brain kicked in before actually swallowing any of YPF’s finest Fangio Super, but still not the best start.
And things got worse before they got better. At this stage of our trip we’re going soft, so rather than lugging three weeks of food on the three day climb to Las Grutas we sent most of it ahead on a camioneta. Unfortunately the driver had left the sacks in an unmanned refugio overnight, and when he returned all our tastiest provisions had been pilfered. It was the first time we’ve been robbed of anything all trip.
Luckily local legend Jonson Reynoso came to the rescue by doing a Tesco run and sending us new supplies; while we waited for these we headed to Incahuasi. We’d been drawn to this huge, eyecatching mountain in January on our trip to El Arenal, but at Las Grutas each afternoon all that was being drawn to it were clouds and storms. The mornings were still nice though, which foolishly led us to attempt the climb, something we were almost made to regret. Three days and five lightning storms later we returned from the volcano slightly traumatized, having summitted then spent the scariest hour of our lives in the tent as lightning crashed all around us.
Back at Las Grutas our new supplies were waiting for us, and when we realized that our toilet paper had also been stolen the police kindly gave us a roll of theirs. This was by no means the last donation we would receive in the following weeks. So generous were the road workers, miners, Carabineros de Chile and our very own Royal Navy (on expedition to Ojos del Salado) that we managed to eat far better than the porridge/crackers/pasta sludge diet we’d steeled ourselves for. (Just to prove the world is still a wonderful place, see the lists below of what we had stolen and what we were given.) The RN group were being guided by John Biggar, author of the Andes climbing guide we’ve been religiously using for the last year, so it was exciting to meet him, and also to be offered all the expedition leftovers. Mmm, tinned strawberries and cream…
It would be fair to say Chile hasn’t been our favourite Andean country of the trip. It’d trail in fourth, and though we’ve entered it eight times we’ve never stayed long. This however was our favourite sortie into the country – the people were great and the scenery on the small roads we took through Tres Cruces National Park was fantastic. The usual frustrations with Chilean immigration and the SAG “we steal all your fresh fruit, meat and vegetables” men put only a tiny downer on things.
After spending two days at Pircas Negras immigration being cooked for by the Carabineros and watching their TV, (which didn’t show enough football, but did show far too much Yingo (one of the world’s worst TV programmes – it bewilders us that every Chilean we’ve met appears to be addicted)) Thurday arrived, the man with the passport stamp appeared, and we were free to cross our last border of the trip and cycle back into Argentina.
A couple of days later we were at Portezuelo de Laguna Brava, site of our turn-around last May, this time in fog and sleet, and were soon descending the 3,000m to Villa Union. Our experience on Incahuasi had really shaken us, so we decided to shelve plans we had for other mountains and, having been in the range continuously since November 2009, that we were done with the Andes for this trip. Our last month before returning home we’ll take it easy, cycling quiet unpaved routes across the Pampa to Buenos Aires and our flight back to the old country.
Cycling stats:
Days getting from Fiambala to Villa Union – 21 days
Distance – 863km
Time cycling – 81hrs
Average speed – 10.7kph
Cycle days – 14
Rainy cycle days – 2
Maximum speeds – 63.9kph (H), 57.6kph (N)
Unpaved roads – 406km
Longest day – 123km
100+km days – 1
Punctures – 2H(16), 1N(10)
Total amount climbed – 9,125m
Maximum altitude reached – 4,767m
Most climbed in one day – 1,451m
1000m+ climb days – 3
4,000m passes crossed – 4
Steepest climb – 20%
Number of cycle tourists we met en route – 3 (Silvano (68), Italy; Miranda and Maurice, Holland)
Accommodation – 3 beds, 2 camps, 16 wild camps
New beers drunk – none (we didn’t pass any shops)
Hiking Stats:
Days of hiking – 4
Distance – 27kms
Height ascended – 2,500m
Peaks climbed – Incahuasi (6,641m)
Photos
Videos
New videos here
What we had stolen
1.5kg chocolate
2 packs biscuits
20 packs Tang
500g raisins
1 tin tuna
2 bags parmesan
500g milk powder
1 toilet roll
Hola Amigos
Todo tiene su principio y su fin. Seguramente os va a costar dejar de ser viajeros y volver a ser simles mortales, pero quien ha dicho que este es el ultimo viaje. Encantado de conoceros y hasta la vista en el siguiente viaje.
Parys