Crossing Paso De Jama Pass (again) Back into Argentina
Update 16 (February 2023)
Antofagasta to San Salvador de Jujuy
I was now back on the coast of Chile, facing the Pacific Ocean. Antofagasta was an industrial town and didn’t hold a lot of appeal.
My new rear Motoz Rallz tyre got fitted fine and the next day I made my way out of town and back the way I had come. I did look at going back a different way over Paso de Sico but it would be a Sunday and I didn’t expect it would be open. There was also conflicting information about the type of traffic being processed. The Chile website said minor vehicles only, while the Argentina Government site said trucks and cargo vehicles only. They are both in the same building to compound the confusion….
Anyway, back to San Pedro de Atacama it was.
Still not much to see on the ride. These blades for a wind turbine provided some brief interest.
As I neared San Pedro de Atacama this storm was looming. There was a lot of lightning and it seemed very close to the town. For a while, I just stood on the hill debating what to do. Getting wet wasn’t appealing, nor was riding amongst lightning, but I couldn’t work out whether it was coming my way and things would get worse.
I ended up riding towards it but managed to stay fairly dry. The main front had already passed over the town, leaving the dirt streets in a quagmire. Fortunately I found my accommodation before a second front hit and caused more chaos. The roof in my accommodation was pretty leaky but luckily I could move the bed out of the way. I suppose they don’t see much rain in the Atacama Desert.
My San Pedro De Atacama accomodation. My room to the right of the Llama mural.
The hotel was a few kilometres out of town and I couldn’t be bothered with the muddy roads, so it was dry muesli and chocolate for dinner. I at least knew there was some sort of breakfast coming in the morning.
In the morning, everything had dried out fairly well. I called into the nearby gas station for fuel and another coffee, then rode out of town. Back to half price fuel in Argentina next tank.
I didn’t get far before I came across the roadblock below. It didn’t occur to me that the storm would impact the surrounding mountains. The town is at around 2,000 metres above sea level, while the nearby mountains quickly climb to around 4,000m. The road was closed due to snow.
It obviously didn’t occur to a lot of other people. So I joined the queue. A biker up ahead gave me a wave so I rode up to join him. Christophe was French but his English was pretty good. And he lived right near the border to Spain, so his Spanish was good too.
We waited there for six hours before getting confirmation from the police that there would be no opening today and with another storm forecast that night, maybe not tomorrow either. It was back into town to find somewhere to stay.
I agreed to team up with Christophe to go over the pass, just in case it did get a bit hairy (dangerous) at any point.
The road did open in the morning and we were on our way up the mountain by 8:30am. There were a few patches of snow left on the road but no noticeable ice to cause any grief. It was only 3 degrees Celsius. The storm didn’t reach to far and after about 30kms the snow was gone.
Back past Salinas Grandes again.
And back to the same room at Posada Del Silencio.
The next day I said farewell to Christophe and made my way towards the larger town of San Salvadore de Jujuy. I’d done a fair bit of riding and it was time to have a break for a few days. It was only about 150km away so I took my time and did some exploring.
The rest of this update is pretty much 5 hours of just looking around. After leaving my hotel I crossed straight over the main road and continued down the unsealed road towards Tres Morros.
Nevado de Chani.
Ruins near Tres Morros.
I back tracked to the main road and continued on, until I found some more ruins on the map. As it turned out, there was no way to reach them but I did find a nice valley to explore. This is definitely the sweet spot of travelling on a motorbike. Go where ever you want (almost).
Back to the main road Ruta 52.
This must have been a summer pasture down in the valley, for the goats or sheep. I was above 4,000 metres and there seemed to be no road in.
Another side track, this time through a small locality called Patacal.
They are seriously sharp and strong.
It was about 3pm when I arrived at my accommodation, for the next three days. It was a literal granny flat (converted garage). The host was terrific and had her teenage granddaughter staying, so she helped with the translation which was nice. It could have been a bit cleaner but oh well.
It was hot again, around mid 30’s. I just relaxed. My kind host did some clothes washing for me. I walked the 1km into town for lunch each day and then had something simple for dinner. And I planned my next move towards Las Cataratas del Iguazú.
15) Humahuaca to Antofagasta, Chile
Update 15 (late January 2023)
Las Cataratas del Iguazú, Argentina
Update 17 (early February 2023)