Departamento de Tafí del Valle

Today was the first full day on Argentinas (and one of the world's) longest road, the famous Ruta 40. It follows the Andes Mountains for more than 5000 km, starting from the Bolivian border and going down to the southernmost tip of the Argentinian mainland. The first ~100 km made for some easy cycling past countless vinyards with mountains on either side of the route.

I was surprised by how strong the sun was, resulting in one of the first sunburns in quite a while. And that even though I kept reappying suncream every hour or so! But i guess the second it was rubbed on it got washed away again by sweat 😓

Matt and I had planned to cycle separately from Cafayate onwards as I still have quite some time left until I need to reach Santiago, while he wants to make it to the end of the world (an easy peasy 5000km away) by end of January.
Howevery we kept leap frogging each other all day, which I was especially happy about when I got yet another puncture in the afternoon and could borrow his pump...mine had stopped working properly somewhere halfway across the Lagunas route 😳).

Eventually, we were both headed for the same campsite in San Jose, which was supposed to have a pool. After 36°C and almost no shade all day, that just sounded like heaven!

But, of course, the pool was empty and the municipal campsite deserted.

In the end we pitched our tents there anyways and got to use the showers in the nice hospedaje next doors for a small fee.

Dinner was probably the cheesiest Pizza I've ever had. And since I had ignored the waitress' attempts to warn me about the portion size, I had half of it left for breakfast.
Two meals for the price of 3€...can't complain about that ✌️

🚴‍♀️Distance cycled: 93 km
🍷 Bodegas passed by: 15
👦 hours spent actually cycling alone: 5
🧀 Amount of cheese on pizza: maybe...500g?
🏊‍♀️ Liters of water in pool: 0 😪
🪡 Punctures: 1Leer más