The Long Way Down, Up and Around: May 15 - The Last 700km Back to Chile

So it was a long last day into Chile, but one of the best days of riding so far. Even though it was my second time doing part of the road (or maybe because it way), I was able to really enjoy it.

It´s an old story but the impact doesn´t get old - massive ascents and descents with twisty roads and alien landscapes. The mountains in Peru and Bolivia feel steeper and more ¨mountainous¨, but they are more familiar in a way. This sterile part of the Andes is just bizarre and beautiful.

There was actually a point where I felt like I was moving, but not going anywhere (sounds bizarre - it was like a bad dream). My wheels were turning, the road was moving, but 15 minutes would pass and nothing on the horizon had moved. The ground around you is so flat, the air is so clear, and the major references are so far away (and so massive), that they stay fixed in place, sometimes for an hour or more.

It was also a lot colder this time around than when I did it in mid April. Back then I would need to shed layers when I stopped - the temperature sometimes was as warm as 70 or 80. Now it was cold even in the warmer parts, and the highest parts of the road were downright freezing. Luckily there is no chance of ice or snow (it never rains). I slipped on almost every layer I had (including my secret weapon - the mittens) and was more or less comfortable going through. Some of the volcanoes up there have permafrost but no snow cover... since its cold but never snows. More bizarre facts.

And after a non-event of entering Chile it was time to decompress and celebrate with a steak-egg-fried-potato masterpiece and some good Chilean red wine. I made it.

Just before the road in Argentina turns west toward Chile you drive through a spectacular massive canyon, with clouds from the low-lying jungly parts just over the ridge.

Climbing up into the Andes... massive terrain features below. Those canyons are thousands of feet deep.

And settlements in there! People hanging out after a meeting of some sort? Or church? Unclear.

Dirt roads leading into the corners of canyons.

After a little run up the canyon, the road turns abruptly and forces its way up and over the mountain pass. You can see the same canyon terrain from higher up here.

....and higher. Ridiculous switchbacks.

Dramatic engineering!

Watch out for the gravel! Mostly a great road but still need to be careful.

And then it starts to descend into the Altiplano with another ridiculously fun and twisty road. It´s like a riding paradise, and at this altitude the wind isn´t a factor!

Crossing a salt pan, still on the Argentinian side of the border. So bright!

How about some soccer?

An example of the salt pools they use to extract salt - there are alternating levels of water and hard salt throughout the salt flat.

More mechanized than the Bolivian sort of mining!

Chile! Home base! 500km in, 157km to go to San Pedro.

And the road keeps climbing! The highest point is 4,850m (15,912 feet), about 100km from here.

Back into the lunar la la land landscape of the Altiplano Atacama.

Smooth desert and then... a patch of giant rocks. So weird.

This is where I had the bizarre feeling of moving without going anywhere. All the reference points are so far away (close to a hundred miles, at least) that they barely move, or get bigger or smaller. But the air is so clear that they don´t seem that far away. I drove for half an hour and swore I didn´t move.

Truck traffic near the highest part of the road. It was cold! I took of my giant mittens (which saved my hands), and my hands hurt from the cold after a few minutes of taking pictures. Must have been at least a few degrees below freezing. The nights in Uyuni (about 4,000 feet lower) can get down to -20C in July... I am guessing it would be a little bit colder up here at this altitude.