March 3, 2000
Day 133 Tilcara: cycling up the valley
We have a later start this morning than usual, we no longer need to start early to beat the heat or the wind. We now cycle by how many meters of altitude we will gain.
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Today is 22kms and gain of 269 meters. We gain that elevation gradually, following the Cuabra de Humahuaca. The ride is very scenic, on both sides of the valley high mountain ranges rise up, the slopes on the west side are heavily eroded and expose all sorts of shapes and colors. A railroad was built up through this valley all the way to Bolivia, but mudslides have washed out whole section, bridges are buried in the sand. There is hardly any vegetation left here, when it "really" rains the torrents must be awesome.
Just before Tilcara we pass the Inca fort. The main road doesn't cross Tilcara, to get to town we cross the river. A campground is located on the other side along the river. We find a nice, shaded spot under some conifer trees. Rachel does some laundry whil Patrick checks and fixes all the inner tubes we have. Two are beyond repair, they have been replaced by two "local" ones we bought in Salta.
At about 4 we walk to the town center, eat some empanadas on the way and hike the kilometer up to the fort. The stone walls and adobe houses have been restored very nicely. Amidst hundreds of huge cacti with awesome views into the valley and upstream and downstream.
For dinner we fix rice with onion, green pepper and tuna. It gets dark at about 8pm so we get in the tent, read a bit and fall asleep. A light comes on near the tent, and Patrick gets up to switch it boff, but someone turns it back on later.
These guys live on a different schedule from those of us a cycle touring.
Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 4,301 km (2,671 miles)
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