Argentina - Seis Miles Sur

San Pedro de Atacama, the city is built for tourists. It feels like there are only pedestrian zones, where tour providers, restaurants and souvenir shops alternate with each other. Almost all roads are not paved and you walk on the dusty desert floor. A good acclimatization for a trip to the outback. The Pirca Hostal was a little paradise for us, we recovered in a short time.

The 2,500-meter altitude pass that we raced down at 60 km/h on the last day of the "Ruta de las Lagunas", we definitely don't want to ride up and get a bus ticket for the next day. At least that was our plan. After two hours of waiting at the bus stop, we realized that we were an hour late. Despite automatic time zone activation, our mobile phones have not switched to the "one hour earlier" in Chile. So we bought a new ticket and returned for one night to the great accommodation to relax - "melon and chill".

We get off the bus in Salta in Argentina and experience live what it means to take care of cash here. The financial system is really an absolute disaster. The inflation rate averaged 38% per year in the last 10 years and in 2022 alone it was 72%. Here you need your own pannier on the bike only for cash and even then you can only get by for a few days. If you buy a new TV in the store, you already need a sports bag. The fees at the ATM are ~12 euros but you also get no more than 12 euros per withdrawal. We first exchange a few Chilean pesos at one of the many street dealers, which feels like we are buying an "O" at Lefty the Salesman like Ernie.

There is another option to get cash and that is that you can send money to a Western Union Bank, where the fees are "slightly" within the limits. The Western Union locations are stormed everywhere we have seen them, in front of each "shop" there was an eternally long queue. Due to the high inflation rate, everything is also incredibly expensive, e.g. a small menu at Mc Donalds costs the equivalent of 11 €.

Salta is a city on approx. 1,500 meters above sea level and since Argentina is the first country on this trip where the shops are closed on Sundays, there is not much going on on the day of our arrival. However, it is hot and a little humidity every day.

To start our next stage, we actually wanted to bus for a while to avoid the famous "Ruta 40". We thought it was a very busy road. But the area was deserted, so buses only run very irregularly. We enjoyed a few days of riding through vineyards and wasteland.

Many burrowing parakeets could be seen on the track, their plumage shimmers great in the sun. We find their white eyelids a bit creepy.

A rather clumsy burrowing owl also sat on the side of the road. He was quite stinky and screamed loudly when we laughed at him because he almost slumped off the fence post before. The Movember is also in trend.

In the end, it took us a whole week to get to the small village of Fiambalá - that was actually planned differently.

We hav big plans in Argentina, the Ruta de Los Seis Miles. It is a 1,313-kilometer route through the Atacama Desert, divided into two sections. The creator of the route Taneli Roeninen describes this very remote patch of earth with the following words:

"If there is one part of the world that long-distance cyclists talk about and are drawn back to, it is the Central Andean Dry Puna.“

Since we want to save something for old age, we will "only"ride the "Sur" (southern) section with 530 kilometers without any civilization. Since we have so much food for the approx. 12 days not get to the bikes, we each get a backpack in a second-hand store.

We have a contact who should be well versed in the region. At Radio Fiambalá FM we inquired about the snow conditions and water spots in the Puna. We were also organized a transport right away, so that we can save a few kilometers of asphalt road to the entrance.

At first it was only uphill. The colors of the mountains are quite nice for the beginning. A horde of Gray-hooded Parakeet apeets wishes us good luck for the tour.

The desert landscape in the distance is also impressive.

After the first long pass we ride down to the "Laguna de los apatejos". It lies in a huge valley. The evening sun makes the small shrubs shine like folding lights on the serami-colored desert floor - a beautiful contrast.

In front of a small hill we find a little shelter from the wind in the evening.

-8° Celsius indicated the thermometer the next morning. We packed up at five o'clock in the morning because we wanted to ride a few hours without wind. However, nothing came of it at all. Just when we were on the saddle it started to blow and not too little. We pushed almost all day.

At noon we passed a small shelter, which was a real blessing at more than 80 km/h headwinds. Despite the buff pulled far over the nose, the snotter runs like noodles in this wind. Not unfairly, strong wind is often used as a torture method in American action films.

We didn't stay long, as our biggest goal for weeks is to spend the night on the Balcon de Pissis, whatever it takes.

The Balcon de Pissis is also served by some tour providers. So that it works with the Facetime call from the mountain, some trucks have spat a Starlink antenna on the roof. Also often we see the guests standing next to the cars in a circle and the oxygen mask is handed around - crazy.

An off-road vehicle stopped us and said that on the "balcony" the wind is blowing at over 100 km/h and we can't stay there under any circumstances. We just nodded and thought, "Then watch out, Chico."

Before the last climb it went past the "Laguna Azul" the color of the water looks so unnatural, we can't find a comparison for it. Moraine and Peyto Lake can dress warmly.

With our last strength we push hooded against the wind to the "Mirador". The view is so overwhelming. The beach of Lago Verde is reminiscent of the rings of Saturn and the surrounding red volcanoes leave us speechless - some tears rolled.

We find the small stone wall from the bikepacking pioneers Mark and Hana ( https://www.highlux.co.nz ), which Michelle aka Obelix decided to enlarge many times more without further ado. Felix made no more effort that day.

But we still only set up the tent at dusk, because the wind only then let down a little.

In the morning it was very cloudy and extremely windy. It was definitely time for us to come down from the mountain. At -12° Celsius and wind the fingers don't like to pack everything together at all. But the pain decreases as soon as you can no longer feel your hands.

The descent down to Laguna Negra was so windy and icy, but to see such landscape with such light conditions was worth the pain.

On the southeastern shore of the lake, microbialites grow in the shed water. These are structures consisting of carbonate and microorganisms such as diatoms and various bacteria. They have been compared to Precambrian stromatoliths, which are among the oldest forms of life on Earth. We only saw a Liolaemus who is at home here.

We cross the Valle Laguna Verde with the worst headwinds and then come into a colorful canyon where the wind literally ripped the bikes out of our hands.

We drag the bikes through a scree field because we thought that the mountain in front of it could offer us some protection. And it paid off, it was dead silent from one step to the next. It was a real salvation. The sun was shining and we were boiling water for a well-deserved hot shower.

Since the third day we no longer see trucks or even tire tracks. The paths have often disappeared completely and we also have to bypass many roadblocks.

The so-called penitente are really a spectacle of nature. It is caused by uneven melting in strong direct sunlight and low humidity. For some a real adventure playground ;-)

Again we build a stone wall in the evening and have to clamp our four walls like a circus tent all around so that it does not rip apart. A well-disguised lizard is enthusiastic about our architecture skills.

For day five we have planned two climbs, both of which bring us to 4,960 meters of altitude each. It became one of the most exhausting days we have ever had on the bikes, or rather next to the bikes. By the way, we don't find the penitentes so great anymore, rather pretty stupid. In our playlist ran all day "Frank Harris - Hold On To The Vision", anything else would have made no sense either.

On the first climb, a lot of graffiti sprayers were at work again. There were also countless river crossings on the day. The water is ice cold. We are very happy about our waterproof thermal socks, which are really indispensable in such a project. But it is also indispensable that you ventilate them well in the evening.

Even so, the day was quite messy. The tires were breaded throughout and also mudguard Bella will need an extra portion of "love" after the Seis Miles.

The last pass went mainly through a riverbed, since the path was mostly covered with these "ice sculptures".

On the descent down to the Rio Salado we still got the reward for the day. We have not yet decided which planet to assign this landscape to. In any case, the category "uninhabited".

The first half along the Rio Salado was slightly hilly, the wind fortunately left us a little alone that day. However, we could not help drink from the river, as the name "Salado" suggests, it is salt water. You can clearly see from the many salt crystals from which springs it flows towards the Rio. The salt water is very pleasant and reminiscent of a mudflat hike.

Then we had a rough but very nice descent. With what felt like every altitude, the landscape changed.

We come to the road Picras Negras. The former pass road and border crossing between Argentina and Chile have been closed for years. The asphalt is heavily weathered if it is still present at all. We camp near the former border building.

We have 40 kilometers to cycle on the lonely asphalt road. In the morning we have the tailwind of our lives and just like Ulrich '97 up to Andorra, we also storm up the climb with the big chainring.

The road became better and better to the Laguna Brava. Once there we finally found good fresh water again.

The different colors of the mountains are easy to explain. The basic color is first of all the rock or the sand. But at least as important is the number of small shrubs. On the luv side (sent wind) they are yellow and on the lee side they are green.

The angle from which the mountains are viewed also plays a role, either the rock reflects very brightly or is strongly contrasted. A supposedly brown-gray mountain shows its shimmering green robe from a different perspective. So nature has its own ink box here.

With once again fantastic evening light it goes 400 meters downhill.

As beautifully windless as it was in the evening, we trembled so much at night that the tent could withstand the strong gusts - we did not sleep much.

We take the last pass in the morning with a tailwind before we go to the long-awaited descent. We leave the Dry Puna on 160 kilometers and 3,000 meters downhill.

It quickly gets quite warm and more life-friendly. The last time we filtered water, a curious Andean fox came quite close to us and a cordillerenammer tangare could be photographed nicely while eating.

We rode the entire departure in one day and honesty, it was to much. We tortured each other quite a bit. The wrists hurt and even so after eight days of Crossfit everything hurts.

The Seis Miles ends in the small village of Guandacol. It's 42 degrees Celsius and we urgently need a few days off. Felix urgently needs an ice tub and Michelle an ice cream.

When we talked about the last few days at the Seis Miles in the evening, we both got pretty emotional. At this stage came together everything we have learned in the last 17 months on our trip. To ignore the noise of the strong wind, to keep the balance on the bikes when it goes through deep sand passages or blocked terrain. The feeling of control when you start to hyperventilate at 5,000 meters of altitude and gasps for air. Don't panic and know what to do when you can't feel your fingers and toes because of the cold. To know that you are in a region where there is nothing around several 100 kilometers and an accident site would be difficult to reach. And to keep calm when faced with unpredictable situations, etc. - we have learned a lot.