8/9/2013 Paso Jama to adobe ruins on Salar de Olaroz
D84, T7, Av11.44, max65, Tot18539, 9538
A much needed shower was enjoyed at the hospedaje. Leaving Jama the road was incredibly straight with slight undulations. Slight downhill runs generally led to a salar.
About an hour into the trip, I checked a salar to my right to see if Flamingos were present. There were. A gravel track led to the salar about a kilometre and a half away from the road .I took my bike as far as possible and walked the other few hundred meters.
I had entered a world of salt. There were salty marshes I had to cross before reaching the shores.
Typically, the Flamingos all walked to the far side of the salar as I approached. Getting a bit of a view of them, it was great to be in their environment, that of shallow salty water. Llama and vicuña had been grazing on plants in the salar fringes. The grasses they prefer are heavily grazed.
Back on the road, it just kept going, salar after salar, lunch was had near one.
The main traffic using the road are car carriers and all these new semi units heading towards Chile. I found out the are being delivered to Peru from Brazil. They will be we run in, it is a long haul.
I like to wave to all the drivers, most respond, out here there is really no one else. I saw 1 small group of adobe houses at an intersection and that was it.
Soon I came to the intersection before the Salar Olaroz, it is huge, the road goes around it.
By now it was time to look for a camp. Absolutely nothing was available, the best I could find was culverts under the road.
Riding on in the hope of finding some kind of shelter from the now strong sou westers, I couldn’t believe it, here in the middle of nowhere were some adobe ruins of a group of houses.
I pulled off the road so as not to be noticed.
It was a perfect spot for the night. All day I had been riding and seen no buildings, here before me at 1700 were a group of buildings. It had been some time since I had glanced down at that feather on my angle bar. At this moment, this is what I did. Again thoughts drifted back to Minnesota.
Setting up inside one of the buildings, they had no rooves and the walls were badly eroding in the rain.
My tent fitted perfectly in the enclosure. Fried potatoes were enjoyed. Then the trouble started. It was still blowing and the wind was all over the place inside the enclosure except where I was cooking in one corner. An hour later after dinner, on entering the tent I found everything inside covered in super fine sand, it had blown through the mesh.
Luckily my computer and new camera were packed away.
It kept coming in with the strong wind funneling into the small room .
I got some old fibro from another dwelling to barricade the doorway, this helped somewhat.
Then thankfully at 1900 the wind abruptly stopped. The inside of the tent resembled a meal on a plate covered in pepper.
D84, T7, Av11.44, max65, Tot18539, 9538
A much needed shower was enjoyed at the hospedaje. Leaving Jama the road was incredibly straight with slight undulations. Slight downhill runs generally led to a salar.
About an hour into the trip, I checked a salar to my right to see if Flamingos were present. There were. A gravel track led to the salar about a kilometre and a half away from the road .I took my bike as far as possible and walked the other few hundred meters.
I had entered a world of salt. There were salty marshes I had to cross before reaching the shores.
Typically, the Flamingos all walked to the far side of the salar as I approached. Getting a bit of a view of them, it was great to be in their environment, that of shallow salty water. Llama and vicuña had been grazing on plants in the salar fringes. The grasses they prefer are heavily grazed.
Back on the road, it just kept going, salar after salar, lunch was had near one.
The main traffic using the road are car carriers and all these new semi units heading towards Chile. I found out the are being delivered to Peru from Brazil. They will be we run in, it is a long haul.
I like to wave to all the drivers, most respond, out here there is really no one else. I saw 1 small group of adobe houses at an intersection and that was it.
Soon I came to the intersection before the Salar Olaroz, it is huge, the road goes around it.
By now it was time to look for a camp. Absolutely nothing was available, the best I could find was culverts under the road.
Riding on in the hope of finding some kind of shelter from the now strong sou westers, I couldn’t believe it, here in the middle of nowhere were some adobe ruins of a group of houses.
I pulled off the road so as not to be noticed.
It was a perfect spot for the night. All day I had been riding and seen no buildings, here before me at 1700 were a group of buildings. It had been some time since I had glanced down at that feather on my angle bar. At this moment, this is what I did. Again thoughts drifted back to Minnesota.
Setting up inside one of the buildings, they had no rooves and the walls were badly eroding in the rain.
My tent fitted perfectly in the enclosure. Fried potatoes were enjoyed. Then the trouble started. It was still blowing and the wind was all over the place inside the enclosure except where I was cooking in one corner. An hour later after dinner, on entering the tent I found everything inside covered in super fine sand, it had blown through the mesh.
Luckily my computer and new camera were packed away.
It kept coming in with the strong wind funneling into the small room .
I got some old fibro from another dwelling to barricade the doorway, this helped somewhat.
Then thankfully at 1900 the wind abruptly stopped. The inside of the tent resembled a meal on a plate covered in pepper.
the salar visited below the road.
Back at the bike some 300m away , life returned to normal.
Essentials are always readily at hand once she's loaded.
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salty marshes had to be negotiated on foot to get to the shore, ll the while the flamingos were wandering away from their perceived threat.
Shelter!
roadside art, or just a reminder of the harshness of the environment?
Salar Olaroz in the background.
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