Susco - Purmamarca - Troy

The next day we had learned our lesson about leaving late, yet we knew the next leg was reasonable and we were heading into a more moderate climate, so we spent the morning in the hotel restaurant relaxing... Actually, I hate to admit it... OK this due to the fact that the Dingo wouldn't start.

I failed to mention that in San Pedro I found a mechanic who fixed my pannier racks (with proper non Bolivian half-assed welds), found a bolt the right size to hold the engine in, cleaned the air filter (which was caked thick in dust) and also helped me check the Dingo as to why she was so reluctant to start in the Uyuni trek. We discovered that the battery connections had come loose, thus (I supposed) the battery wasn't charging properly, thus had not been giving enough spark, so we tightened connections and charged the battery. Todo bien (all good) I thought and left it at that...

Unfortunately this wasn't the case. I now realise that I should have changed the carburetter jet (which I had been carrying since Guadalajara in Mexico!!!). Unfortunately this is a procedure which requires stripping the bike to enable access to the carby, thus since reaching the Andes in Ecuador, I had failed to do this, partly from laziness (actually mostly), and partly cos I could put up with the loss of power and was moving constantly between altitude and sea level.

Anyways it's still not a proven fact (no, that's not justification), so after a few hours the bike and air had heated up enough that she caught a spark and fired up, so we continued on; our intended destination being Tilcara. The ride once again was spectacular, we stopped at another Salar on the way and took photos (yes more perspectives), and had a very pleasant ride, until...

When we finally reached Purmamarca, I had my "jaded" awe of landscapes once again receive an ass kick.

There is seriously no way to describe the experience of riding into mountains that are at least 7 different colours at every turn. I constantly wanted to stop the bike and stand still a moment to see if it was real, eventually we did when it climaxed just outside of Purmamarca. I was so awe struck that despite our schedule (which Tutu was in charge of) I asked her if could we stay there??? She told me hotels would be astronomical according to all the guides, but she too was spellbound, so we journeyed into town.

We went to nearly every hotel in town and found the cheapest room we could afford. Unfortunately it was still ridiculously expensive, had stained mattresses with no sheets, no flyscreen on the tiny grotty window and smelt like a group of homeless people had spent a week in there having orgies (no offence meant to homeless people). So we opted for the dusty "red neck's backyard" of a campground and reasoned that the landscape made it worth it.

It did, and when we went for a hike through the unforgettable hills the next day, we found the hotel of our dreams, and swore one day we would return there and stay in luxury.