Ticara - Iruya - Troy

Having been blown away by Purmaraca we journeyed on to our original destination late the next day, being Tilcara. This is the principal destination for tourists, and we had high hopes, yet were disappointed. It's a dusty.. dusty town over inhabited by tourists, and though surrounded by picturesque hills, was no measure on Purmamarca.

Once again I balked at the cost, so despite Tutu finding us a good deal on a private room, I insited we ride the town in search of better. I was wrong (as always) and we ended up back at the original place she had found after over an hour of searching. It was a really nice "homestay" none-the-less, so I made it up to her by cooking her a feast in the kitchen of moussaka (she loves eggplant) and the Argentinian staple...STEAK...At this stage I will venture to say that Argentinian meat is the best I have ever experienced.

The next day we left most of our gear at the homestay and made our way to Iruya (pronounced here in Argentina as "Irushia" since "Y's" have a shhhyu sound here( ie desayuno (which means breakfast) is pronounced here "desashyuno", unlike the rest of South America). The reason for this is that (leaving our gear I mean) that a fair percentage of the road to Iruya was off road, and potentially hazardous.

Once again, this road was freaking spectacular! When we left the highway I let the tyres down (it is best to deflate the tyres to around 18 psi in harsh offroad conditions when alone so i chose 21 with Tutu (from 32- 36 which is onroad pressure)), and we rode (what I would now call) a moderately nasty road. Having "precious cargo" in Tutu onboard meant that I didn't ride crazy like I did in the Uyuni leg. I must mention though, that it is really important in, especially off road conditions, to have a passenger who is symapathetic to the dynamics of a bike; and Tutu is perfectly that, she never panics, holds her weight evenly and when necessary stands on the pegs with me.

Thus we made Iruya in good time, and once again Tutu found us a good hotel immediately, which I balked at, until we had ridden through the town for and hour searching for a better option.

At that hotel we met the coolest couple from Buenas Aires and spent the next few days with them enjoying the best view in Iruya, feasting on great food, drinking sweet wine, exchanging stories and hiking through the most perfect and romantic place on earth...