Tupiza, Bolivia to Humahuaca, Argentina, 160 miles (60 dirt)

Thank you Argentina for bringing us signs and paved roads! I never thought I would be so happy to see pavement, but just as we crossed the border from Bolivia into Argentina, the site of tarmac lit up Yoshita and my sprits.

We both woke up feeling like a truck had ridden over us; we were exhausted. Even after a nights rest, the thought of another day on the road seemed to be too much. Regardless, when the alarm went off, Mike crawled himself out of bed to get Yoshita to the car wash early morning. The last two days Yoshita was not only covered in mud, but all the washboard dirt roads had loosened most of her bolts and everything needed a good tightening. Mike got her washed and tightened up everything all by 10AM while I packed up our stuff. We hit the road, anxious to finish the last portion of dirt road until we reached the Argentina border.

It was 60 miles of dirt, mostly washboard in which some of the freshly tightened bolts already came loose. Yoshitas front dash has also become quite wobbly, and while jolting up and down over the badly riveted roads it was as if their dash was going to become detached from the bike.

After about a couple hours, which went by surprisingly quick, we were surrounded by a bunch of men and woman carrying heavy sacks on their back from Argentina to Bolivia, like fish swimming up river; quite a site. The border was surprisingly busy and packed with people waiting to get the correct paperwork and stamps to enter one side or the other. After much nonsense and inquiries, Mike had to wait in a very long line, which he also managed to cut short a bit, to get the necessary documents. It took about an hour and a half, the longest for us in a while. The Argentinean officials were definitely not as friendly as the Bolivians, except if you were a woman in which they would flirt and favor. Regardless we made it though and hit the very nicely paved road into Argentina.

The road was flat and straight. Yoshita finally got to pick up some speed and I started to feel like we were truly on the road again. Not before long the scenery turned into beautiful mountains with colorful streaks lining their sides. Great scenery, great roads, plentiful road signs (haven’t seen those in a while) and good weather, a nice welcome into Argentina.
Mike didn’t want to push himself and make it to Salta today, so after taking out the map we discovered a town about 100 miles in which would have a decent hotel. Done. We made it to this nice quaint little town. A decent and clean hotel, restaurant and we were able to find internet. It’s bed early for us!

Yoshita needed her bolts tightened

The first roads we've had to pay for in a while...the ugly dirt ones

Fun little tunnel

These people are nuts...like fish swimming up river at the border crossing

Pavement! Yes!

Beautiful mountains!

We found a nice little town

This guy likes the vino