To go from San Pedro de Atacama to Argentina, there are 2 ways: the main one, el Paso Jama, entirely paved, or el Paso Sico, unpaved, longer, harder. But more beautiful. Most of the touristic attractions are along the road going to the Paso Sico. And this is the road I took, with a few detours here and there. 420km in 2 days. But after what I did in Bolivia, I feel much more confident now and nothing scares me.
As mentioned, there are a few touristic attractions along the way: Valle de Jere.
Laguna Chaxa. No way I ride the bike on this salar!
The first part, along the Andes, is paved.
Lagunas Miniques and Miscanti, already up in the mountains.
I stopped about 60km before the border, before the sun goes down. There was a lot of wind and I needed to find a good spot protected by rocks.
At 4,100m, it was too cold to cook outside.
In the morning, -12deg! In these conditions, I wear gloves to do everything: packing, mechanics, etc…
I went to the ‘Red Stones’ nearby:
And I walked on the frozen lake!
The road to the border and after the border is rocky. Exhausting. I am dreaming again of flat bitumen.
I am in Argentina!
El Paso Sico is at 4,092m above the sea level. A bit further, there is another pass, el Alto Chorillo, at 4,560m.
From here, the road goes down to San Antonio de los Cobres, at 3,700m.
The Viaduct of Polvorilla:
And I arrived in San Antonio de los Cobres. To be honest, I was expecting something bigger and more inviting. Everything was closed. But there I caught up with Cyril and Marie (met in Bolivia a week earlier) who had taken the same road as me. Quite extraordinarily, they found my sleeping mat who had fallen off the moto 200km before San Antonio. We went for diner together.
Also, I was happy to find a petrol station. Nothing between San Pedro de Atacama and San Antonio de los Cobres, 420km. I believe I can drive more than 500km with one tank in normal conditions. But this isn’t normal conditions: mountain, altitude, etc…
takemethere 