Today
we have the choice to go left, directly to the border post of Paso de
Sico about 65km away, or to go right to Catua, a village 12km from the border
post. Very soon after leaving Olacapato, we leave the national road to take a
smaller route to Catua, and the traffic goes from low to completely
non-existent.
Shortly after, we begin the crossing of our first salar, the salar of Cauchari. The landscape is singular, a white expanse surrounded by mountains. The pebbles really have a salty taste. The salar is a little awash in places, and by extension our road. François sinks into the mud and his bike comes out repainted with red mud, now it's really a adventurer bike. From there begins the climb to a pass at 4350m altitude. The ripio isn't very good, but the landscape is very beautiful.
We climb relatively easily, apart from a very steep "shortcut". The road down to Catua is a little sandy but we still get there quite early. Rather than stopping as planned, we decide to push to the border post to shorten the day after. Everything goes well until the last 5 kilometers when a very strong headwind gets up and the road becomes very sandy. At
5.30 pm, we are at the Paso de Sico border post, where the Argentinean
and Chilean administrations coexist under the same roof. The complex is quite big and out of nowhere. An entire building is available to travelers, we've access to a dormitory, a hot shower and a kitchen, all for ourselves.
