wild camp 3 - Pismanta

wild camp 3 - Pismanta: 22nd March, 111 km, total 4490
rest day in Pismanta: 23rd March

Another beautiful ride!
We woke up from hybernation. Most of our water had turned into ice and the thermometer was showing -8 C degrees.
Now we were pedalling at times AND pushing at times. We did not have any mountain sickness symptoms, but we did get easily winded.
Soon after starting, the road worker came around to check we were doing fine. He said we would not meet again and we thanked him and greeted "Adios".
After 14 slow km, at noon we reached the top.
The way down, first on bad gravel, got faster and faster until we hit 1-2 km of road works. The mud got in the mudguards and brakes and we were forced to clean the mess. I did barely have the time to get back on saddle swearing against bad argentinian roads when we found ourselves on new pavement.
We got fast and reached a Gendarmeria post and after further 40 km the actual Aduana before 6 pm.
Our friend Adrian had told us we could find Termas on our way down, and we did. We decided to afford us 2 nights in the spa hotel in Pismanta! Nice hotwater baths and nice dinner buffet. The waiter could not believe we were so hungry!

One note for Ana&Andre and other cyclists. The ride from La Serena to Paso de Agua Negra is beautiful almost every km, the same would not be the case from Pismanta to Agua Negra, where many more tasteless km of pampas would be found. Much better to take them on a fast downhill!