After a quick but very enjoyable stint in Chile it was time to head back over to Argentina. We certainly weren't complaining about getting to go back over the Andes after what had been very dull riding through Central Chile.
The Paso de Los Libertadores certainly did not disappoint. We gradually climbed up, from pretty much sea level to over 3000m and stupidly, had forgotten just how cold it was up at the top of the Andes and not worn enough clothes!
Shivering away we snaked up the dozens of corners, passing mountain summits and driving through ski resorts, until we reached the first lot of buildings.
We hopped off and Tom went in search of the border control (and hot chocolate) while I warmed my hands on the engine.
I went to receive my much-needed hot beverage and upon our return to the bike Tom looked at the pannier and said "where's the tent?!"
Sure enough, there was no sign of our twice-used tent. Whether it blew off or was stolen we're not sure, but we found ourselves laughing hysterically at the top of the Andes, because it was just so typical and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.
It also turned out that this wasn't even the building we needed to be at - this was for exiting Argentina and entering Chile. To do it the other way around we had another 15km in the baltic wind. We soldiered on, where the wind got so strong that it was in fact blowing us into the opposite lane, but were soon going through a very civilised exit and entry process in a cold but sheltered warehouse that saw us into Argentina in just ten minutes.
It warmed up as we descended and made our way to Mendoza, where we spent a day wandering about the city and trying to get back into the swing of our journey, which was proving a little bit tricky after our luxury week with family in Santiago! We had a walk through the huge park, had a coffee on the lake and sat in the main plaza, before coming to the conclusion that sadly we were not in the financial position to treat ourselves to another luxury steak and wine supper, which Mendoza was renowned for.
We bit the bullet and bought a new tent (I was actually pretty happy about the whole thing - I hated our first tent!) and packed up ready to start our week of travelling up to Paraguay.
While this was sadly hands down the most boring riding of our entire journey, we had a lot of fun camping. After staying in so many dodgy hotels or overpriced hostels, there was something very novel about the experience, cooking on our little gas burner and sleeping in cool places, just us, the bike and the road - plus the odd local guy in charge of the campsite.
After our first night, we decided that we just weren't cut out to sleep on one centimetre of foam, and so stopped at a hardware store when passing through a big town and treated ourselves to a couple of lilos. Absolutely the best decision we ever made because after this point we slept like babies!
While the evenings and mornings were fun, the daytimes were mild torture. I have never known roads so long and straight! Sure, in Bolivia they were sometimes very straight and long but at the same time you were surrounded by mountains or amazing desert or salt flats. Here all we had to look at was pylons, fence and grass. And a lot more road of course.
Although saying this, we did come across some pretty fabulous wildlife over our week heading north, particularly in the last few days. It started off about half way through, when we spent the night at Campo de Cielo - an archaeological site where a group of meteorites fell hundreds of thousands of years ago, which have recently been excavated and put on display. The camping was free and our most enjoyable spot by far - there was something a bit special about being 10km down a dirt track, alone in a beautiful wood surrounded by debris that had once been in outer space.
So it was here that we first noticed the small clumsy birds flying everywhere. Until we realised that they were not birds but in fact giant locusts! Now, I am not one that is particularly scared of insects but - at the size of your outstretched hand - these were pretty vile. But interesting... I suppose. Giant, scary looking insects became a common theme as we rode on, and we also met a friendly mantis and a huge toad.
What I found particularly enthralling were the birds. Birdlife has never particularly gripped me (except the toucans in Costa Rica and the flamingos in Bolivia!) but there really was such a fascinating and vast array in the marshlands of northern Argentina. We saw rheas (very similar to ostriches), pelicans, herons, massive storks and perhaps most impressive of all were the huge Condors that we saw further south and in the Andes. If you don't know how big they are have a quick Google - they are extremely impressive.
We also saw a herd of goats apparently waiting for a bus, and saved a tortoise - which was crossing the road - from being hit by an oncoming truck! Which we hoped made up for accidentally running over a chicken on our way through Chile...
So with a mammoth 1970 kilometres done over just six days, with limited showering and sleeping on pool inflatables, we were now quite ready to get into Paraguay and spend a couple of nights in a hostel!