Big sky country. A lot of riding in wide open spaces without much in way of trees, hills or anything else to block either the view or the wind. The land is mostly fenced and I seem to be on a boundary with some llamas and also some cattle.

Clocks were set ahead by an hour crossing into Argentina on top of the hour that they were set crossing into Bolivia. This means sunrise around 8:00am and sunset around 7:00pm. It was still cold so waiting until 9am before setting off and still had it below freezing the first half hour.

There seems to be a “pottery” theme as I saw these large pitchers leaving La Quiaca.

I was on Ruta 9, which is marked for distances to Buenos Aries.

Small memorial on the hill.

At 15km came across a section of road construction. It was 15 kilometers long and most was reasonable to ride but some shorter sections of washboard road as well.

Sections of llamas and cattle in fenced off area.

Puesto del Marcos was a small settlement that seems to be site of a battle in 1815. Signs in advance of the settlement warned of a 1200m long urban area. Interestingly enough, I couldn’t find a single open business in this town.

Statues for key players in the battle.

Nearby church.

As I got near 74km, I could see Abra Pampa in the distance.

Main street in the town.

Pottery on the town square.

I found the hotel in town and then wandered to see what I could find to eat. A nearby store had a few things. The restaurant near the bus station was mostly closed, so will likely need to wait until 8 or 9 pm when they seem to open again.

Otherwise a nice riding day as I slowly make my way through the big sky country. I believe I have another ~50km before the road starts to descend further as well as enter warmer regions. It will have been several weeks above 3000m/10,000ft of riding since I left Arequipa.