Thursday January 10, 2013, 160 km (99 miles) – Total so far: 470 km (292 miles)
We left Jachal at 9pm yesterday when it was about getting dark. Reaching the road 40 we quickly speeded up to an average speed of 22km per hour although the road was climbing up and down, same as in the last days of our rides.
We hardly did a break-only to pee and eat. There was no moonlight shining at all and the only light sources were the lights of our bikes.
The sky was full of stars like you never would see them back at home, just beautiful and impressing. Compared to the hot days it was much more convenient to ride at night but we really couldn´t see anything of was around us. All swallowed by the black, dark night.
27km before San Juan a truck was stopping offering a lift, and as we rejected the way the guy was looking at us left no doubt, he had just passed one of the most weird situations of his life.
Getting close we passed the poor areas of the town and some drunken assholes were throwing stones at us- we were happy to reach the center of town with the main square. It was 5am then.
The hostel called „San Juan Hostel“ where we wanted to sleep was booked out and they told us to wait until 11am when check out time was over to see if they had rooms.
So we returned to the main square to wait for my wife and nephew to arrive.
We met without problems and looked for some room because I felt too tired to wait until 11am. We couldn´t find something we liked and finally returned to the hostel. After some huzzle we got a private room for us. My nephew decided to return to BsAs, saying that he just couldn´t take it any more with the exhausting cycling, especially climbing up the hills.
He felt pain in his whole body he said. Well, my wife went to have something to eat with him while me and my son tried to get some sleep. In the afternoon we went to the bus terminal together from where he set off for BsAs. From now on, it was only the three of us.
In the evening we went to have something to eat-noodles this time- and it felt weird because there was a person missing. But anyway he tried his best and climbing up the mountains by bike is just not what he likes, so we´ll see him when we arrive in BsAs in about three weeks.
