11/02 The town of Chepes wasn’t a bad place to spend the night after leaving Portezuelo. There are a couple little restaurants across from the Shell gas station and a surprisingly large supermarket. The Shell station stayed open during the 1pm until 6pm siesta when everything else in town closed (even the supermarket). There are a couple hosterias going for 80 pesos and up.
Rode through some blazing hot desert after Chepes with temperatures hitting 115 F. Water is available at a tiny store in Mascasin and at the turnoff to Marayes where there’s a restaurant (no other supplies and the menu was just a sandwich, albeit a delicious one).
The winds have proven to be very consistent. They consistently blow in my face regardless of my direction of travel. I’m usually off the road by 3pm which is about when they start getting really bad. They haven’t even been calming down at night.
The truckers are a riot. Almost all of them wave, some even going so far as to take their hands off the wheel and pump both fists in the air while yelling words of encouragement out the window. The enthusiasm might be partially explained by the joint I saw one long haul trucker puffing on as he was coming toward me. 
Found a secluded camping spot a little ways off the highway on a dirt track. It’s so isolated I even skipped the fly over the tent. Still need the mesh because the flies are thick thanks to a lot of unidentified crap (goats probably). The barbwire fence running along both sides of the road disappeared going through the Salina de Mascasin and hasn’t reappeared. There are no buildings from what I can see but people have been back here chopping limbs off the trees. I’m amazed they don’t have more fires because everything is bone dry and the ground is covered in dry grass, shrubs and tree branches.
Entries (RSS)