Again pedalling southwards, we left Chilecito, still following Route 40. There had been quite a thunderstorm last night which cleared the air a lot, although the pull on tarmaced roads up to the village of Miranda was still incredibly hot. We then had the ´Miranda pass´ to go over. Described in every text I´d read in travel books or travel guides as ´the beautiful Miranda pass´ and after today I could see why. Most of it was gravel (ripio) road, but most of it was hard and therefore ´good going´ (no sand!). The road wound it´s way up through a beautiful valley with many different shades of red rock showing through. It actually seemed to be almost effortless on the bikes as we were constantly stopping to look at the view, birds or take pictures. 
There were numerous Andean Condors circling overhead and a pair of tiny red tailed comet hummingbirds that we spotted purely by luck as we were admiring the views across the valley yet again. So large and so little, both very uniquely South American. The Condors we even saw perching on rocky outcrops below us as the road wound upwards and watched as one spread it wings and took off, barely 50m from us!
Despite seeming virtuely effortless, the top of the pass was still at 2020m so we had an amazing descent on the otherside, only delayed by the 2inch nail that Gareth managed to cycle over, resulting in a roadside stop and puncture repair, not from a cactus thorn this time!
Another beautiful rough campsite, just off the road after we´d finished the descent. Surrounded by cactus it wasn´t easy to get the bikes to it but we managed, and with only 2 vehicles passing us all evening, it didn´t matter we weren´t miles away from the road.
13th Dec (27.7M), Wild camp to Talampaya National Park
Just a short(ish) cycle on flat roads to Talampaya this morning, with an obligatory stop at the panaderia for fresh bread at Pagancillo, the 1st town we came to after our wild camp. From there we left the rough roads and were back on the tarmac.
We arrived at Talampaya at midday, perfect timing as there was a tour going at 1pm, enough time to change out of cycling kit and get some food and water. Yet again, it was very quiet and Gareth and I were the only ones on our tour. I would have thought by now the tourist sites would be getting busier as we were coming into high season but certainly not so today. Starting at 1.30pm (1pm approx start, Argentinian time) the tour took us in a minibus towards the towering cliffs of the canyon. We stopped at various sites enroute up the canyon to see petroglyphs, left many years ago on the oxidised sandstone slabs, unique plant life to the area, a condor, perched on a jutting piece of rock, and at the wind sculputred rock formations many of which were given names such as ´el Monje´ (the monk), ´el Catedral´and others. The red sandstone cliffs towered 150m above us through the canyon and were incredibly inmpressive in their own right.
After the tour we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and pitched tent at the visitor centre campsite. Actually an incredibly tiring day as despite the less than normal milage, we´d got up early and 2.5hrs of tour and lots of concentration to try and translate as much spanish from our guide as possible. Definitely more tiring being ´touristy´than just cycling I think.
14th Dec (50.2M), Talampaya to Valle de la Luna Provincial Park
80km of very flat riding today to get from Talampaya to Park provincial Ishigualato (valle de la luna). Lots of desert and except for the last 17km, lots of head wind. We arrived at Valle de la Luna visitor centre weary and hot. 2 Punctures during the day for Gareth and 2 frustrated riders. Despite that we had made good time and again managed to get on a tour in the afternoon. Many thanks to Claus and Bettina who transported us around in their vehicle for the tour. A slightly weird system at this park as the tour involves a 40km loop which you need to drive around in your own vehicle but in a tour convoy, someone transports the guide and at 5 points you all stop and the landscape, rocks, weather etc are explained (in Spanish). Surreal ´moonscape´ like landscape. White rocks on which nothing can grow. Again more wind-sculptured shapes and towering red cliffs behind (these probably not found on the moon). In some ways Gareth and I were a bit too tired to completely appreciate the tour, but it was lovely sitting in a vehicle for a change and afterwards we could camp at the visitors centre. 
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