Pastos Chicos - Puesto Sey (Ruta 40)

 Cycling Argentinas Ruta40 from Susques to San Antonio de los Cobres: Stage from Pastos Chicos to Puesto Sey

Unfortunately, the path look completely different after a few meters and we have the feeling that we have once again deliberately chosen the worst and most unsuitable lane.   

After a short while we come across Ruta 40 again, which doesn't make cycling any better: lots of sections with sandy, fine gravel awaits us. When we left Pastos Chicos, we had around 8°C, so we hope that it gets a little warmer in the next hours.

On the way we sometimes stop briefly and let the alpacas go first. The animals seem very friendly and look at us curiously, but they don't seem to have any particular interest in us or our bicycles. We keep our distance from the animals; it is said that llamas and alpacas spit on the other person when they feel harassed. From up to 5m away.

Very friendly animals.   

Watching alpacas cross the street is quite fun. The animals walk very gracefully and watching them is very relaxing. Alpacas are probably much more relaxed than us humans.

At some point the Ruta 40 becomes so unpleasant that we try to cycle the unpaved shoulder. But that's not any better because the sand here is less compacted and the wheels sink in even deeper. The large chunks of rock in the sand doesn't help either. After a while we stop this concept and follow the road again.

We reach Puesto Sey around midday. The village is smaller than Pastos Chicos and is located almost entirely on Ruta 40. There are no side streets. Finding a place to stay overnight is difficult: there is a room at the northern end of the village that you can rent, but the owner cannot be found. So we are send to an address in the middle of the village. After some back and forth, we find the person in charge and rent a room with two beds. Hot shower and toilet 50 meters away in the backyard. After arranging accomodation, we start looking for something to eat. There is supposedly a comedor in Puesto Sey and we hope for a warm meal. Unfortunately we didn't manage to find this comedor, but after several inquiries to the very few locals who live here, we were invited by an older lady into her living room and ate fried eggs on bread.  

We restock our supplies in the small shop in Puesto Sey. For tomorrow's stage we will cook 4 chicken eggs. Since we are at just over 4000m, the question arises about the cooking time. Compared to sea level, the boiling temperature of water decreases by 1°C every 300 meters in altitude. At an altitude of 4000m the boiling temperature is around 87°C. Interestingly, the calculation can also be carried out in the other direction: by measuring the boiling temperature you can estimate quite well what altitude you are at. While egg yolks coagulate at 62°C, the egg white needs 84.5°C to set. So it fits. We decide on a cooking time of 4:30 minutes.

Since the relationship between cooking time and altitude is non-linear, the is no easy rule of thumb for that. In the following table I summarize the data I do know. The values at 4000m are proven right.