Day 22/164: Tatacoa to Hobo – 105km

1,702 km down: 11,939km to go. Up 1,230 metres, down 1,010

I was feeling very weary after being kept awake by roosters and being itchy, so decided to have an easy day and go in the lunch truck to lunch.

The white lunch bus setting off in the morning (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

There was great scenery going through the desert. We then went through a couple of small villages and a large town, before heading back to the country side.

Scenery this morning (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

We stopped and set up lunch by a Tepel petrol station. We started to set up and were asked to move further back. We had been setting up (includes getting out the table, chopping up stuff for lunch, organizing water etc) for about 45 min when the petrol station attendant said to Luiz that his boss wanted to talk to him. We all thought “What now, do we have to move again!?”. Turned out the boss was just interested in what we were up to, and wanted a chat.

On the road today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

There was a small dog lurking around who was most happy to eat the scraps. He had a mangled ear which was a bit raw, and a raw spot on the top of his head. I thought about getting a bowl and some salty water but was not sure if that would do more harm than good to only do it once. My list of dogs I would have adopted is growing!

On the road today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

After everything was done I set off on my bike with only 40 kilometres to ride and no dirt roads. I had a great ride. When I went through the town of Hobo I decided to stop at a Terpel petrol station for a drink, but I didn’t see the gaps in the concrete about the size of railway tracks until it was too late – over I went. Luckily the pannier saved me from too much damage, just some minor bruising and discomfort.  I got back onto the bike and rode out the other side of the town to where we were staying.

On the road today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

We stayed at a place called Restaurant el Aeropurto. I got there at mid day, almost like winning a rest day 🙂

The place was only a month old. There were grounds out the back where we could out up tents, plus they have a complex of rooms with ensuites and air con for 25 pesos for the room. So far I have tented every night except rest nights, but this was too good to pass up, and I was in like a rat up a drain pipe.

New buildings at camp (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)

There were two beds in my room and my plan was to tell Sue that I had a room and she was welcome to the other bed.  I had not had lunch at the lunch truck as it was too early. I had a plate of fish soup and then a shower, and then I fell asleep until nearly 6pm, by which time Sue had already put her tent up.

One of the staff at the place was a young girl who had a wee one month old baby. She worked all day whilst the baby slept under the counter, getting breastfed as required. She was still there at work with the baby when I went to bed at 8pm. Long day for a young mum.

Dinner was beef stew, mashed potato, and really crunchy green beans. I am feeling really refreshed and am planning to ride the whole day tomorrow.

On the road today (Photo credit: Sue’s blog)