Day 661 12th May 2018
20 miles (Eldorado to Montecarlo) Average speed 7.6 mph Top speed 33 mph
I go up at 7.30 and had tea before going up the hill to the bank to get cash; 3000 peso from an atm, plus a charge of 273 peso, for the privilege of taking your own money from a bank !! (That’s over £8) ouch! I bought three pastries, I can’t remember the name, but I had two ham with cheese and a meat one. You’d think I would have had enough in Brazil!
I packed up and asked the owner to borrow a hose. He went off in search of one and then attached it to the the tap for me and tried to help by cleaning the bike with wire wool before I stopped him. Then I set off on another climb to the other end of the road where I was met by an even bigger one. Another cyclist past me and said good morning, I was getting lots of strange looks; I just say to myself now that, yes, I am crazy. After thinking Argentina is a lot easier than Brazil, I was mistaken as the hills were just as big today.
One hill after another
At the bottom of one I saw the first possible camping, but it was in the middle of nowhere, apart from the river, and was close to the road, so I carried on knowing that I had plenty of choice up ahead. I passed a couple more, but decided to spend the night in Montecarlo as I liked the name, especially after Eldorado yesterday.
Just because I liked the name
So I went down into town to find a garage, which thankfully had WiFi, so I booked this hotel and thought I’d treat myself.
Hotel Ideal. 630 peso inc 21% vat!