Having spent many a day at Dakar Moto HQ, thought it might be time for a quick update.

As you'll remember from way back when, last year in fact....though only 5 months ago really, Sandra & Javier run a motorcycle repair shop with facilities for traveling bikers to stay.

Tucuman - Santiago del Estero

240 kms

Nipped out from the Petite for our breakfast round the corner in the 'locals' cafe. Great value if not exactly a Full English. At least we're onto decent coffee, and now without the heavy chlorinated water of some of the places. With fresh orange juice (so that means twice as much for me), a couple of croissants - called media lunes (sp) here, which is nicer as 'half moon', and some brown toast with a weird cream and fruit compote all for 8 pesos, about £1.60 for both of us, you can't go wrong.

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After a quick breakfast round the corner we set about taking the panniers off so we could get to the sub-frame, only takes 35 minutes even with them full, so not a bad length of time for 'fixed' panniers should you want to remove them for off roading etc (we never get the choice on this trip).

Stripping down the bike to get the sub-frame off for welding

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A rest day then a cracking (!) ride

A return to Argentina, the worst road of the trip, the first spill, and meeting old friends

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Well for the author this was a distinct no day, Bev was able to operate uninterrupted fortunately and look after me !

I was still under the spell of my fine Peruvian guest stomach bug and distinctly under the weather (which was glorious from daybreak onwards as ever in San Ped).