Motorcycle Explorer December 2014 Issue 3 | Page 126

I was up at the crack of dawn the following morning, it was only a
short hop of 244km to La Quiaca on Ruta 9 from Purmamarca
and as soon as I arrived I started looking for the “official” start
point of the Ruta 40. For some reason, a piece of me hoped that
a small gathering of people might be there waiting to wish me
luck and send me off with a cheery wave, or that it might be like
the start of the Cannon Ball run with lots of fan fare. I even held
out some hopes that I might bump into some other bikers or
overlander’s along the way and have some company riding south.
No such luck on either front.
I rode up close to the border checkpoint with Bolivia and came
upon a sign which said Ushuaia 5121km. After taking an
Pitstop on the way to La Quiaca