Before we left San Juan we invested in a couple of small units of pepper spray – for the dogs – not that we have had any dogs chase us but that is probably one of biggest worries – so we are now armed with pepper spray – complete with invisible dye that shows up under IR when the dogs are brought in for questioning!

From San Juan we had a lonely road to an intersection truck stop called Talacasto – the road climbed more than we expected but Talacasto was a neat little spot to camp for the night amongst the deserted old railway buildings whose roofs had all collapsed in. We were able to get water from the basic truck stop building.

Next day the Gods smiled on us by depositing a load of olives on the side of the road. Jo – ever on the lookout for roadside bootie – spotted the containers (all split bar 2) and we drained the liquid and added one container to our load. The last score had been a massive garlic bulb. We had a hot long 120km day to Jachal and were spoilt at our destination by another deserted camping ground, sorrounded by olive and quince trees and with a swimming pool. We traded some olives for quince jelly with the owner. We took a liking to Jachal and in the plaza the next day watched the dog lady whistling up and feeding the local strays.