Mar 6, 2005 - Salta, Argentina

It wasn´t an hour that we were in Salta and we were at the nearest restaurant having ourselves that nice big juicy steak that we had been dreaming of. We were starving and tired but Salta definelty cured any deprevations we had experienced in the previous countries. Salta is a beautiful sub-tropical colonial city lying just below 2000m in Northern Argentina. The weather is warm and it is feeling great to be out of the high altitudes for a bit. There´s so much to do in Salta´s and surrounding areas (river rafting, trekking, etc...) but we...

Feb 25, 2005 - The long drives to Salta

Hello again! The next days were spent mainly driving and finding random campsites along the route to Salta in Argentina. We stopped at a Jesuit Mission and wandered round for an hour, imagining what life must have been like back in the days! We didn`t get enough out of it though as we didn`t have a guide to explain the history. At the first campsite Edu, the Spanish guy, took a few of us for a Body Balance class - he`s a fitness instructor back home in England! Excellent! And he`s on the trip all the way to Ecuador! I`ve missed exercise! It...

Feb 25, 2005 - Salta

At long last I don't have to wear long sleeves, a jumper and a coat!!!!! Warm weather!!!! I decided to go on a tour of the north west of Argentina, so booked a tour and waited for the bus to come and get me- and waited and waited. I was convinced I had returned to Bolivia. Anyway, after an hour and a quarter, the bus turned up very apologetic and full of good excuses. WE went traipsing afound the valleys and mountains for most of the day, then hit the salinas on the way to Chile. It was quite different to Uyuni as it ws dry and we could...

Feb 5, 2005 - Argentina - La Ruta de Los Vinos / Salta photos

Picture this ... you're on a wine tour. You're visiting one of the bodegas, admiring vines now heavy with grapes that should be ready for harvest in a few more weeks. You pluck sweet fat grapes from the vines, eating until your hands are sticky with juice and your belly is full. Ominous clouds darken the sky and the sound of thunder echoes around you. You move indoors, into the wine storage room where the bodega owner is explaining the bottling process. You start to hear the patter of raindrops as they hit the steel roof above. Just a few...

Jan 24, 2005 - Salta

Well, that was Argentina, I came to spend about 3 weeks here and have spent over 2 months, tonight I get the bus to Bolivia and leave all of Argentina's comforts behind. Salta is actually one of the best preserved colonial towns in argentina and was a nice place to spend my last week in the country. I made sure I had the biggest and best steak I could before I left, it may be a while before I eat so well again.

Jan 20, 2005 - Salta

Geographie · Salta Salta la Linda (jolie) comme bien nommee, Salta la ville et sa place du 9 de Julio, omgragee comme toutes les places ici, ses rue pietonnes ouvertes de 19h a 8h, et Salta la region aux multiples couleurs En esperanto, nous atteignons les 4000m pour marcher sur des Salines geantes (3m de sels craquent sous nos pieds), et rester sans voix devant les montagnes aux multiples couleurs. On a compte, il y en a bien 7! (bleu, vert, rouge, jaune, et euh, vous pouvez verifier...) On traverse des villages pre-colombiens,...

Jan 19, 2005 - Argentina - Cafayate

We took a day tour to Cafayate which is a lovely old town at the base of the Andes. The journey each way was 180km through winding roads in canyons with red rocks. The locals had managed to name several of the rock formations and we stopped at several. Some were impressive and others we couldn't really understand !!! The one that stood out was the ampitheatre which has amazing acoustics and concerts are held there. We were treated to a man playing the recorder (not quite the philharmonic orchestra !!!) but the acoustics were indeed amazing...

Jan 15, 2005 - Argentina - Salta

We arrived and it was raining and cool which was lovely after the searing heat of Mendoza. We walked around a while and then met Sabine at our hostel. We went to a restaurant near by the hostel (Dona Salta) and we had some local food (Locro). It was average, but we had to try it ! We then went on to some bars in Balcarce where it was exceptionally busy as it was a saturday night. By the end of the night we had managed to empty a few bottles of wine ! On Sunday we had a walk around the market in Balcarce and the rest of the town. In the...

Jan 5, 2005 - Subject to Change

So, have you ever gone into the dentist for a routine check-up and come out with open heart surgery? Well, probably not as dentists typically aren't trained to undertake such procedures and thus you likely would not be here now reading my meandering musings. But before I left BA, I needed to tend to some logistics (life on the road is just not all playtime)...I replaced my sunglasses and iPod case, bought some scissors and hair goop, retired my worn shoes and tracked down a lens for the bad ass new digital SLR that Nicole brought down from...

Dec 29, 2004 - Go the Argies!!

We decided to skip Northern Chile and head to Northern Argentina instead as we had heard so many great things about it and that it was a lot cheaper than Chile. So here we are in Salta, a fantastic city in Northern Argie. What a great city it is, it is very small with a pretty square and lots of pedestrianised streets to wonder through. It has a great atmosphere and the people are great! We spent our two days here visiting the musuems and other places of "interest" in the city and spent a bit of time in a games arcade and looking at the...

Dec 26, 2004 - Salta, Argentina

The day after Christmas we had a 4 am bus to the Bolivia/Argentina border. The border crossing itself was very quick and easy. Despite the fact our bus was packed to capacity (over capacity, actually) we and the English couple (Steve and Cathy) from our tour were the only people going to Argentina. We bought direct bus tickets to Salta, 7 hours from the border. However, when we got to a town called Jujuy 5 hours into the trip, everyone else on the bus got off. When we asked what was going on, the 4 of us were informed we had to change...

Dec 4, 2004 - Into Argentina

Crossed over from Bolivia into Argentina. Near to the border, the truck stopped and we could hear the tour leader shout "donde esta Argentina?" ("Where is Argentina?") to a passing local. Asking directions to a rather large country does not inspire much confidence does it? It´s a quote that will stick in my mind for some time though. One past the dodgy town at the border, it was soon obvious that we were in a more "western country" - for example the school kids playing football all had proper kit rather than any old t-shirt, etc. Definitely...