The North-West region and city of Salta

So I'm now nearing the end of my initial time in Argentina, with the intention of heading towards/into Bolivia tomorrow. Despite lack of sleep, much time on the roads, and very little planning, the last few days have probably been the best days of my trip so far.

The city of Salta in North-West Argentina was a great place to unwind after the long journey, greatly influenced by the very friendly, locally-owned hostel. It is a city with a considerable amount of historic recognition in Argentina. For one, it was one of the richer cities within Argentina in the early days, also holding far more importance than Buenos Aires. The region surrounding Salta was also used a great deal by the Inca people at times of sacrifice, due to the beautiful surrounding Andean range.

As such, I managed to learn a fair amount about the city through various (modest) museums, but in particular the MAAM museum, which provided information and displays on the archeological history of high-mountain life. The main focus of this museum was on the "Niños del Llullaillaco”, or the incredibly well-preserved mummified children sarificed on extremely high mountain tops in the region, and various examples of Incan items found alongside these children when excavated.

Similarly, I got to see the beauty of the city from the ecological reserve (like a very green, small park with water features) high up on a nearby hilltop, and also have my first real Argentinian steak. This was with a few others from the hostel, and I think we must've eaten a almost half a cow between us! It was the biggest slab (actually two) of steak that I have ever had, and it was cooked to perfection. But this mass intake of meat didn't put us off attending the BBQ put on by the hostel owners the following night! This was also incredible, but mostly due to the beautifully-prepared local side dishes and familial atmosphere where a good 15-20 of us sat outside in the scenic garden, chatting till late. By this point, however, I had already booked a bus ticket for the following morning to Cafayate (a well-known wine village) which left at 6.30am. I knew that the night could only end one way, and low and behold it did! We got back from a few drinks out at around 5.30am, and so I got my stuff together and headed straight to the bus station for my 4hr trip to Cafayate!

Although I slept a bit on the bus, there was some fantastic scenery on the latter part of the journey that I knew I shouldn't miss. The Quebradas is a beautiful landscape of various red-rock formations, which goes on for many miles, making it a pleasant way to wake up slowly!

Upon arriving in Cafayate, I sorted myself a hostel and went to the local wine museum (little more than an old warehouse with wine-making equipment and old photos) and got to know my way around. Then I went to meet one of the guys from the Salta hostel, who had taken a slightly later bus. After going to the hostel and getting some quick food, we decided to rent some bikes in order to cycle out to two places: first some constantly-changing sand dunes; and secondly an area with quaint waterfalls and gorges. Upon nearing the dunes, however, we discovered that the usual dedicated path/road was still pretty flooded from the recent, heavy rainfall. Unfortunately, our idea of going off-road seemed to be greatly flawed as we managed to get 3 punctured tires between us both in less than 10 mins! Being 6km+ from town and in mid-afternoon heat meant that we were in for a pretty rough ride (or walk, as it were)! Yet a good 30 mins later, a young couple (Aril and Andrea) passing by on a small motorbike recognised what had happened, and set out to help us on the side of the road! We got chatting a little bit, and they had also had trouble a little while back when running out of petrol, and they had just been given some help too! It promptly reminded me of the reputed hospitality of Argentians, in particular that encountered by Ernesto "Che" Guevara in his Diarios de Motocicleta , or "Motorcycle Diaries"; this particular episode of my time in Cafayate will now be referred to as my Diarios de Bicicleta, or "Bicycle Diaries", given the coincidental similarity!

We thus gave up on the bicycle trips once back in town, and headed straight for the wineries, or "bodegas", for a quick tour and some subsequent wine tasting.

This got us in the mood for some decent wine, which led to us buying some wine and snacks back on the main square with our feet up, watching the (Cafayate) world pass by. All in all, quite an eventful day!

The following day we got the bus back to Salta. Having had a bit more sleep, I just enjoyed the scenery and we eventually got chatting to a young Belgian couple (franco/anglophones). The end result was that they were heading in the same direction as me, but thinking of renting a car and visiting one of the main sights on the way, something I couldn't do by standard public transport. So the three of us agreed to rent a car and set out on our journey later that afternoon. After passing by a small village called Purmamarca, known for its multi-coloured mountain-side rock, we eventually arrived at the Salinas Grandes, or salt flats. I really wish I could upload some of the pictures, as it was one of the most beautiful and expansive places I had been so far; it was at incredibly high altitude with incredibly strong winds, but we had managed to time it just right so that we saw it in full daylight, and subsequently as it was getting dark.

We then went to Tilcará, a quaint village, where we had a delicious meal, including the local llama specialty, and then moved on to a "peña" for some drinks. A peña is a bar where locals come together to play folkloric music typically on a guitar and a shallow hand- drum, with local singing or chanting that is subsequently repeated by others in the group. A fantastic experience as we were noticed rather quickly, and after asking if we could participate in any way, we were warmly included in what turned out to be an incredible experience for both us and for them. A memory I shan't forget for a while.

After spending two nights here in Tilcará (with the second featuring an end-of-january-festivals parade and celebration), I am now just one hour from getting the bus to La Quiaca just next to the Bolivian border where I plan to walk into Bolivia and move onto either Villazón or Tupiza. Bolivia here I come!