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Published: January 10th 2008
After Jake had recovered from food poisoning on the way back to Buenos Aires we headed back up to the north of Argentina, this time to Salta for the first of three scheduled stops on our way to Uyuni, Bolivia.
After a 20 hour bus journey we arrived at our destination. Jake was feeling much better, however it was now Craig´s turn to endure food poisoning on a bus. We will spare the details, only to say that it was all very emotional.
The first day of the excursion jake and daniel arose at 6.30am sharp to go ´back to the clouds´. Craig stayed in bed feeling rough as a badgers arse. The trip was amazing, reaching 4,200 metres above sea level. We learned that a road we had used in patagonia (the south) was the same road we were travelling on this trip, namely route 40. It is the longest road in the world and measures over 5000km. We travelled from the rainforest and by the time we had finished we were in the desert. As you will see from the pictures there were thouands of cacti along the way, expecially the one area. The trip also entailed
seeing an ancient Inca road, which still baffles scientists today, not knowing how they got it so straight, although the general concensus seems to suggest the sun was used. The meal on the trip was a highlight for Mr Knight who had ´the best lamb, ever´, a suprise as it was in the middle of nowhere.
That night Danny and Jake sampled Saltas night life which was suprisingly vibrant. Muchos tequillas later we ended up in a pool hall on the tightest tables in the world. It was there where we tasted the delightful Fernet Blanco which is a highly potent liquor and does not come highly reccommended. However a good night was had by both.
After a long overdue day off (we played cards) from travelling and activities we headed on another tour. The tour set off at 5.30, and took us to over 4,000 metres above see level and started with a trip to buy some coca leaves. These are constantly chewed by the locals, giving them all godfather like cheeks. They help when travelling to high altitudes so we were advised to use them on this trip. After about 10 minutes of chewing we all
decided that the taste was not worth it and all managed with the increased heights. During the trip we stopped at a museum where we had the pleasure of hearing Greensleeves being played on bell stones and witnessing a mummy from around 1000 years ago. He was around 30 - 35 years old (must of had his driving licence on him) and travelled to the museum on the bus, with the carrier even being charged for the mummy by the driver when taken there. We also saw some salt planes, in existance due to the mountains either side of it, which are mined by major american companies. On our way back to our hostel we stopped in two small towns for refreshments and site seeing.
That evening we made the most of a bbq in preperation for a 10 hour journey to San Pedro de Atacama the following morning.
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