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Published: September 8th 2006
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Tucuman
It was time for a break from BA but was I ready for the 23hr bus journey? Cama? Not for me thanks, I want discomfort for the whole nine yards. I really want to feel ready to explore the North.
We actually wanted to go straight to Cafayate but you can't so, on the fifth or fifteenth stop, we had to change to another bus, which meant a 4hr wait so we took the opportunity to have a look around Tucuman, albeit a rather sleepwalk look.
After maybe 10 mins of walking and trying to convince our body clock it was lunch time and not breakfast, we gave up and decided to sit down for lunch with a good bottle of wine and the only veg option on the menue (good old pasta). Tucuman is quite nice. It doesn't feel like the tourist is over-catered for, there is still a local feel to the city. And there are loads of orange trees in the main plaza which give off a lovely, sweet smell.
Cafayate
Now, this was something else. Small little peublo. Quiet, local and with a very welcoming feel. After Sal negotiated the hostel down so
Facade
I showed this to my students and they said "why are Europeans obsessed with taking pictures of old and ugly things?" that we only paid $35 pesos for our room, we stretched out on the beds in a very, welcome horizontal position.
Next day we set off on a walk to the waterfalls. There are seven altogether and a much needed source for this province as it is incredibly dry. The temperatures reach 50 degrees here in the summer. We went in winter and it was hot enough to want to sit in the shade.
The hike took a couple of hours and was made even more pleasant by the companions we picked up along the way. First, whilst waiting for a remise, we got chatting to a couple (Benjamin from Cordoba, Argentina and Maria from Valencia, Spain). After the remise dropped us at the start of the "path" we soon passed a girl of 10yrs old - Ruth, sitting on a rock and we casually enquired if she wanted to join us. She timidly agreed and followed, but as we walked for longer, she grew in confidence, and ended up taking the lead and became our guide. It was great for me, as it meant a whole day of listening and attempting to speak Spanish.
The "path"
Ruth and me
This little girl was 10yrs old. She was the oldest of 7 brothers. She was quite shy at first but became very giggly and enjoyed being our "guide" for the day. took us across very dry streams and up very dry valleys. Nothing really grows here, only cactus. At the first waterfall, Sal actually stripped off and dunked himself in the freezing cold water. Nobody decided to follow suit when we saw the look on his face and a period of silence after he got out.
The rest of us drank matte, ate fruit and threw pebbles at far off stones.
The journey back ended up taking longer as we decided to forgoe the remise and walk the 5km back into Cafayate. Rather than walking on the road we decided to take a short cut, which turned out to be through someone's territory and most definitely the area that 4 angry dogs had marked as theirs. They picked off the women, surrounding me and Maria, growling, snarling and looking like they could do with a good leg of leg. Thank god for Spanish speaking men, who called out to the owners, and the dogs were shouted back.
The evening was spent drinking more wine and sampling the local food - humitas (mashed up sweetcorn and potato, wrapped in the leaves of the corn) - tamales (mashed up potato
Walk back from the waterfalls
This was quite high with a drop off to the right, where Ruth's home was. Sal, Benjamin, Maria & Ruth. and meat with herbs and spices, also wrapped in something). And cazuela which is a nice thick stew with potato, sweetcorn, meat and herbs.
Devil's throat I'd heard you can hire a bike in Cafayate, and then catch the Salta bus and get asked to be dropped off at the Devil's throat - 46km from Cafayate and you can cycle back to the peublo. How excellent! What a brilliant way to see the landscape.
We caught the 9.00am bus and were dropped off at the start of our cycle ride back. Here there is a cave, called The Devil's throat. It is a magnificent cave that has been created partly by the wind and partly by the strange rock formations of these parts. We climbed up and into the cave but after listening to our echos for a while, I was ready to push on to make some headway into the journey back.
The scenery was stunning. The road was really quiet so we had plenty of time to take in the mountains, the river, the valleys, the colours, the contrasts and the scale of it.
We made a stop to see the famous rock formation
The cave
An amazing, huge cave which was at the start of our 46km cycle ride. (see the pic with the different coloured layers). We had to do about a 3km walk to get there but, what was so fantastic was that there was absolutely no one around. It was a huge open plain of dry, dusty rock and these huge formations stuck out everywhere. You could really feel the sun here and so it was a great relief to find a tiny patch of shade where we could eat our packed lunch.
We arrived back to Cafayate with pretty sore arses and sun burnt arms. It had taken us 7hrs. But well, well worth it.
Next day, we did a wine tasting day, visiting two (free) wineries where you could sample the wine and the goat's cheese. The tour's were in Spanish, so I didn't catch much of what was being said, but basically nearly everything is done by machine now, how you store them, which cork you use and how they are transported all affect the taste. Nuff said. We were sold and bought a bottle and some cheese.
Salta
It's a big city and it reminded me a little of BA. I was slightly disappointed because I didn't really want
The cave
The acoustics were good too. to be in another big city but I should have realised the size of the place beforehand. It is cleaner and more polished than the other places we had seen, but the people all still had darker skin and looked Bolivian.
We spent a day in the city including walking up to the top of the telferico (cable car) where we could see over the city. It was nice to walk up the hill because we passed all the locals, doing their exercise circuit.
For the last couple of days, we stayed in San Lorenzo (10km from Salta) which is a small little place, in the hills. It reminded me a little of a poorer version of the Hampton's next to NY. Filled with huge houses and posh hotels with swimming pools and not much else. It's where a lot of rich Saltaneans escape to in the summer.
Then, it was time to get back on the bus and brace ourselves for another 23hrs of tying to find a comfortable position.
I must thank Sal for these fantastic photo's. My camera battery went dead on the first day and so these are all his work.
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amanda the great
non-member comment
you've been busy....
nice to see some new pics/stories up here. your trip to salta looks a bit different from mine. you were on bikes whereas we travelled in a car... so lazy. like the fancy hotel- nice job. see you soon- HOPEFULLY. miss you lovelove