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Published: October 13th 2006
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Feeling i´d proabably seen all the was to see in Tucamen and still on a high from the fun and frolics of the tractor convention i decided to move on to the next place. As i walked down the street with my backpack i suddenly relaxed and made the fatal mistake of thinking.....wow this is all pretty easy i´m getting really good at the backpacker malarky and practising how i was goign to ask for the ticket to my next destination. Big mistake. As i arrived at the bus station and as rehursed asked for my next bus ticket i was treated to a shake of the head and i cascade of spanish which i have taken to mena´i´m awfully sorry old chaps it appears there has been some kind of landslide on the road to Tafi del Valle so unfortunately i cannot sell you a bus ticket.´Bummer. Starring blankly a the man i´ll admit i didnt understand a word that he said and meakly asked ´not today?´, ´no´, ´not tomorrow´, ´no´. i slunked off with m backpack to be treated to a five hour wait in the stifling heat as i changed my plans to head northwards for Salta.
Gloriously gaudi cathedral for St Francis of Assisi
A tad strange for a man who was renouned for living such a simple life Ariving at the ill advisable time of 11pm (sorry mum) i took a taxi straight to my hostel, finding it to be very nice and enjoyed a late beer before heading to bed.
Salta is, in parts, a very beautiful city. the churches are amazing. Especially the one dedicated to my very saint francis of assisi. I spent the day wondering around taking it all in before having a sudden energy burst and climbing a very very big hill to be treated to some great views over the huge city. Returning to my hostel i met my room mates who turned out to be a couple of lovely swiss girls who invited me to join them travelling to the place i have originally intended going to before salta. Very early the next morning we set out on ´the most scenic road in Argentina´ apparently and very impressive it was. Soaring mountains of red rocks, hundreds of cacti standing comically everywhere, and a vast expanse of not very much at all. Four hours later we arrived in Cachi. One hour later we realsied there is really not much at all to do in cachi, and more importantly not really
many ways of getting out of cachi. A slight problem indeed. We had to comandeer the services of a taxi driver to drive us back along the same road we had spent the entire day travelling along to arrive really not that far away from our point of departure. Here we spent an hour waiting for a bus and another three hours on the bus before arriving in Calfayte.
I loved Cafayate. Spending time with the girls was great and the surroundig countryside is spectacular. We spent the mornign visiting more wineries and the afternoon looking at the most impressive landscapes i have ever laid eyes on. a visual feast for a geography geek such as myself. The next day, (feeling very much the worse for wear after a very enjoyable night out cahtting to some ´women´....turns out they were actually travestites, and as i realised in the light the next day not very convincing ones! The absolutely loved me though as i constantly refered to them as chicas completely oblivious to the fact they were actaully men!)
we went for a trip to a waterfall and spent the day scrambing around rocks enjoying very much not being on a bus! Afternoon activities involved picnics in the desert for th three of us and all the fun of a flat tyre miles from home especially for me. Yet another late night with a huge barbeque and numerous glasses of the local tipple, the lethal Fernet.
As is the travelling life the next day it was time to say goodbye to the girls, we spent the morning enjoying the games hall playing table football and pool. Sorry to say the English Swiss competition was heroically and totally lost by my goodself. Once the goodbye were over i headed out on a quad bike to explore the dunes with another friend from the hostel. Yet again the scenery was amazing, the photos cant do it justice, and riding quad bikes was so much fun!
I missed my planned bus to Salta so was offered a free ride by my friend (freebie Heenan strikes again!) working at the hostel smaller places back up to Salta the next day. I have spent more time on buses than i wish to think about in the last week as another day was filled with a driving along some (more) spectacular scenery. The trip was vertainly hair raising as we asended and decended some particuarly shoody roads through the mountains, another visit to cachi (as if i hadnt seen enough of it the first time around!) before arriving tired, dirty but very happy back in Salta. And that brings me up to date! Tonight it´s time for yet another bus journey up to the border with Bolivia to cross over to another new country tomorrow morning....watch this space!
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Helen
non-member comment
dreamin of a past time
Oh Claire, I'm sitting in an internet cafe and I really wanna go back to being a filthy but happy backpacker. Enjoy the great time you have, this is something special. Lots of love Helen