Blogs from Salta, Argentina, South America - page 5

We were all ready and packed and mentally prepared to leave our safe haven in Buenos Aires until it transpired that there wasa national transport strike and nothing was running the day we were due to leave. We booked in to a hostel near where we were staying and just had to suck it up for another night. after an extremely lazy/food filled day and sleep we were on our first bus of the final leg, heading north/inland to the second city of Argentina, Cordoba. 12 hours later we arrived without event, pretty done in from the journey. I wont go on too much about Cordoba because I dont really have much to say about it! A pleasant enough place but I didnt feel so excited by it.. nice churches, plazas and full of universities it ... read more

From Dusty Desert to Rain Forest Leaving Iquique and heading south down the Pacific coast to Tocopilla, we made good time, despite the massive road works while they create yet another toll motorway, at this stage as far as the Airport. We refuelled our motos and us at the Shell gas station in Tocoppila, before we headed inland, up into the the high desert once again. We made good pace in spite of the heat and isolation, with a couple of stops for drinks and a snack. As we approached Calama, we reached the highest point so far at 4845m. Some of the riders were feeling the effect of altitude by now and needed more rest stops. We regrouped at Calama, beside the worlds biggest Copper mine, the tailings are as big as mountains themselves, with ... read more

After an exhausting 21 hour bus journey we finally arrived in the Northern Argentinian City of Salta. Upon arriving at our hostel, we did the only thing we could manage...sleep. A couple of hours later, feeling a little more refreshed, we strolled into the centre of this historic city to have a look around the main square and admire the colonial architecture the city is famed for. The centre piece of the square is a spectacular cathedral, which was holding a service just as we were strolling past. We poked our heads in to discover an incredibley opulent interior covered in gold. Just as we were leaving, a local lady approached us asking if we were catholic; as we were standing in a Catholic Church Rich felt obliged to say yes and the woman gave us ... read more

Salta - skulle efter sigende være en perle i det nordlige Argentina. Men ulig Steinbecks perlefiskeren lykkedes det os aldrig helt at finde perlen i Salta by. Den var fattig, rodet, urolig og med meget få rimelige restauranter eller cafeer. Den sidste aften var der store demonstrationer i byen, som der har været i mange områder for nylig i Argentina. Det lokale politi havde derfor beordret alle butikker til at afskærme deres forretninger for at undgå plyndringer efter demonstrationen. Dog fandt vi et lille dejligt hotel ved byens Cathedral, og vi havde en vidunderlige dagstur i lejet bil til Cachi, hvor vi passerede fantastiske kaktuslandskaber, bjerge mv. Vi kom her op i 3000 meters hoejde, og stiftede for første gang bekendskab med coco theen, som skal blive vores foretrukne væske i det høje Peru !... read more

Tuesday 11 June to Saturday 15 June One of the most amusing aspects of my stay in Salta was the challenges of communication with the Hostel Manager. I’d like to add the caveat that I’d been speaking Spanish to others with relative success up to this point (knowing I was far from perfect and they were doing some of the work for me). Despite this, every time I spoke to him his face took on the expression of “What the hell are you going on about?” - basically a blank look with a tilt of the head and quizzical eyes. It was demoralising in some ways, as I’d really hoped my Spanish had improved after nearly 2 months, but I chose to turn it into a bit of a joke with him. We tried our best ... read more