Blogs from Salta, Argentina, South America - page 64

Hola, Bonjour, Hello: take your pick, Argentinians respond to them all, and I am pretty sure that many prefer hello. What a weird place. Culturally this is the weirdest place I have ever been, at least of its kind. I have experienced, in Montreal let's say, the feeling that a people feel strained to portray and live the culture that they have adopted. It is kind of like a guy in a stylish suit that is baggy in places, which he knows and causes a slight insecurity, but nonetheless he is trying his best to play the persona of someone in an Armani. Here, though, there is a key difference to Montreal: Montreal is trying to be its own kind, a oneofakind, whereas here the feeling is unmistakably that they want to be another's kind, a ... read more

Only at a distance of one nights' bus from Cordoba, Salta is totally different from the rest of Argentina, primerly because of the people. No more the European look - half of the residents here look much more like Bolivians, and this difference is so sharp compared to the people in Cordoba. The architecture is also much simpler - almost all the buildings are 1 or 2 floors, although the city is quiet big. But like in Cordoba, the good stuff about Salta is the country side - those small villages around. Therefore I ended up renting a car twice - once going south of Salta, and once north. I had a luck renting a car with a great company - Paul from Norway, Cameron from New Zealand, Deborah from Australia and Eitan from Israel. The ... read more

"Do you understand any of that? Pantagruel asked the company; and Epistemon replied: I think that it is the language of the Antipodes. The devil himself couldn´t get his teeth into it. Then said Pantagruel: My friend, I don´t know whether the walls can understand you. But not one of us can make out a syllable." (Book 2, Chapter 9, Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais) The above quote is inspired by the fact that I have now been listening to the Teach Yourself Latin American Spanish CD on my iPOd for about four months. This has been useful to an extent. For example I am reasonably confident that I could buy half a kilo of bananas in a Columbian market, take advantage of the massive end of season reductions offered by a Mexican department store ... read more

After a long 11 hour bus journey, i arrived to Salta. stayed in a hostel called ¨terra occulta youth hostel¨...yeah don´t understad the name either! I had heard so much about Salta, but after partyin so hard the previous few weeks, i just couldn´t fathom getting out and trekking or doing anythng remotely physically challenging. The train to the clouds ( had been shut down, so our best views were from atop Cerro San Bernardo...no more walking!! we took the telefrico up! stunning views over the surrounding mountain-side as the sun was setting! Salta is one of the most southern cities in argentina, close to Bolivia, so i finally started seeng the mix of cultures. The people were smaller, stockier and definitely less attractive!! The hostel was great...but me and my mate alex were put in ... read more

Today for my last day in Salta I took a day trip to the small town of Cachi in the Calchaqui valley. Yet again I was shown that when it came to handing out dramatic scenery, South America got a decent share! We drove first through the cloudforest region of the Escoipe Canyon, up the twisting, winding road to the 3200 metre summit of the Cuesta del Obispo, through the barren cactus studded plain of Los Cardones National Park and finally to Cachi in the Calchaqui valley itself (surrounded by snow capped Andean peaks). To top that all off, I had a lovely leisurely 2 hours in Cachi wandering around taking photos, shopping for handcrafts and eating lunch al fresco. Aah holidays..... ... read more