What a difference a day makes

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In this instance the difference from Bolivia to Argentina came in the form of paved roads, supermarkets, cars, buses and people. We were in awe at the bus station - so clean and full of shops, food and cold drinks! We had met people in Bolivia who were travelling the other way and said they were surprised by the difference between the two countries - but as we had been through, Ecuador, Peru and then into Bolivia, the change was gradual so we hadn´t really noticed it. But we certainly did on the way back, Salta was like being in Edinburgh on a Saturday afternoon - people everywhere and full of shopping centres and great restaurants. We had planned to do some trips but to be honest I think we were so overwhelmed that we did absolutely nothing at all, apart from wander around window shopping and to do some people watching in the cafes.

We were a bit more active in Cafayate, which is in a great wine region so we sampled quite a few bottles of the local grape. We took a trip out to the ¨Quebrada de Cafayate" to see all the various different sandstone landforms - huge areas dominated by colourful rocks and canyons formed thousands of years ago. This area is really hot and dry still and out on a trip to the Quilmes ruins there was a mini sandstorm as it gets very windy in the afternoons.

We arrived back in Mendoza, central Argentina which is where we started in the country almost exactly four months ago. We only stopped for a couple of nights to break up the journey and to take part in a champagne night at one of the tasting places in town..I´d forgotten how nice it is, very dangerous! Now we are heading down South into Patagonia - we are looking forward to seeing greenery, I think we have had enough of salt, sand and dust for a while!

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Photos

Quebrada de Cafayate
A strange light playing on the rocks

Through the round window
Odd shaped formations

Colourful rocks
Layers and layers of different colours

Cafayate
A beautiful town

Quilmes ruins
A lot of dust!