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Published: February 5th 2008
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Argentina
Ginormous cacti! Arriving in Argentina and heading to Salta by bus from the Chilean border proved to be quite a deserted affair. Besides the moderate mountains and the 4 metre high cacti, it was pretty average scenery following our previous few weeks. It was also not helped by the fact that we were presented with ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, elevenses and lunch! It got better though...towards the end of our journey the exposed rock faces blended into rainbows of different colours. Dark reds colours were adjacent to bright greens and gunmetal greys, caused by different minerals within. It was also evident how much wealthier the country was comparitively as almost every house was brick, had a satelite dish, and 4x4 outside...and the buses are first world! We were now consistently at lower altitude and the weather was fine to blistering hot!
Salta was a townlike city, a lovely main square where the local people relaxed with their ever present "mate" gourds (filled with yerba mate tea) and thermos hot water flasks. It was the first place on our travels where we didn´t stand out as tourists. Locals eat at the same restaurants as tourists and there is also more of
Argentina
Colours in the rocks a european influence. We booked into a hotel on the main square hoping to be close to the action. We didn´t take much advantage of the local culture though and spent our time here walking the streets and enjoying long forgotten window shopping. The first evening the four of us (as we had lost the Kiwi couple) found a lovely restaurant, which we ended up visiting the second night too! A glass of champagne as we walked in the door (and two glasses the second time!)with succulent steaks. The wine was also top notch (Don David) as the area is known for its vineyards. We decided to take a detour from our itinerary to visit these wine farms...as you do...
The next day the four of us hired a private taxi and guide which drove us down to Cafayate, the centre of the wine region. On the way we stopped at a few sights worth seeing - amazing rock formations like the "devil´s throat", "ampitheatre" (amazing acoustics) and the parrot colony living in the cliffs. Our guide also stopped off at the best shop to buy coca leaves and we duly obliged. Just like sucking on leaves with a
Salta
Iglesia de San Francisco bit of tingling and numbness! The last stop was at the Vasije Secreta winery where we had a tasting. We tried the local grape: Malbec was a smoky and fruity red; Torrontes white had a very sweet nose and although fruity, tasted very dry.
The two of us found a comfortable hostel and stayed for two nights. Cafayate was even more relaxed. Families would meander around the main square from early in the morning till late at night, with a siesta inbetween where the whole place becomes a ghost town! We bumped into the Kiwi couple again and visited three more bodegas (wine farms) with them. The winefarms had museums and wine making equipment that was open to the public. Tours were interesting and differed from modern to ancient. One farm used an interesting recycling technique - vines produced grapes, grape skins were seperated from the juice, fed to the goats, goats cheese was produced, goats manure was produced that was then used as fertiliser for the vines! We purchased a couple of bottles of red and spent an afternoon in the park consuming these with goats cheese and crackers, while observing the world.
Our next journey was via
Salta
Katy and the pedal driven popcorn machine Tucuman to Resistencia by overnight bus. More ham and cheese sandwiches... but large leather sleeper beds, so we slept comfortably through the night. Resistencia is a small city with a grid like layout, located near the Paraguay border. It is known as the city of sculptures and yes, there is one on nearly every street corner! Some are very impressive and others less so... From animals to abstract art and even Einstein´s head! With an incorrect map of the good sculptures to follow, we got a little lost, but it was very pleasant to wander around spotting what we could in the basking sun. In the evening we encountered some locusts, just a few thousand of them - they were small but everywhere!
The second evening we took a bus to the adjacent city called Corrientes. We had been informed that the carnival was starting and it was worth a visit. We crossed the huge Rio Parana via an impressive bridge and arrived in the bustling town centre. A few people were queuing at a small kiosk and we joined, assuming it had something to do with the carnival. The man behind the counter just about explained that we
Valle de Cafayate
Looking up into the "Devil´s throat" could buy tickets for that evenings amphitheatre show and the procession the next day. We were assisted by a friendly looking local man, who said he was heading in that direction too. He was studying English and keen to practice he said. So we joined him and he pulled over a taxi and we were off... to the ampitheatre on the outskirts of town. His name is Walter and he supplies exotic ants to international collectors! It was an interesting evening talking about the ants... (Call us if anyone is interested!) We spent the evening with him and his friend watching the truly sublime performances of the three "comparsas" (dance groups) who expressed a story with their dances. Costumes were magnificent - hand made in the family home and used only once. It was like being at a football game, as each group had their own supporters who cheered and clapped enthusiastically. It was also a beautiful starry night and we were entertained up to 3 am, as were hundreds of families with their kids who did not show any signs of sleepiness! Walter had another taxi driver friend who offered to take us back to our hostel (buses finished
at midnight...) It is so difficult to meet a local person when travelling without suspecting them of wanting money etc as is sometimes the case. But we met a good man and had a thoroughly enthralling and unforgettable six hours together.
We took a bus to San Ignacio (mini) which is a little town half way between Resistencia and Iguazu. Here we took advantage of a local swimming pool and had a much needed refreshing dip. We visited the ruins of the Jesuit missions, which had housed 140 000 people at one stage over an expansive area. The missions were set up to convert the local culture to Catholicism using art and music as the main form of teaching and to ensure that the people were able to exist, while keeping some of their own ways, throughout the spanish invasion. The ruins are extensive and well preserved. It was lovely walking around the site in the evening sun. After dark we returned for a basic light show that lit up the ruins in different colours accompanied by baroque music. Again the stars were so clear. On our return to the town centre, the locals were gearing up for a
Cafayate
Children cycling in the main square carnival of their own. A less lavish affair but everyone was involved, from the tractor driver to the 3 year old enthusiasts! We paid top dollar ($4 including beers!) for a front row table along the street. There were a lot of fake snow canisters about - girls and boys took pleasure out of spraying each other all over, with everybody being caught in the firing line! Fireworks were impressive and so was the loud drumming that followed. A truly family and festive affair.
We went to bed at 2 am but the drums kept going...
The next day we waited for our bus to Iguazu for quite a while, but apparently it is worth the wait - we´ll soon find out!
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Fiona and Stuart
non-member comment
Sunshine
It's sunny in Warrington too you know, not hot exactly but the bulbs think that it is spring! Good to hear that you are absorbing the culture and have avoided any more mishaps.