Salta and beyond

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Before we left Mendoza, we had an amazing dinner at Don Mario's with Eric and Deirde from Texas. They were in South America for their honeymoon. The restaurant food itself was a bit ordinary (apart from the dessert), but the wine, champagne and company were fabulous!! We were introduced to a brilliant Malbec called La Linda- 3 bottles almost wasnt enough!
The night went so fast and we said our goodbyes at about 1.30am. Eric and Deirdre were off to Buenos Aires, and us to Salta the next day.....which is where we find ourselves now.
And Shane takes over from here as sleep deprivation doesnt do much for my recall of details, and I'm geographically challenge at the best of times :-) Over to you Sixto:

Saturday 27th August 2011

Have arrived in Salta after a 17hr bus ride. I am exhausted - I have nothing else to say!!

Shane says: Arrived at our beautiful hotel in Salta, De Virrey, after a 17 hour bus ride. Executive bus to boot. A full dinner and breakfast service, so no povo bus as Sharl's would call it. Walked around and organised a couple of tours for the next few days with a rest day in between. The city is beautifully constructed around a 'Plaza 9 de Julio' a day celebrated for independence from the Spanish. All cities we have come across so far in South America have fantastic park space in the centre of town. The people flock to these spaces,and fully utilise the squares.
A greatl egacy from previous generations.

Sunday 28th August 2011

Up early for a tour to Humahuaca (pronounced Um-whacker). What can I say about this place to do it any justice.? The highway snakes its way through Quebrada de Humahuaca, a painters palette of colour on barren hillsides. Majestic - take a look at the pictures. I will leave it at that. We also stop off at Tilcara, which is a 'pucara'(a pre-Hispanic fortress) with
unobstructed views. The altitude is 3200 metres, so we have a 360 degree view, and I will use that word again. Magic. We have some Llama for lunch and a litre of the local brew (Salta).
Well I do anyway.

Sharls says: This getting up early has hairs on it!! Its amazing how much the altitude affects
your physical performance here. The short climb at Tilcara of about 60 steps leaves both of us quite out of breath, but as Shane says, the views are spectacular.

Monday 29th August 2011

Rest day of sorts. We take the cable car up to Cerro San Bernado which overlooks Salta. Then down to walk the gardens and avenues. The hill is covered in waterfalls at all levels.
We stop off and have a Super Pancho (a hotdog with super hot chilli). A little boy is doing a Superman impersonation and yelling out 'Super Pancho'. I'm guessing it must be an advert! Nice hotdog though.
We find a nice restaurant for dinner,and Sharl's and I share a La Linda Syrah bottle of red.

Sharls says: Its not a rest day if you have to get up before 10am for breakfast!! What doesnt he understand? :-)

Tuesday 30th August 2011

Up early again for another tour and this time to Cafayate. If I thought that Humahuaca was magic, then this place blew me out of the water. We stopped at Garganta del Diablo (Devils Throat) and El Anfiteatro (Ampitheatre) It is martian like landscape and has distintive sandstone formations.
Sharl's and I climbed up some steep rock and I got right into the devils throat.
The ampitheatre had incredible acoustics, and 2 musicians were there to demonstrate that beauty. This was followed by some wine tasting (if you could call it wine).

Sharls says: Once again, early is an understatement. 6am!! I say no more! As for the wine it really wasnt much worse than the wine Shane normally drinks. He simply pays less for it. lol He drank it though and I didnt , which means of course that he dranks mine as well. Must have been just AWFUL!!
We thought we had timed this tour perfectly. The plan was to pack our bags, and leave them with the hotel, do the tour which was to finish at 8pm, collect our bags and then head to the bus terminal to catch the overnight bus to San Pedro de Atacama at 11.30pm.
So, we collect our bags as planned, head to the terminal and order a meal. I went to the counter to confirm the tickets. Low and behold, and without any real surprise to me the bus is cancelled!
The 'rock up' is now once again on the table. Rosy knows a really nice hostel. 'Yes', says Rosey, 'it have double room with private bathroom'. Rosey also says she take us there!
I have learned from Mendoza- check the room first. I checked the room, it smelled of urine, it had no bathroom, and we left!
We went around the corner and there were a couple of new hostels. We accept a room in a place that is more like a home stay. The bedrooms come of a lounge and kitchen area where the kids are doing their homework, but they have also built on extra bathrooms. I like it because its clean and its close to the terminal which is where we need to be tomorrow for yet another 7am bus ride.
Sixto heads out to get some money, and disappears for about an hour. I'm thinking he has been gone a long time, after all, if you turn left outside the front door, you head straight to the banks.
Short Cut Shane had other ideas though!! LOL

Shane says- Dont tell me Salta, I know Salta. I've been here three days, I reckon I know a quicker way home than just straight left. So as is always the case I take a little short cut (just a little one) and end up at the Terminal de Buses. Ahh well I need the exercise!!

Sharls Says: I rest my case!! :-)


Wednesday 31st August 2011

I'm Back!! We have finally arrived in San Pedro in the Atacama Desert. We've seen Salt flats with ice blocks all over them, wild Vicuna (like an Alpaca, but with finer and apparently much more expensive wool) and driven hundreds of miles up and over the winding Andes. When we finally arrive in San Pedro, it is to sweltering heat and dust.
Customs is hilarious! The six of us line up our luggage on a table and are asked to open all of our bags.
The customs official, a mother in her mid thirties, accompanied by her assistants aged about 8 years old, proceeds to simply pat the top of the contents and tells us we can go. Bizarre!
When we get outside again, the bus driver tells us this is as far as he takes us. We are gob smacked! Its a zillion degrees out here, no taxis and we have no room booked because we are a day late.
Then, as if out of nowhere, another one of those little ladies pops out of nowhere offering the clean, double room with private bathroom. We have little choice, and as it turns out it was at one of the little hotel/hostel type places we had looked at on Trip Advisor a few days ago.

Everything here is made of dirt. Everything! The roads are all loose dirt roads, and the fencing, homes and shops in the town centre are all made of adobe - a mix of mud, straw and water. Sometimes cactus juice is used in lieu of water as it is supposed to make the adobe bricks stronger.
The main street is a bit seedy really. Every restaurant in town has someone outside drumming up business.
First things first - tours 😊
We are going to Valle de La Luna tomorrow at 4, and then Friday we are once again timing the end of a day trip with an overnight bus ride. I am bloody exhausted! Shane has this amazing ability to sleep at the drop of a hat, no matter where he is. This is the only thing I have ever been truly jealous of in my life. If we could both do that, our lives would be so much more harmonious. LOL

Shane says: The bus ride was funny in more ways than one. Just before arriving in San Pedro, Sharl's starts to apply her make-up. She turns to me and blows me a kiss, and I just burst out laughing. She has applied a big black line down the middle of her nose. She has no mirror, she thinks she has done a great job. Hahaha. She rushes off to the
bus toilet cursing at me because I am laughing so hard I cant tell her what she has done.

Sharls says: How embarrassing!! Its true, but it was hardly a line, more like a blob on the bridge! LOL Its still not as ridiculous looking as the Pooey!!


Thursday 01st September

First things first - breakfast and then the washing! If any of you can give me the details of someone at home who can do my washing and ironing for $15 a week, I'd be forever grateful!! Oh, and I want it left at the end of my bed to put away! I love it :-)
We've headed to town today while its not so hot to have a look around. Its quite lovely and the old church is really 'old elpaso' if you get my drift.

Valle de la Luna ( Valley of the Moon) is a barren, salty landscape that is in fact like being on the surface of the moon. There are the strange rock formations carved by intense winds across the desert, with backdrops of dunes and nothingness. It really is amazing! We have seen so many different types of landscape in this country and just when you thought nothing could surprise you.....it does,day after day!

Had a nice little meal tonight. The thing they do really well in South America are the 'Completos'.
Set price dinner - choose from 3 entrees, mains, and desserts to create a 'complete' meal. It was a good idea to loose a few kilos before we left :-)


Friday 2nd September

Guess what time we had to get up this morning? No really, its ludicrous! 04.15am!!!!!!!!! hahahahaha, I am delirous with lack of sleep! Our bus picks us up at 5 and we are headed to The Geysers of El Tatio.
Put simply, it is an area of Geothermal pockets- The best time to see them is at sunrise when each geyser is surmounted by a column of steam that condenses in the bitterly cold morning air. The steam plumes disappear as the air warms up.
You can also bathe in the hot geyser water in a small pool,however the language barrier has once again foiled us so we didnt know. We have ascended to 4200 metres above sea level.

We stop at a little town with 8 inhabitants. The government allows them to feed snacks to tourist, but that is all. The little church above the town is not far, but it
takes all our breath to get there and back.
We are a little underwhelmed as the pictures are much more than we see this morning. We have experienced the absolute extreme in temperatures today - minus 10 degrees celcius at 7am and once back in San Pedro at 1pm, its about
35 degrees in the sun.
We have managed to kill the 8 hrs before our bus leaves for Calama at 8.30pm just walking and sitting in the shade.
From Calama, we catch the 11.30pm bus to Iquique. We met a New Zealander on the Calama bus who owns the Sunny Days Hostel in Arica where we will be heading in a few days. Number 1 on Trip Advisor, my bible!
What a stroke of luck!



Saturday 3rd September

We have arrived at 4.30am! Thats an hour ahead of schedule! The custodia where we can leave our bags isnt open until 7am so I am forced to sit there until we can find somewhere to stay.
Today, I take no prisoners! Shane has walked in to the main plaza to see whats about and he is satisfied that I wont be satisfied with what he saw. So at 7, we lodge our bags for safe keeping and walk down the beach. We are staying at the Spark Hotel, (after looking at quite a few) and I am happy as a pig in shit I must say. And so is Shane. Make no
mistake, he likes the 'fancy pants' hotels despite what he says. In 5 years time, I will have him 4 star plus all the way LOL
Heading to Arica tomorrow though. Not much going on here really.

Shane says: 4 star I doubt, but maybe 3? haha
Just had a great dinner at a buffet restaurant around the corner. Found it on our daily walk. All you can eat. The waiters bring around meat freshly cooked and carve it onto your plate. Latin music played live whilst Sharl's and I share a nice half bottle of red. Yes really ,a half bottle. This continent is a whole lot more than I expected. Food, wine, music etc
We are eating our daily Bananas which are costing us a whopping 90 cents a kilo!
I have really falling in love with the Argentinian Malbec. Since arriving back in Chile I cant find it here. Chile only sells its own wines. No imports whatsoever. C'mon guys it's only a short distance.


Sharls says: Christ, you'd think his throat had been cut! He had half a dozen cans at the hotel!!!
There are 2 things I am grateful for today: one, is that my hair is back to normal. Whilst in San Pedro, every time I put my hands through my hair, it stood on end!! It drove me crazy! The second is that since I was a kid I have always wondered why Smiths chips dont make a packet of chips that incorporates 2 or 3 of your favourite chips in the one packet.
Finally, I found one - a packet that has twisties, chips and french fries in the one bag. All of my dreams have come true!
lol
Big love to all xxxxxx

Sunday 4th September

One night in Iquique is enough to recharge the batteries as there isnt much to do. Even the duty free is ordinary, so this afternoon after a late breakfast and a late checkout, we have travelled 5 hours to Arica. We are staying at Sunny Days, after meeting the
owner, Ross, on the bus to Iquique. There is a communal kitchen and our room is private with a private bathroom.
We have met a lovely family here who also own a hostel in La Paz and the company Gravity, which among other things, do downhill mountain bike rides down the most dangerous road in the world - google it, as its spectacular!
Now dear mothers, I know we told you we arent about to go to La Paz, so at this point you may want to stop reading.
Karin and Alister are a lovely couple who have lived in La Paz for the past 17 years. Karin is from the U.S and Alister is from New Zealand. The have two gorgous boys and they have assured us that La Paz is more than ok to travel in.

To my Mum, I have no intention of doing the down hill ride although I will do the Zip Line, but to Mumsey, well Shane is another story! Dont worry, his insurance is up to date. LOL

Well its goodnight for now. My sincere apologies to Bullwinkle who checks for a blog update daily! Its Sixto's fault! He was in charge of the blog since the last entry so it has been put off until tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow!
I had to take over- it was getting out of control!!!!

Shane says: Sharlene's grasp of the Spanish language is worth a big hearty laugh. She justs thinks every word is English with an 'O' or an 'A' added to every word. Eg "I wanto to eato at thato restauranto". No I not making this up!!

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Photos

Llama Herder
San Pedro

Salta 054
Tilcara

Salta
City

Salta
Devils Throat

Salta
At the Three Crosses

Cafayate, Salta 097
On the way to San Pedro

San Pedro
Town

Comments

[Belinda Jane Bortolin]

Salta
That devil climb will get you fit - fantastic reading all the tales on travel and very interested in the "reds" reviews! Take care and happy travels - BB