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Published: February 28th 2009
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We wrote this a while back, but hadn't had a chance to publish it yet...
On the 13th we bussed it from
Tilcara to San Salvador de Jujuy (pronounced who-hwee but John took to calling it ¨hooey¨). There we met Louise (from Scotland), Thomas (from Liverpool) and Pace and Laura (fellow 'Mericans who have just finished their 2.5 year Peace Corps stint in Malawi and decided to bike around Argentina before going back). We had breakfast together and then decided to all go to the hot springs. This was really just a modern pool but quite at bath water temperature. That night (Valentine's, actually) we drank some wine at the hostel and then went to a club to see a folklore band. Unfortunately we have no photos of these fun events as we were busy talking with our new friends!
Next we went to
Salta. The first thing we saw on the first morning there was an enormous grasshopper--always a good sign! It's been kind of a transition from being in Bolivia and lots of small towns to being in these cosmopolitan Argentinian cities. We're soaking up the cafè culture. We had to pick up more reading provisions to
take advantange. John got a translated Luisa Valenzuela and some animes in Spanish and Josie's still reading Las Venas Abiertas de Amèrica Latina and now a Marcelo Serrano novel.
All the travelers we meet agree that Argentinians are so nice and it's so easy to travel in Argentina. It's just expensive is all--especially the long bus rides. We are taking advantage of the free hostal breakfast and internet, hand-washing our laundry, cooking in the kitchens, etc. to try to cut down on spending. At least once we're in Buenos Aires we won't have to pay for bus tickets anymore.
After Salta we continued on to
Cafayate. Unbeknownst to us their huge folklore music festival was happening and we had to Mary and Joseph around the town looking for a hostal in the hot sun. Once settled in we didn't have to go looking for music--a band was playing right in our hostal's patio! We visited the oldest bodega in Cafayate and it is one of only 4 organic vineyards in Argentina. We tasted the wines and wanted to buy almost all of them especially since they only export as far as Salta. But, our backpacks are filling up fast even as we leave things behind and gift clothes to other travelers. So, we just picked up a lovely rose for our friends Ashby and CarrieAnn who are watching our car while we're gone. Thanks so much guys!
Argentinians don't seem to drink that much really, especially women, but they do like to party. As we walked to the bus station at 4:30am there were still tons of people out enjoying the folklore festival. We even saw old women with canes walking around at that hour! We felt pretty square that we had just stayed up talking to a nice Israeli couple until about midnight. How often do you get to ask Israelis personally what they think about the Palestinian conflict?!
Yesterday we bussed through wine country including beautiful Tafi del Valle to get to
Tucuman. It must have been 100 degrees when we arrived--it was just stifling. But, last night an amazing storm came and today it's cloudy, drizzling and cool, which we are loving. We met a New Yorker named Brian at breakfast and we're going to try to catch a movie with him and otherwise pass the day. Tonight we're taking a 14 hour overnight bus ride to Mendoza where we hope to stay for 4 days or so. We'll try to take more photos there as we recognize we've been lazy in that department lately😊
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