Blogs from Cafayate, Salta, Argentina, South America - page 2

Vakar mane pavežęs vairuotojas parekomendavo aplankyti Quilmes griuvėsius. Tai buvęs inkų miestas kuris ilgiausiai sugebėjo priešintis ispanų kolonizatoriams. Nuo Tafi del Valle iki griuvėsių važiuoju autobusu, kadangi kitų variantų nelabai ir yra. Autobusas išleidžia mane prie pat kelio vedančio iki griuvėsių. Iki pačių grivėsių 5 km, nusprendžiu eiti keliu ir bandau stabdyti pravažiuojančius automobilius. Nuėjus apie 1km sustoja du olandai ir paveža likusius 4 km iki griuvėsių. Savo didžiąją kuprinę palieku prie įėjimo ir einu apžiūrėti griuvėsių. Ištikrūjų tai gal net ir sunku tai pavadinti griuvėsius, tai labiau primena pagal namo kontūrus sudėliotas storas tvoras iš akmenų. Bet vistik idomi vieta, be to ir kraštovaizdis čia neįprastas, daugybė didelių kaktusų kurie man kažkodėl asocijuojasi su Meksika. Kaktusų dydis, kartais siekiantis apie 5 metrus, daro nemažesnį įspūdį nei patys ... read more

Cafayete is a cool little town, a lot more going on than Cachi. We´re glad we decided to stay there instead of Cachi as originally planned. We got dinner, hit the ATM then hit the hay. The next morning we got on the road again, heading north back towards Salta. This time the road was paved the whole way, unlike the mostly dirt roads of the day before. The views were pretty epic, once again. Red rocks coming out of the earth at an angle, wide open washes and rivers. On the way we stopped at a little canyon thing called Garganta del Diablo (devil´s throat), same name as the big waterfall in Iguazu. We had to take off our flip flops to scramble up the rocks. ... read more

The second leg of our trip to Cafayate was pretty interesting. It was super early when we left Tucuman, so throughout the trip we both were in and out of sleep. At one point, the driver stopped the bus and asked a question I didn't hear but immediately several men exited the bus. 5 minutes later down the road, they got back on. Maybe a wight issue or something as it was rainy out and it looked like there was some construction on the road. I'll never know since we continued without explanation. At another point Chloe woke up and saw her shoes were missing. In the dark bus she started looking for them with her flashlight. She inquired the help of the only other gringo on the bus who's mate goard had gone rolling down ... read more

An easy day trip from Cafayate, the Quebrada de las Conchas was incredible. Cafayate has sunshine all year round, and under a clear blue sky, this vast, colourful geologists dream was fantastic. Meaning "valley of the shells", Quebrada de las Conchas has been formed over many many years and used to be underwater, hence there are shell fossils. The landscape is so different from anything else we had seen in Argentina. Our guide told us that Argentina is like five countries in one because it has so many different types of terrain. The only three things the same across Argentina are Spanish, the flag, and a passion for football according to our guide! Quebrada de las Conchas was almost desert like, with cacti and dry land, and colourful soft rock. We hired a driver for the ... read more