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Published: November 12th 2007
Real Gauchos
These were visitors from Catamarca. It must be a long ride home afterwards!Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, as they say! Our plan for the weekend was to go to Rosario de la Frontera and relax in the thermal pools of the posh hotel there. On arrival at the bus station we were told the bus was full, despite assurances earlier in the week that there was no need to buy in advance! That'll teach us for believing what we are told. We've been here long enough after all!!!
Instead we took the local
collectivo bus from outside the Central Market on Av. San Martin to Campo Quijano. It cost just 1.75 pesos to get there, and curiously 1.25 to get back! Not sure how that happened. The ride is about 40 minutes through the Southern limits of the city of Salta, past the airport and out into open countryside.
On arrival we looked for somewhere to stay. There are a few options of varying prices but we ended up in
Residencia Germania (Tel: 4904140) at the far end of the main street. It was fairly basic but comfortable and more than adequate for us for a couple of nights. At only 45 pesos for the room, it
was a bargain. The family were friendly, as were the dogs! Be warned though, the local football pitches are nearby and the referees are very keen to blow their whistles and assert their authority!
Campo Quijano has a limited choice of places to eat and drink, but there's enough for a couple of nights. If Salta is starting to feel "un-South American" then its a great place to spend a couple of days to remind yourself of where in the world you are. It has a nice central plaza named after the fictional character
Martin Fierro, the story of a gaucho which has just become a cartoon film here in Argentina. Various old agricultural machines are displayed in the plaza, and nearby an old steam train awaits your inspection, a relic from the haydays of the
Tren a las Nubes.
We wanted to hike in the luscious green hills around the town, but the weather wasn't too kind to us. The low lying cloud often obscured the tops of the hills and we didn't want to get lost in the cloud on unmarked paths! Instead we did a nice hike along the railway lines for an hour or so.
Careful Does it
It was a long way down and there was enough room to fall! At times it was like being on the set of
The Railway Children and we felt we had left civilisation well and truly behind us. Having driven up the Quebrada de Toro back in July, it was good to see some of the area on foot. Unfortunately the swimming pool at the camp site doesn't get filled until the end of November so that ruled out a refreshing dip at the end of our walk!
On Saturday we walked out to the nearby Dique Las Lomas, a big reservoir currently suffering from the end of the dry season! There was hardly any water in there so to call it a reservoir seemed a bit false. With the wet season imminent, I guess it will fill up soon enough. Still, it made for a pleasant stroll, and as usual we picked up a cute stray dog to entertain us along the way!!
Saturday evening was supposed to herald the beginning of the
Dia de la Tradicion festival. Unfortunately Mother Nature intervened and a fine drizzle all evening prevented the parade of floats/carriages and the open air peña (Que Pena! - Sorry, Spanish language play-on-words-kind-of-joke!). We had been looking forward
to music and dance in the plaza but it was not to be.
On Sunday the weather was better. After suffering in the intense heat for several weeks it was quite strange to need trousers and a fleece, and to regret not bringing our raincoats. Still, the weather held for the ceremonies in the plaza: raising the flags and singing the National Anthem. There were school groups, plenty of locals, a handful of tourists (we even heard British English spoken!) and several groups, or
fortines, of gauchos who came from far and wide to take part.
Following the civil and religious proceedings, we waited for the parade to begin. It was typically way, WAY, behind schedule! Last night's floats/carriages joined in too which made it a very long parade. At one stage we were asked to take part in some dancing but we declined and some other gringo tourists embarrassed themselves instead! The final part of the parade was the massed ranks of the gauchos. They were numerous and, after a while, smelly! It was a great parade but after you've seen one gaucho parade you've pretty much seen them all. We decided to head for the choripan
Don't Do it!
Trish wanted to open the sluice gates! stalls before the crowds did and missed the last 10 minutes of horses galloping by.
After lunch we headed back to Salta. Somewhere in Campo Quijano the festivities were due to continue into the night with horse taming, displays of horsemanship, and a public dance. It's a shame the day wasn't better publicised because I would imagine lots of tourists would have enjoyed it. Instead just a handful bore witness to an insight into Argentine rural life.
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