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Salta La Linda We arrived in Salta after a 28hr bus ride, stopping only for police searches and a change at Tucuman. We checked into the lovely Provincial Plaza hotel at 0100 and got some much needed shut eye.
´Salta La Linda´ (Salta the Pretty) truly lives up to its name! It is by far our favourite city to date. The people are very friendly and take true pride in the appearance of their city. All historic and religious buildings have been well maintained and by night come alive with colourful lights. Salta is the most happening centre of northern Argentina, filled with a passionate (Cupid definitely lives here!) youthful population, plenty of fine cafes, restaurants and shops. It is also a popular stop for travelers heading both north and south. It is also a handy gate way to the incredible and varying surrounding landscapes.
Highlights of Salta:
- Making the most of the café culture in the Plaze 9 de Julio, and watching the world go by.
- Tour of the city taking in Cerro San Bernardo, various rich and poor suburbs, the artisan markets, the imposing statue of General M.M. De Guemes and the
trendy summer retreat of San Lorenzo.
- Pancho the dog who took personal pride in escorting us through the streets of Salta. He magically located us on three different days and ran along side us barking at anyone who came near, cyclists in particular got him going!
- Preparing for the Inca trail by walking the 1070 steps up to the top of Cerro San Bernado, in 24degC heat. At the top we rewarded ourselves with a glass or two of local white wine, Torrentes.
- Enjoying the traditional regional cuisine, and still ordering far too much food!
- As mentioned above, the stunning presentation of most of Salta´s historical and religious architecture.
Trip to Cafayate We decide to spend a day driving south to the local wine region of Cafayate. On the way, we drove through the amazing Quebrada (gorge) of Cafayate, where we stopped at various scenic vantage points to enjoy the ever changing panoramic vistas.
We also visited a local bodega (winery), bought some wine and enjoyed a lunch in the quaint town before meandering our way back to Salta.
Salinas Grandes and Purmamarca We also used Salta as a
base to head north on a day long drive (14 hrs). We set off early and drove up to San Antonio de Los Cobres (parallel to the now defunct Trains to the Clouds) via a tiny 33 person population village of Santa Rosa de Tastil. Here we visited a pre-inca settlement in the hills.
Once we arrived at the dusty and isolated San Antonio de Los Cobres (sitting at 3775m) we enjoyed a tasty lunch and a litre of Fanta. We then made the bumpy journey (Kerry slept most of the way!) to the Salinas Grandes (huge salt plains of Argentina). Here we marveled at the natural salt formations, the salty handicrafts and the closed salt restaurant.
Next leg was to cross the gradual ascending roads through the high altitude Quebrada de Humahuaca. Here we reached our highest point yet, 4170m. We also, for the first time, felt the side effects of high altitude. We were also fortunate to see the rare and wild cousins of the llama (called Pedro, Raul and Jorge). Nice!
After slowly making our way back down to the picturesque town of Purmamarca, we stopped for while to check out the traditional markets
and have a coffee. Our last leg was the 3 hr drive back to Salta. What an amazing day!
In about 30mins we are hopping back on a bus and are heading south to Mendoza.
Until then, ciao for now!
Kai and Kerry.
PS The Travelblog website has been having problems recently. So please bare with us.
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Browny
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We are ready to go
Bom Dia, We are all ready to go, a few final things to get like waterproofs! All very excited see you in Cusco on Wedneday!!!!!!!!!! XXXXX