Don't Cry For Me Argentina

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I landed in Buenos Aires, feeling the air of familiarity wash over me as I caught a taxi back into San Telmo. After another night enjoying the best night life Palermo had to offer I boarded a night bus which whisked me away to the north east corner of Argentina and the city of Salta. Salta is a very agreeable city hemmed in by wonderful green hills with a pretty colonial centre.

The 18 hour bus journey had dropped me in Salta early in the morning and I had to walk for about 10 minutes in the blistering morning heat to get to my hostel, which was conveniently located one block from the main square. The city is quite vast and is the principle settlement in the north-east of Argentina. The colonial centre however is quite small and not much walking is required to explore all aspects of it. I checked into the hostel and dropped my bag before setting off to investigate.

My hostel was situated right next to the red and gold San Francisco church, which looked wonderful. The outside is beautifully ornate and the colours combine fabulously to create something very original. In the main square itself is Salta's main Cathedral, which is pink. Again this is freshly done and looks beautifully crisp against the blue sky. The interior matches the beauty of the exterior with large vaulted ceilings, an elaborate knave and a beautifully painted dome ceiling.

The rest of Salta's square and surrounding couple of blocks comprises of a series of crumbling colonial buildings of differing pastel colours. The streets are narrow and the decaying edifices hang over the pavements. One particular building is being held up by lots of wooden supports - a large crack down the wall outlining just where the building will implode. The centre of the main square consists of manicured gardens, statues and large trees. Surrounding this are lots of colonial buildings-cum-cafes and restaurants where one can sit and enjoy the hive of activity taking place in the square from dancing and singing to folk bands playing music.

The hostel I was staying at had organised a barbeque evening with 'all-you-can-eat' meat and wine for 40 pesos (about £7). I took advantage of this and stuffed myself silly - Bolivian cuisine is not supposed to be particularly palatable so I wanted to take advantage of good food whilst I still could! The free wine flowed all night but acted as a great social lubricant and culminated in a group of about 10 of us having an early afternoon coffee in the main square the next day.

We decided to embark on the day’s activities as a group which consisted of first going to the High Mountain Archaeology Museum and then the viewing platform on the nearby mountain. After successfully negotiating a group discount into the museum we wandered around interesting displays and information regarding Inca ceremonies, religion, culture and rituals. The displays are well done and informative and build well to the chilling finale which is the Children of Llullaillaco.

These children had been led up a volcano in the Andes near Salta called Llullaillaco and offered as a sacrifice to the Inca gods. Their bodies were found perfectly preserved about 10 years ago and are now on display in this museum. They were well preserved because of the altitude they were sacrificed at and the lack of oxygen and bacteria that can survive at this height. The children are kept in temperature controlled glass cases and are eerie to look at. Their skin is dark and leathery and their calm faces give them a relaxed disposition. The detail that can be seen in the hands and faces is incredible considering their age.

We next caught the cable car up to the viewpoint over Salta on San Bernardino Hill. This gives panoramic views across the city and from this vantage point made me realise quite how big a city Salta is. The historic town centre is a tiny part of an urban sprawl that stretches on until it meets high green rolling hills. We admired the view until the sun slid behind the hills and the city began to descend into darkness before making our way back down.

I left Salta the next day to head further north towards the Bolivian border. Instead of getting the bus straight there I decided to book onto a tour that stopped at significant sights en route. Argentina's North West frontier is a dry, barren province with colourful mineral filled mountains, cactus and remote traditional villages. This area is closer to the more traditional South America, where the European influence is much less and the look of the people and the culture is more indigenous.

After picking up some last minute souvenirs from Salta (namely mate flasks and yerbal mate - mate being tea pronounced mah-tay which Argentinians consume loads of) we set off northwards. The scenery changed from green cloud forest to rivers and mountains which became more devoid of life until we hit the first stop on the tour - the small village of Pumamarca. This was a delightful little place with a quaint, relaxed feel, dusty brown streets, and an excellent artisan market in the centre. The town is set high in the mountains and is framed by spectacularly coloured hills such as the Seven Coloured Hill which comprises of different coloured layers for different minerals elements compressed over millennia.

After this we proceeded further north to some pre-Inca ruins just outside of the town of Tilcara. The ruins are situated on top of a large hill and are surrounded by cacti. The views around are spectacular with dry arid scenery dotted with green cactus - the variety of greens and browns are beautiful. The ruins are a collection of small houses and courtyards made with stones that are surprisingly very cool and supported by cactus wood. We made our way down after ambling down some of the trails through enormous cacti and spent some time in the museum in central Tilcara before moving on.

The Tropic of Capricorn was next on the agenda. This line runs through an area just north of Tilcara and is marked by a large monument which resembles a sundial. This symbolic point is nothing more than a touristy photo opportunity. And so we jumped out, took our photo, contemplated what it meant to be standing on the Tropic of Capricorn (which didn't take long) before getting back into the car and motoring off towards Humahuaca.

Humahuaca is the gateway to the Quebrada de Humahuaca - a passage of cultural, social and economic significance for many centuries. It is a spectacular route that enjoys wide mountainous vistas and ruggedly wild and wonderful scenery. This region has also been recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site which underlines is historical significance. It was in Humahuaca that we all had lunch which consisted of some delicious tamale and Llama steaks which were very nice indeed.

Humahuaca is a decent sized town and a very pleasant place to spend the evening before heading into Bolivia the following day. The streets are narrow and dusty but wonderfully crisp and colourful. The shop fronts are well tendered and the artisan markets are varied and also very colourful. It was a nice place for a short amble with various shops, monuments and churches making for an interesting way to pass the time.

A not so interesting way of passing the time came when I tried to send some kit home. It took almost two hours in total and involved me going to the post office, being turned away in search of a shop that would box the stuff up, finding the shop, the shop being closed, going back to the post office for suggestions, being taken to the previous shop to confirm it was shut and that I was not just an idiot, going to another shop, having by box made, created, wrapped and re-wrapped painstakingly by an 800 year old woman before going back to the post office to finally have it sent. All this with my limited Spanish and finishing a few minutes before the post office closed. For all their striking Royal Mail aren't too bad after all.

I spent a comfortable night in a hostel in Humahuaca before catching the bus to the border town of La Quiaca. It was a bus ride that heralded more wild and spectacular scenery that stretched on to mountains. La Quiaca was a typical border town - devoid of any real life and character and feeling more functional than flamboyant. I therefore moved quickly to the border crossing, dodging the army of traders walking with impossibly heavy loads on their back two and from the two borders.

I got stamped out of Argentina, bidding it a fond farewell, before stepping into the crazy, dusty, frenetic streets that make up Villazon in Bolivia. This town reminded me immediately of my experiences on the sub-continent with crazy driving, street stalls selling a huge variety of goods and dodgy street food vendors. Welcome to Bolivia - I knew from this moment I was going to enjoy it here. Villazon does not have much to offer travellers apart from onward travel, which I wasted no time in organising. My destination was Tupiza, a 4 hour bus journey that cost about £1. Yes - I was definitely going to like it here.

The journey was quite something in itself - the whole road consisted entirely of gravel and so it felt like we vibrated our way to Tupiza. Glorious mountain scenery stretched high on each side of the road as it cut though impossibly steep canyons. The road stayed stunning until we reached Tupiza, a pretty town by a river. The town is an ideal base for organising excursions into Bolivia's spectacular south west and onto the Altiplano. Along with the group I had been travelling with on the previous tour up to Humahuaca, we had also recruited a Dutch couple that had the same plans. We therefore all organised the tour together which left the very same day.

The tour promised to be spectacular with the fitting finale of the Salar Uyuni Salt Flats. Despite being economically poor - Bolivia is geographically rich, which is something I would begin to find out the very next morning.

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Photos

Cable car ride
Salta

7 Coloured Hill
Pumamarca

7 Coloured Hill
and Mike.

Cactus Hugging
Northern Argentina

Old Lady
Humahuaca

Comments

[Mum Dad and boys]

One for the GB of Records
You may already have a comment from me for this blog which may have some jargon in the middle where I was adding to a sentence and then the whole thing vanished but if not then here we go again. I think your trip to date has been well accomplished and informative and yet you have more to go and probably even more amazing sites to visit and show to us. Absolutely fantastic may I say so far and not finished as yet. I think that the preserved children are spooky and I am not sure if I would want to see that. Royal Mail do seem efficient when compared with the local post office in Humahuaca but only just. That woman must be in the Guinness Book Of Records at 800 years old, wow unheard of since biblical times or what!! The Tropic of Capricorn Line looks so much more interesting in real life than on a map - something I would like to see. You must have enjoyed this bus trip especially the price. At last things are becoming cheap!! But the cheapest thing so far seems to be the free wine which keeps flowing from place to place. Speak to you soon. Love Mum Dad and Boys. xxxx