Salta

I got the ´flechabus´ coach from Iguazu to Salta at 11am, the service was appalling...no toilet paper, no water to flush the toilet, about 10 stops even though we were told direct, a technical stop to change the tyres, half the seatbelts didn´t actually work...the list is endless. About 20 odd hours later we finally arrived to one of the most beautiful cities i´ve ever seen. I say ´we´because next to me on the coach sat a couple who were also heading for Salta as travelers and they invited me to stay with them at the hostel and visit the various places around the area together. Eduardo lived in the same neighbourhood as me some fifteen years ago, and we got on really well, his girlfriend Kirsi is from Finland and this is her first time in Argentina, she´s a nice person too and like us loves all the Inca influenced cultures of the area.

We went for a few drinks and something to eat on the first night and that´s when we realized just how beautiful this city is, the sun seems to be always shining, and it´s 35c + hot but not humid, it´s really enjoyable. The city is full of culture and the places play typical northern music which includes Zamba, Chacarera, etc. There are also a lot of Peruvian groups playing Inca style music with Panpipes and other traditional instruments, this music gives the area a really historic atmosphere and it feels like you´ve been taken back in time a few hundred years to when the Indians still populated the area. The food here is magnificent, Salta is famous for their empanadas and it´s no wonder why, they´re always made fresh and always taste like the best you´ve ever had!

Yesterday we went for a walk in a place called Cafayate, it´s about 4 hours away by coach. The way there is amazing, you go through the cordillera in an area that´s very dry, and has some strange and wonderful rock formations that keep you amazed every second of the the two hours you drive through the area. Cafayate is your typical small village from the north of Argentina, the people are so chilled out it´s unreal, the atmosphere is uniquely relaxed and the weather was sunny as anything. There was a walk some 6km from the town that followed a stream up a mountain towards a series of waterfalls. It was probably the best walk i´ve ever done, you had to find your own way through the rocks, crossing the stream and deciding which side was the easiest, safest or just best to walk up the mountain from. Some parts were a little dangerous, but we eventually found our way to the beautiful waterfall in the middle of nowhere, some 2500ft high in the Andes. There were several points where the stream had natural pools where you could take your boots off and take a swim at, it´s one of the most beautiful things i´ve ever done.

Salta is a magic city, the culture keeps you amazed at night and the mountains never fail to impress during the day, the hostel we´re at is cheap but we´re living like millionaires, Ed and Kirsi will be heading up to Jujuy tomorrow where even more amazing things await, i´ve been invited to go with them for a few days until they head up to Bolivia which i might take up, would be interesting to see the salt deserts and other unique things Jujuy has to offer. From then on i´d definitely start heading south, possibly to Cordoba.

I love being back in Argentina, you can get in a car that´s falling apart and it´s normal. So many things don´t work as they should, so many things go wrong, but you don´t get angry and you certainly don´t really make a big fuss out of it, you just laugh and label it as 'nice to be back home!'.

Santiago.