The wild, wild north-west

Graham: So another overnight bus took us to Salta, now in North-West Argentina. Its been hot and sunny since we left Cordoba and the grassy plains and forests have been replaced by a drier and more rugged landscape. Computers that move any quicker than the rocks are getting harder to find hence our blogs getting a bit infrequent. Usually takes me about 30 mins just to check out the footy results which of course is the priority!

Salta is an OK city, pretty dusty but with lots of colourful buildings and a lively atmosphere. We didnt venture far as we met some brits in the hostel and it was a good laugh just hanging with those guys. The hostel had a good roof terrace with great views of the mountains so we were happy spending our nights there. We did check out a museum that was exhibiting the 500 year old bodies of 3 sacrificed Inca children. They were found high in the Andes where the conditions preserved their bodies almost perfectly so it was pretty creepy. Interesting stuff though. They were the children of Inca rulers and it was considered a great priviledge to be sacrificed, with only the most perfect looking being choosen. This might explain why Andean folk arent exactly blessed with good looks these days!

From Salta we headed for Cafayate, a few hours into the mountains from there. On the bus there we passed through stunning scenery, with rugged red rock, cacti and dried up river beds..very wild west like. Cafayate itself is a great sleepy little town, well known for its wine and surrounded by moutains. We spent 3 days just enjoying the relaxed feel of the place, barbequing awesome steaks & sausage in the hostel garden in the evenings with an aussie couple from our bus, and exploring the area in the days.

Went on a mini-bus & trekking tour into the Quebrada de Cafayate, an amazing landscape of strange, multi-coloured rock formations...the pictures describe the place better than I can. There was only 4 of us and our guide took us well off the beaten track. He didnt speak a word of English, but hey what is there to say. They´re rocks! Spectacular though.

Quedraba de Cafayte

Of course we had to sample the local wines, so we got a couple of bikes and did a bit of a winery (bodega) crawl, grabbing plenty of free samples along the way...the cycling becomming more tricky as the day went on! Ended the day with a nice (and cheap!) local bottle of Malbec, fresh bread and some local goats cheese back in the hostel garden, tired but content.

Alicia was in handicraft heaven in Cafayate and was finding it very hard not to snap up everything she saw! She´s managed to keep the cards mostly in her pocket so far! The collapsing aussie dollar is really stuffing us up though...looks like we´ll be knocking those private bathrooms on the head for a while.

Anyway, back in Salta now before catching a bus to Tilcara in the morning, another 3 hours to the north and climbing higher as we get nearer Bolivia and its much needed cheapness!

Links to our other photos on facebook of this entry are below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76021&l=a4896&id=714561065