Buenos Aires Apart Salta

... decision to emerge from the air. As you may be able to tell, this was a highly frustrating afternoon.

In the end we decided not to bother, which once we had made that final decision brought us a huge amount of peace. It seemed we were able to relax and think about how to spend our last 10 days in South America.

We had been bombarbed by people selling excursions all afternoon, the two day trips we fancied were to Cafayate and to Salinas Grandes ...

... sixteen, but there were only nine platforms. I gave up on him and decided to just watch all of the incoming buses carefully for mine. When that eventually arrived, I was outraged to discover that in Argentina the blokes who load your bags on and off the bus expect a tip. I handed my backpack to this rotund and greasy fellow and he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together with an arrogant yet expectant expression on his face. I gave him one peso. At the end of the ...

... 10!! We arrived in Tucuman in the evening and felt great.

We had 2 full days in Tucuman which was wonderful. Tucuman is the largest city in North Argentina and was just buzzing with people. Tucuman is a significant spot for Argentina as on the 9th July 1816, independence was declared from Spain. We spent the first day in Tucuman seeing the sights, the main square which is surrounded by beautiful buildings including the impressive ...

... tourists getting over excited about a little sunshine!) Weather wise we had bargained well in swapping a grey, smoggy overcast Buenos Aires for the sunshine and glowing heat of Salta. The weather though was not the only contrast as in Salta we found a rather different side to Argentina. The main plaza, with its beautiful buildings and lush park, lined by quaint restaurants and surrounded by green mountains was a refreshing delight after the ...

... 4 avec le guide à notre rythme. Cet homme est le seul en Argentine à avoir redécouvert ce qui s'est perdu au court des siècles et que les Incas dominaient : charger les chameaux. Pourquoi ? Parce que maintenant il y a des ânes, des voitures ..ect ..Du coup on a eu le droit à un merveilleux pique-nique au milieu des montagne avec une superbe vue ! Des sandwiches jambon fromage avec du pain fait par sa femme chez lui, du saucisson de lama, des chips à tremper ...

... lot about the indigenous population and culture of the area. There are currently small populations of various indigenous nations in this part of the country, but many of the ethnic lines were blurred following the conquest of the Inca. The Inca arrived in Argentina in 1415 and subdued the Aguitas people of the area. The Inca were not a virtuous conqueror, but provided the conquered peoples with knowledge of city development and the ...

April 14-15, 2009: Bariloche to Salta (via Neuquen, Santa Rosa, Cordoba, Santiago del Estero, Tucuman), Argentina "Train travel animated my imagination and usually gave me the solitude to order and write my thoughts: I travelled easily in two directions, along the level rails while Asia flashed changes at the window, and at the interior rim of a private world of memory and language. I cannot imagine a luckier ...

... then return on the self same bus for another 3 hours. I'm not sure either myself or Pete had really thought this one through. For although Irusya was incredibly beautiful the 6 hour bus journey over unlevel roads in a pretty dodgy bus stuffed with smelly travellers was less than pleasurable. I think I would have stayed overnight if I could have re-done the trip and maybe gone on a trek through the surrounding area. Superb place once you got ...

... wir recht sicher sein, dass heute auch niemand weiter mehr ankommt. So gern wir zelten wollen, das lassen wir mal lieber, denn es sieht nicht besonders sicher aus, und wir erinnern uns daran, dass San Antonio nebenbei auch noch auf ueber 4,000m ueber dem Meer liegt, und da wird es sicher bald kalt. Wir suchen uns also eine feste Unterkunft, was sich als gar nicht so einfach herausstellt, denn die meisten Herbergen sind voll. Erstaunlich, denn in seiner staubigen Trostlosigkeit ...

... it was only about $30 for each of us. It´s nice to take overnight buses because you don´t have to pay for a room and you sleep through the whole trip. We woke up in Salta around 7am and got a couple of cafe con leches (coffee and milk) and a couple of media lunas (half moons, or croissants). After a few hours of wandering around Salta lost, looking for the bus our Lonely Planet guide has listed as the one that is ...