Gran Hotel Panorama San Salvador de Jujuy

... traffic behind us, thankfully they let us and Carlos creep through. I like to think it was probably the gringa face that won us freedom!

After our Jujuy ordeal we continued on to Salta, where, after an hour of being lost in their horrifically un-sign-posted highway system, we headed on to the south. The drive was absolutely beautiful, with bright pink, orange red rocks and amazing formations of stone lining the roads. We stopped off at lots of specific formations -some with ...

... baths as usual, but a private room overlooking a peaceful wooded valley. The hotel which housed the thermal baths was spooky and isolated, and to reach it you had had to drive down a deserted country lane for about half an hour, though when we got there it was very luxurious. After our relaxing bath, we headed back to Jujuy, where we parked a car in a nearby car park for the night. We would pick it up the following day, and continue towards Salta, where we would be dropping the car.

... steak went down a treat. Llama tastes alright, quite like lamb and beef mixed together. And after eating their brothers and sisters, we got to wander around and approach the llamas they keep in town. Unsociable beasts that they are, they refuse to allow themselves to be petted, run in the opposite direction when you walk towards them and don´t even look at the camera when you whistle at them. Altogether a fantastic look at some real wild country...

... but we were friendly because we´re open minded people. Finally he hit on U2 and Bono. He was very pleased with this. Yes even people who live in mud walled villages in the middle of forests get celebrity news. The best bit was when he started his sales pitch. He first waited for an opportune silence and then began in a loud and comically emphatic voice. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the bus!" From his briefcase he produced the first item for ...

... En het idee dat er achter de wolken een berg staat van 6959m is toch gaaf. Om er te komen moesten we over een weg die - zeggen ze - 365 haarspeldbochten heeft, en daarom camino del año (weg van het jaar) heet. We hebben overnacht in het dorpje Upsallata, waar Brad Prit ook te gast was tijdens de opnames van Seven Years in Tibet (Ach, Seven Years in Upsallata in the Andes klonk wat minder tof). Op de terugweg naar Mendoza zijn we nog even door het wijngebied gereden en ...

... the things that are allowed to go on there just blow my mind. It's amazing the country even runs. I like to refer to it as a 'cowboy operation'. I feel like the whole thing is just thrown together last minute by someone who might seem be the boss. One of the great parts is that it still has a ton of great culture and indigenous influence. I still can't get enough of the ladies with ...

... Luna. That was cool to see, we had a great view of Licancabur Volcano (5,920 meters, or nearly 20,000 feet), which is on the border of Bolivia and Chile. I had seen this same volcano during my tour of Southwest Bolivia, when I didn't think I was going to end up traveling to Chile. I had taken out what I hoped would be the right amount of Chilean pesos in Iquique before heading to San Pedro because I heard that, although San Pedro does have an ATM ...

I had planned to visit more of Salta in the morning. I took a bus to a market somewhere out of town, thinking I'd get to a local market.... but as usual it was an artesanias market: handicrafts for the tourists. It was quite a change though, as in addition to the mates and jewellery and other stuff, there were a lot of fabrics and clothes, mainly woven wool, typically the trademark of the altiplano ...

... me gustaría cruzar por el Paso de Jama (corredor bioceánico) hasta llegar a San Pedro de Atacama en Chile (http://www.sanpedrodeatacama.net/). Por lo que pude averiguar, no son más de 500 km en una ruta que va en bajada, parece que tan fuerte que hay carteles por todas partes para que los vehículos circulen frenando ...

The best part of our 2nd day in Mendoza was finding chips in a wee cafe in the busstation! Then we got on the best bus ever - executive class coche cama where we had 2 dinners, movies, wine, champagne (we had a choice of champagne or whisky) and relaxed in huge, leather-seated comfort as we started our trip to Salta. After a plesant morning on the bus just snoozing and watching the world go by we arrived in Salta around ...