Hosteria Lunahuana Tafi del Valle

... as walk is sweater than usual!!! I just think we are mega unfit! We then headed to the local Estancia which we were given a tour of, as well as an Argentinian tea! It had it´s own cheese factory so we had plenty of the goat as well! The next day wew were meant to go on a horse ride but the weather came in and it was with a sadness that we left for Cafayate!

... in Peckham having run out of money.) Tucuman; what can I say? Third or fourth largest city after BA, very nice in parts but not a beautiful place. The hostel was quite good with a ´swimming pool´ (or ´stagnent water supply for mosquitos to breed in´) and a wicked barbeque. Here, I was introduced finally to the quintessential Argentinian Parilla (or barbeque). I have never eaten so much meat in one sitting in my life! And the steak; my God it´s amazing. You ...

... in ice. It was not just the newly fallen frost kind of ice but an ice that grew outwards in crystals all along the length of the grass... and the fence post and the barbed wire... It was stunningly beautiful if freezing. The sky was just visible through a thin layer of hazy cloud like an eerie, back-lit, frosted blue bottle. We passed a flock of llamas and Tristan suddenly asked if I wanted to go chasing llamas. Next thing you know, Tristan was off and eventually I ...

... cart my luggage around. In the bus, Pretty Woman is on the TV.... in Spanish. I realised I knew most of the words so it was easy to follow. Tristan is waiting at the bus terminal for me which was especially nice as the bus was 45 mins late. I check up on my luggage and while they had me worried initially, I am then told that they have it and I will be able to pick it up the next day from 10.30-11am. Easy. Sometimes you make a choice to put your faith in ...

... little towns and villages en route.



One of these small settlements was the village of Quilmes, which boasts some fantastic ruins 5 kms from the road.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to see these, so we had to look out from the bus hoping to snatch a glimpse. Unsuccessfully.



The next town along was called ...

... some nice chilled out tucuman living :D Yesterday i bought my bus ticket which was about 30 bucks, my new lonly planet told me 12, which aparently is about 2 years outdated, so seems like when they updated the book, they did it **********, i guess when everyones buyin your book who cares if the info is current right? Anyways virginia told me that all the prices have gone up and 12 us dollars for the bus ticket was maybe 2 years ago, seems like all around the ...

... we did as the Argentines do and retreated inside for a rest and had a lovely afternoon watching Meet Joe Black on one of the many satellite channels. After that we did a few jobs and then just after 9 it was finally late enough to eat! We did dinner a bit differently from normal though - we each went to separate restaurants on our own. That probably sounds a strange thing to do, but other than when one of us has ...

... see some ancient carved rocks. They resembled...well they resembled rocks. I think I saw a face carved on one of them and some writing on another...did they really have spray paint back in the olden times? Day 3. Was suddenly accosted by a gang of crazy Argentinians. We were forced to go to their awesome house, eat cheese, and drink beer. It was ...

... sad to realize that all the buses leaving Tacna to Arica, Chile (our next destination) were full for two days. So we had to take a taxi to Arica, which was ok, it only cost us about 8 dollars each. For like an hour ride, stopping off at the borders, where we had to get out twice. First on the Peruvian side, and then again on the Chilean side. We had to take our big and little packs, and stand in line to pass through the control, or security or whatever ...

... with a couple of argentian chikas (alejandra and solidad) and rubio the dog. Took us along a river through a dry dessert valley, past most colorful cemetery seen yet and several rural shacks. el mollar was the most chilled out town we have been to yet...... had a squz at some stones that had been carved by natives in the area long ago- a bit of a mystery as to who did them... but we a bit disapointing really as they were moved from their original ...