Portal del Santo Cafayate

... and walls of houses, and terraces, but it is impressively large, built into the side of a steep hill.

The other highlight on the way to Tucuman was driving through a green, misty valley, with a cascading river in the bottom. After dry river beds, rocks, dust, and cacti, this was a pleasant change, and reminded us of home.

In Tucuman our main concern was meeting up with the car company to return the car ...

... because he was stubborn fella not taking any rubbish from an Irish lass who knew nothing about horses!! or b) it would take off in the total opposite direction from where I wanted it to go and Phil and Jo's horse would randomly follow us into the bushes. I cant tell you how many times Jo and I nearly wet our pants laughing!! (There's even proof on the video below) They really should put portable loos on top of mountains!!

So after a good few ...

... although the car was relatively knew, the latch in the bonnet where the rod goes when the bonnet goes up, was totally worn! This car had had some work done! The mechanic had told the car company and they had the cheek to ask us to pay for a new battery, and they would ´pay us back when we returned to salta´ !! I told them in the politest way possible to get lost and that I would not be getting one pesos out of my purse! Either they pay or they send a new car ...

... the top of the bus syphoning some type of dark fluid in or out of the undercarriage of the bus. There was also a very loud, very sun burnt Irish man complaining about how this bus had broken down 3 times and they were supposed to be in Iruya 3 hours ago. We just laughed. It took them about another 20 minutes before they had it up and running and we all filed on and away we went. Back through the hairpin turns, driving through the small rivers that have no bridge ...

... back our two bikes with one inflated tyre and two sets of brakes. Camping We went camping for the first time in Cafayate. We stayed in a campsite just down from the goat farm with some friendly dogs a band of hippies called el Plan de La Mariposa (you can look them up) and two lads from Cordoba who had cycled all the way, and given the road we arrived on that is a serious achievement. One of them made a flute out of some dead snakes.

Cafayate is SUCH a lovely little town. I am not sure I would call it a city because it is quite tiny... but it is so peaceful and I am loving the hostel here! I took a tour of the Quebradas today- it was amazing. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of cloud coverage so the photos didn't come out as nicely as I had ...

... Salta. When we finally reached Cafayate (at 4pm) we had a quick picnic lunch in the square and jumped back in the car to head further south to the ruins at Quilmes, in Tucuman province. It seemed to take forever to get the 50km down the road, or perhaps it was just that we were worried we would get there after closing. The road quality increased SUBSTANTIALLY as we entered Tucuman province, it seems they have a little more to spend on remote highways ...

... wund**schoena bodega ob**halb vu cafayate. Am obig denn go essa (imm** am glicha ort) han as local kfunda nuet schons ab** sup** essa und vor allem nur iheimischi sup** billig... dia region isch dia traditionellsti und a**msti in ganz argentinia do fuehlt ma sich richtig in suedam**ika und kultur isch mit d**a vu p**u und bolivia v**glichbar halt wega da indios ab** dr ufluss vu BA isch au do spu**bar wia sehr das xsen i denn wenn i in p**u akumma...

... there was another vineyard across the road, and we were able to get there in time to join the back of their last group before closing for lunch. Again the tour was all in Spanish, but we understood the basics. I also spotted a woman giving an English translation to some English guys, so I made sure that she was within earshot as the tour progressed ! She explained to us that the ...

... to put my knees in the middle of the seat in front.

When this happens on planes (and I've only ever flown economy on my travels around the world!), I make sure that I stick my knees right into the back of the chair in front and effectively right into the backbone of the person who has decided to fully recline.

Usually the person in front will decide that this is extremely uncomfortable for them and they'll put their seats up a bit, making life better for both of us ...