Posada San Andres La Cumbre

The company taking me horse riding still hadn't fixed their van, so I had to catch a mini-bus to La Cumbre. The bus went past beautiful lakes an many holiday parks as it gradually rose into the hills. In La Cumbre I got off the bus and looked around. I wasn't sure who was meeting me so I stood near the bus hoping someone would see that I didn't know what to do. Soon a guy came bounding up and gave me and the girl next ...

... the thermals to get you climbing higher - whereas ambers guy landed her down by the river. i sat and enjoyed the view and basked in the sunshine (burnt in the sunshine) for 30 minutes waiting for her to be driven back up. we both loved the paragliding. great fun. then headed back to buenos aires so our road trip got cut short. our friend nat had some bad news from back home and so we did not want her to be alone in BA. headed back to be with her.

... of clothes and shoes. The night before the trip I did a little research on the road for interest sake and found some interesting if not disturbing facts. The cycle ride takes place over a distance of almost 60km of dirt roads of which 95% of this is downhill and without any guardrails. The road which was built back in the 30's descends 3600m, is only 3m wide and in places has sheer drop-offs of more than 600m. Estimates have it that between 200 and 300 ...

DAY 20 - BIKING DOWN THE MOST DANGEROUS ROAD IN THE WORLD.....GULP!! The inf*mous De*th Ro*d! He*ring the *l*rm the next morning I *utom*tic*lly pressed snooze but w*s woken 2 mins l*ter by Bilynd* our tour le*der s*ying where *re you? You should h*ve been in reception 5 mins *go. Bugger I h*dn't put the time forw*rd for Bolivi* - to s*y p*nic st*tions w*s in room 224 *t th*t moment would be *n underst*tement. P*cking * rucks*ck with stuff we thought we needed for the d ...

When I left Cordoba with my collectivos (bus) to go to Cumbre, we first went through a protest line but another was a little further on our way. At first the bus was blocked and could not move from his position. There was more and more people and 1 or 2 with a bomb launcher. They were not aggressive but when they saw that our bus wanted to go through they became a bite more virulent. Then the driver understood that it was better to go backward and when we ...

... I felt the same way and that I didn't even know how to express my thanks for everything. The bus was waiting for me when we pulled in, so I had to give some quick hugs, kisses, and thank yous and before I knew it the bus rolling out of town as I waved goodbye through the windows. Back in September an unexpected twist was thrown my way, tossing me in a totally new direction. At the time it caught me off guard and I wasn't ...

... looking for thermals. Paragliders use rising thermals to climb to a higher altitude. The idea is to climb to a higher altitude till the thermal dies out, then look for the next thermal. When there are no thermals, the glider continues to fall at a steady rate, so you are constantly looking for thermals to prevent loss of altitude. The idea is to fly around and go where you want, fly to the next town and land if ...

... taught me how to fold the glider and store it away. It's only day one and I am already hooked. I think flying is the ultimate thing, its what attracts me to skydiving and paragliding. It's such an incredible feeling. The icing on the whole cake is where I get to stay while I am in La Cumbre. I get to stay with Noemi in her house. Noemi is the friend that I was tracking down for my godfather, Tom. She gave me a key to her ...

... on the head with a squeezing hammer (?). More walking around, we visited the Paseo de las Artes, a feria where you could find all types of artesanias, but also a few antiques. Nice atmosphere on a sunday evening. After having tea together, we kissed goodbye and I went back to the hostel to pick up my bags, before catching my night bus to Salta. Lovely city, and the surrounding Sierras are meant to be beautiful too... is this just another place to go back to?

We arrived in Cordoba to brilliant sunshine and de-thawed from the air conditioning on the bus with a coffee. A lovely man gave us a leaflet about a hostel but did not harass us about going ( a winner for my part and possibly the first and the last person to do so!!!). We decided to stay at the hostel Refugio which was a lovely family place and everyone was very friendly. The hostel was our first chance since Buenos Aires to have a chat with other ...