Salta - Argentina

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Trip Start Oct 30, 2007 Previous
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  Salta, Northern Argentina, Argentina
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The journey from Santiago crossed back through the Andes into Argentina, and again the scenery was breathtaking, but very difficult to catch on camera through the filthy window of the bus.  We changed buses in Mendoza and continued onto Salta, which is a nice town in the far north west of Argentina, about 5 hours or so from the border with Bolivia.  It sits amongst stunning desert like scenery, and is a great base for a trip around the more traditional whitewashed hillside villages, ranging from 2500m to 3500m above sea level.  We met Lynton on the bus from Mendoza, an Aussie schoolteacher from Melbourne and the three of us decided to hire a car and drive around the twisty turny dirt roads of the area for three days, in what became a definite scenic highlight of our whole trip so far.  Multicoloured rocks pushed up by tectonic plates and volcanic activity on the eastern side of the Andes made for absolutely stunning sights.  We just kept having to stop the car and gawp in awe at the wierd and wonderful features formed over millions of years, with condors flying overhead.  The loop drive we took over the three days would have to be up there in the Top 10 drives of the world, at least equal to The Grand Canyon in the US, but is strangely not promoted very much.  We just couldnīt understand why.  First night was spent in the little pueblo of Cafayate, which even though it is so high, has its own microclimate making it perfect for wine growing.  They produce a variety here (a white called Torrontes) that is only grown here and nowhere else in the world. Bloody nice too!

The next day was spent winding through jagged, narrow head rock formations and more stunning scenery as we climbed out of the river valley towards Cachi, one of the loveliest little villages weīve seen so far.  Very Spanish looking, mostly made up of an indigenous Indian population, where the local language of Quechua is more prevalent than Spanish.  Also being Good Friday we gathered in the square together with the rest of the village and the farmers from the surrounding areas for the Easter procession, whereby the poor guy playing Jesus was ritually beaten by a group dressed as Roman guards while the priests and nuns chanted from the back of a pick up.  Poor guy was then predictably lashed to a cross for a good hour or so while the service in the square took place (not sure what the guy did to deserve that gig, but although it is no doubt a privilege to be chosen to do it, bet he wonīt be volunteering his services for it next year!!)  We also found an awesome little local place to eat, which pretty much exclusively cooked roasted goat on their outside BBQ.  Great hunks of the most succulent meat, and one of the most delicious things weīd had so far.

We decided to spend another night in Cachi (and so we could have the goat again!), and took a side trip to the incredibly photogenic Cordones National Park (the Argentine word for cacti).  A massive bowl 10kms wide of these absolutely huge plants, as far as the eye can see, some upwards of 10-12 m tall.  Given they only grow 1cm per year, some of these cacti were over 1000 years old.  While protected, the wood  from dead ones are used to make furniture.  Weird thinking of cacti producing usable wood but it looked really cool.  If only we could have carried it back............................

The last day wound round more tiny dirt roads on the edge of the mountains, back into Salta.  We were so rapt we did the trip, it was absolutely stunning!

Back in Salta itself, there is another example of the bizarre and fascinating.  Over 500 years ago, the Incas on very sacred occasions, sacrificed children to appease the gods.  A child of an important family was īmarriedīwith another from another tribe in Cuzco, Peru, and the children had to find their way home in a straight line, whatever the terrain (being several hundred kilometres across the Andes, this was no mean feat!).  Celebrations announced their arrival and the children were given an alcoholic fermented maize drink until they passed out, and were carried to the top of the nearby 6700m Mt Llullaillaco, buried in underground tombs, and left to be ītaken by the godsī.  In 1999, three tombs were found beneath the permanently frozen ground at the top of the mountain.  Given the conditions up there, they were perfectly preserved.  The three children were brought down and are now retained as frozen bodies in perspex cylinders in the Anthropological Museum in Salta, and one of them, a 15 year old girl, can be viewed.  A very eerie experience.  She absolutely looks like a girl that has just fallen asleep, such is the level of preservation.  The contents of her tomb are also on display.  Incredibly complex woven cloth, silver and other metallic trinkets and sculptures, showing just how advanced the culture was.  Unbelievable to see.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

The old and the new, Salta	Salta Cathedral	The road to Calafate	The devils throat
The amphitheatre	Late arvo sun, Calafate	Rock towers	The castle...hows the serenity
Cactus cracking through	The arrow tip mountains	YMCA....	Karen and Lynton eating goat, no kidding
So, you been here long?	Reaching for the sky	Mirror image	Cactus, as far as the eye can see
Paprika basking in the sun	Pile o paprika	Nativity volunteers doing it tough	Sunrise at the cordelaras
Early light, near Cachi	Long shadows at sunrise	Cactus silhouettes	Hittin the road in luxury

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