La rioja, Valle de la Luna & Talampaya
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
21
42
Trip End
Ongoing
La Rioja,
Argentina
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Groggy and grumpy on arrival we soon realised that the bus terminal had changed location. It's now about a 10 min bus ride outside the centre; it being 8ish in the AM we caught the full brunt of rush hour
old church
. Thanks to a little online homework, we knew what tour companies to check out but accommodation had proven a stumbling block. Our rucksacks, a little heavier from the souvenir collection, were an unwanted burden so we checked out the tourist office, which directed us to Hotel Mirasol a short stroll from the central plaza with a vacant room...Result. Terra Riojana was the company recommended to see both Talampaya & Valle de la Luna so after dumping the bags we set about organising. In one long day we could see both parks for p180 each with the park fees our own responsibility, job done. On first impressions the city seemed really animated, bustling with people, every Tomas, Ricardo & Hernando having a scooter & it had friendly locals. It is also home to the oldest church in the country. Munchies set in around midday & afterwards we planned on seeing a couple of the museums ... wrong. We stepped out into the streets after lunch & it felt like walking into the opening scene of Vanilla Sky. Every business, museum, bank, & church was closed & the streets were people free. If there weren't such an eerie silence I'd have put my life on Paddy Casey moaning a gig there. As there was nada happening we enjoyed a marathon of CSI before returning to the once again thronged streets preparing for Dia de la Mujer the subsequent day.
D El hongo
Like flights here, all national parks charge foreigners more for entry but at p35 a pop it's not exactly robbery. Ischigualasto or Valle de la Luna, home of the world's oldest dinosaur fossils, is a vehicular park so those not booking tours rent cars & form a tail following the tour guide around the park stopping at all the sights for the explanation. We followed suit driving along the bumpy 40Km trail, observing the bleak but astounding landscape around us. The rock formations are reminiscent of the surface of the moon. Scenes from the movie Highlander II were filmed there. We got to see El Hongo (mushroom), El valle pintado (painted valley), the Sphinx, Canchas de Bochas & Las Loberias, but as part of the park had flooded we couldn't see the submarine. Theft had become a problem in recent years so the real rocks had been replaced at Canchas in a conservation effort. After taking a peak in the museum devoted to palaeontology on exit, we made tracks to Talampaya National Park 70Km away. There were other tours, a bike around the Loberias area & a hike to the top of Cerro Morado but with time constraints we motored.
Following payment of the p20 entry & p45 excursion, we grabbed lunch while waiting for the next tour to start. As luck would have it we were fortunate to be able to enter the park as poor weather had closed it the previous day but our hopes to see the Los Cajones (Drawers) were ended after finding out the same rain flooded entry to that area
D sphinx
. The park provides a minivan to carry people around the park & again stops at all the noted structures. What's striking is the sheer size of the rock faces and their vivid red colour. We stopped at an area full of petroglyphics giving a history on the Andean folk, a botanical garden containing a creosote tree & the famous El Monje (priest) along with a multitude of other scenic viewpoints. El Monje is immense & how it has stood the test of time is a mystery. Our guide also brought us to a mini crack in the gigantic stonework with class acoustics where we got the sound of Irlanda bellowed out & echoed 4 times. There was another tour available, Ciudad perdidia (lost city) but it needed another day to see it. Realistically I'm sure they could easily condense the sights into one day but they drag it out so you have to pay entry a 2nd day. The only thing remaining was a long drive back to La Rioja where we lounged in a restauant off the main plaza so could stay there as we had all our gear with us before getting a post midnight bus to Mendoza. The bus terminal deserves a special mention though. To say it was insect infested would be the under-statement of the year. The place was alive with huge beetles, flies, mosquitos, butterflies & moths & I mean 100s no exaggeration, worthy of a place in the zoo...HORRID.
