The spectacular trip to Salta and some lazy days

  Salta, Northern Argentina, Argentina
Sunday, November 16, 2008

"Hurry, hurry...," the man said to me, "the bus is leaving in a few minutes". I was sure I was going to miss my bus to Salta. When I bought my ticket several days before, the lady at the travel agency said I should be there at the travel agency (she didn't say anything about a bus station) at 10:15am. I arrived at the travel agency at 10:15am and to my horror, it was shut and there was no one around. I was already out of breath after the ten-minute walk from my hotel with my bloated suitcase and ditto hand luggage x 2 (a total of almost 30 kilos!). There was no one in sight and I had no idea what to do. A man walked out of a nearby shop and I asked him (in my best Spanish) about the bus. He hadn't the slightest clue either but told me to check with the shopkeeper. I ran inside and the shopkeeper - thank God he spoke English!! - looked at his watch and shook his head. That was not a good sign, I thought. He gave me the directions to the bus station and shouted "Run, run" after me. I hauled my suitcase as fast and hard as I could over the rough-hewn cobblestone road which soon turned into a dirt road - my poor Samsonite! - and prayed that I would make it. If I missed this bus, the next one to Salta was in three days and the whole village of San Pedro de Atacama was fully booked! I got to the bus station in the nick of time, leaving a cloud of dust behind me. The lady was standing at the door of the bus as I approached and she shouted, "Kehyt?" when she saw me and I nodded to the resemblance of my name and she signalled me to hop on right away. The bus left as soon as I was seated. Phew!

The bus drove a few hundred meters and stopped and we had to get off to clear Chilean immigrations. When everyone was back on board, the bus continued on its journey.....and what a journey it was! If you've read my previous blog ('A desert full of wonders') and seen the photos, you'd have an idea of the geography and geology of this region. Lunar landscapes, multi-coloured rock faces, gigantic volcanoes, dark blue lagoons, lush oases and towering sand dunes more or less sum it up. The 10-hour bus ride from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, across the Andes, to Salta in northern Argentina brought us past all these features AND MORE! There were times, as I looked out the window, that I thought I was watching some sort of science fiction movie as the bus sped along, as the landscapes were so surreal, so unearthly. Upon leaving San Pedro, the bus drove in an easterly direction along the flanks of the spectacular Volcan Licancabur, skirting the border with Bolivia. Up and up we went until we reached the Andean altiplano (Andean highland plateau). 

Volcan Licancabur (left)

  As we ascended the Andes, we were treated to awesome views of the Salar de Atacama (Atacama salt lake) and Volcan Licancabur. The scenery changed as we drove through the altiplano. This plateau, about 4,000m high, is a barren plain with just rocks, sand and prickly shrubs and surrounded on all sides by the brownish-red peaks of the Andes. It resembled the surface of Mars really. Absolutely amazing scenery. At the end of the plateau, just as we thought we couldn't get any higher, the bus embarked on another ascent which brought us to another plateau, about 4,500m high. The scenery kept getting more and more bizarre. While the earth on the previous plateau was ochre, here it was a reddish-pink colour with occasional traces of yellow, ochre and brown. 

Altiplano III

  As we cleared the mountains, the first of a series of stunning lagoons came into view. They were all in different colours, some green, some blue while some had white edges. We were already pretty high up in the Andes but another series of mountains awaited us! My breathing was getting heavier and heavier and I could feel my head start to pound. The American guy sitting next to me who was fast asleep woke up suddenly, gasping for air! The scenery changed again dramatically as we entered this last mountain range - this was the Paso de Jama (Jama Pass) into Argentina. We reached an altitude of about 5,000m before descending. The border control, where we stopped, was just beyond these mountains in the middle of nowhere. We had to get off the bus to get our passports stamped. After about a half hour, we were ready to move on. By this time, my head was spinning and I was desperately trying to focus on my breathing. The scenery was out-of-this-world but I couldn't wait to get down to a place closer to sea-level! The bus continued on its journey through a barren plain and soon we reached the Salar Grande, a huge salt lake that was completely parched. 

Salar Grande

  I thought it looked like a magnificent work of art. The parched surface of the lake stretched out for miles into the distance. At the end of the Salar Grande, another set of mountains came into view and soon we were climbing again. The road curled its way up into the mountains - the panoramas of the surrounding mountains and the altiplano below were just breathtaking (literally! :-) - and we were soon in the clouds. 

Curly road

  The visibility dropped to just a hundred meters approximately and the bus driver slowed down as we cleared the highest point.... and I was really thankful that he did. While the ascent was rather gradual, rather like a lazy curl up, the descent was steep and full of sharp hairpin bends. Every once in a while, gaps in the fog revealed the steep drop (at least a few hundred meters) beside the road!! This was the La Cuesta de Lipan or the Lipan Slope which is famous throughout the country; the road that was built to navigate this slope is considered an engineering marvel. And indeed it was. 

Lipan Slope

  The road cut its way through the dramatic slopes in a series of hair-raising curves, giving us unbelievable views of the massive mountains with their incredible variety of green, grey, ochre and reddish hues. Absolutely stunning stuff! OMG factor: 10+++. Far below us, we spotted verdant valleys and little adobe (mud-brick) huts. 

Lipan Slope II

  As we descended, the flora gradually changed from little shrubs to cacti. We soon arrived in the charming village of Purmamarca at the foot of the La Cuesta de Lipan. Purmamarca is a green oasis with many holiday homes and fruit orchards but it is most famous as the site of the Cerro de Siete Colores (Mountain of Seven Colours). We passed that stunning multi-coloured mountain (couldn't quite count seven colours!) and soon discovered that the gigantic slopes of the mountains in this area all had those amazing stripes. 

7 colours?

  Check out the photo and see if you can count seven colours!

We continued through the valley and, wonder of all wonders, it began to rain... a phenomenon I'd not experienced in a while! It took about 45 minutes to get to Jujuy (a large, rather uninteresting-looking town) from Pumamarca and then another hour to get to Salta. By this time, the scenery had changed dramatically. It was very green and inviting, even the mountains were covered with trees, and I spotted many palm trees along the way - indeed, certain areas of this region are classified as sub-tropical. It was a stark difference compared with the inhospitable Atacama desert! Another good thing: we were a lot closer to sea-level which meant my breathing was back to normal and that pounding in my head started to subside. 

That bus trip was probably the most spectacular I've ever experienced. The most amazing thing: the dramatic changes in the scenery kept me captivated for the most part of the almost ten-hour ride. I can certainly recommend this trip to anyone visiting this region.

We reached Salta at 8pm in the dark. I took a taxi from the bus terminal to the hotel I'd booked in the city centre. They'd run out of standard rooms so they upgraded me to an Executive room which was huge and had a bed big enough for three!. After that simple, totally overpriced hotel in San Pedro (where there was no hot water on most days), I was happy to indulge myself with a long hot shower! Heaven! The hotel also had very reasonable laundry rates so I had a big bagful ready in no time. Later that evening, I walked to Plaza 9 de Julio (9th of July Square) which is Salta's main square. I was completely bowled over. Before my arrival in Salta, I had some reservations about spending six nights there so I booked three and left the other three nights open - the only thing I had to keep in mind was my flight from Salta to B.A. on the 17th. As I walked around the colourful, floodlit square with its stately colonial buildings, tall swaying palms, absolutely gorgeous pink cathedral and buzzing terraces, I knew it: I could easily spend six nights here! 

Main square buzzing at night

  I chose a small restaurant at the main square to have dinner. A Danish couple sat next to me and we started talking..... and didn't stop till it was way past 2am!! 

I spent the next few days just walking around the city centre. I felt totally exhausted after my high-altitude desert adventures so I decided to take it easy for a few days. Salta is a great place to chill. All the highlights are within walking distance and a shady terrace is never far away. 

Salta Cathedral by night

  It's a relatively small city (about 0.5 million inhabitants) but it's very lively. There are many shops, museums, good restaurants and lovely churches to visit plus the people are very friendly. 

Plaza Guemes, Salta

  I visited the cathedral and the equally gorgeous San Francisco church, and the Museum of Anthropology which had several Incan mummies on display (fascinating stuff); walked around the main square a dozen times and checked out every one of its terraces(!); strolled up and down the city's grid streets; took the cable-car up to the San Bernardo Hill where I had a great view of the city; and I slept a lot! 

San Francisco church

  The food is ok, though there's one charming restaurant I really like called El Solar del Convento which has fantastic Bife de Lomos (sirloins). After four days of chilling, I'd regained my energy and enthusiasm and decided to book an excursion into the countryside, to a small mountain village called Cafayate (which also happens to be the region's main wine-producing area!). The next day, I was picked up at 7:30am for the drive to Cafayate. Oh, there was a car accident right in front of the hotel at the main square and can you believe it... it took about ten police officers just a few minutes to arrive at the scene but 40 minutes (!!) for the ambulance to arrive. The forensic experts arrived before the ambulance! And the two young men who were hurt in the crash laid on the road while traffic was diverted around them. I just stood there watching these amazing scenes while I waited for my pick-up. Anyway, back to my excursion. Salta is situated in a broad valley and we passed many tobacco (the main crop in this region) plantations. After about two hours, we reached the little hamlet of Alemania, at the entrance to the Quebrada de Las Conches (or the Las Conches Gorge). The route through the gorge was truly stunning. 

Me on the road thru the gorge

  The mountains in these parts are made up of ancient layers of sedimentary rock full of different types of minerals such as iron and copper. As the mountains were formed (by the forces of tectonic plates crashing into one another and pushing the earth upwards), the layers were exposed, giving the gorge its colourful, stripy appearance. 

Las Conchas gorge III

  Erosion by wind, water and frost did the rest and the result is a magnificent landscape of towering multi-coloured mountains and extraordinary rock formations. 

Las Conchas gorge

  Along the way, we stopped at various viewpoints as well as points of interest such as the Devil's Throat and the Amphitheatre. 

The Amphitheatre

  As we exited the gorge, the landscape became flat again and the vineyards of Cafayate appeared. The town itself is rather quaint, with broad tree-lined avenues, many restaurants and handicraft markets. We visited the nearby Nanni winery for a wine-tasting (this region specialises in the Torrontes grape which is fruity and fresh, reminiscent of a Gewurztraminer-Chardonnay blend). There were two Dutchies in the group (Mark and Margreet) and we had lunch together. After lunch, we spent some time exploring the town and the handicraft markets before heading back to Salta. 

I leave for Buenos Aires tomorrow morning. This world trip is slowly but surely nearing its end - just a few more weeks to go. :-( I'm not quite sure yet what my exact plans are for the coming weeks. The first week will be spent in B.A., then ???. I'll definitely be looking into trips to the Iguazu Falls. Anyway, I'll keep you posted!




Cheers,
Keith