Best... Steak... Ever
Trip Start
Oct 13, 2007
1
6
14
Trip End
Jan 10, 2008
Salta,
Argentina
Thursday, November 8, 2007
From the rather dirty mining town of Potosi, many were pleasantly surprised by the descent to Sucre, the old capital (and sort of still the capital), where at just 2800m, there were nice tree lined plazas and clean white buildings.
Here, we set out on mountain bikes through the city and out into the countryside, where we had a closer view of the relative poverty of many of the locals. After unexpectedly strenuous uphill sections that gently reminded me that I hadnīt ridden a bike for a while, we eventually arrived at a beautiful hotel/lodge arrangement with a pool and a barbeque lunch. A quick hike of an afternoon then brought us across several different waterfalls, and after a brief rock jump into a freezing cold pool which left me with a headache for a day, it was time to return to Sucre, and close our eyes and think of Argentina.
Not that Bolivia was unenjoyable, but the constant unmade roads, even between major cities, and many other little annoyances made the walk over into Argentina and within view of bitumen, road signs, and dare I say it, civilisation, strangely satisfying.
The change was immediately obvious however, as in many ways Salta is not unlike a European city. Just 1200m above sea level, a preponderance of Shell stations, better looking people, worse hair styles, taxis with meters, not too many beggars and nobody forcing themselves onto you to polish your havianas with shoe polish from behind a balaclava.
Not to mention the spanish inherited siesta lifestyle, where nothing opens between 2 and 5.
Oh, and we passed the Tropic of Capricorn for those latitude nerds out there.
But perhaps the biggest point of difference was the meal we ate on the first night. BEST STEAK EVER. And I am not one to artificially emphasise through capitalisation.
The restaurant was called Viejo Jacks II and the steak was bigger than the large plate, 700gms all up and the most tender I have ever had. Cost: Priceless. Well that isnīt entirely true which became apparent when I tried to leave with out paying... It was in fact 33 pesos which at todays exchange rates is $10-12. Nice.
The next two days were spent pining for said steak, while canopying and horse-riding through the countryside, albeit with their own steak lunches, of which todayīs almost matched up.
Our campsite is set upon what is likely to be the biggest swimming pool in the world (about the size of an athletics track), although it is currently being filled and hence only about 70m across.
Tomorrow we head into Chile in the direction of the beach (!), and begin the descent of the South American continent (5125km from the Argentina-Bolivia border to Ushiaia at the tip)
Comments
Cold water headaches
I guess cold water and Walsh genes dont mix. I hope you were thinking of Rockhampton when you passed over the Tropic of Capricorn? Our friends Anita and Daniel are now in Peru in what is locally called the Swiss Alps but higher. They loved Equador. Will give them your blog site. They are going to volunteer where the earthquake occurred. They were in Costa Rica at the time and had to wait very worriedly as there was a Tsunami warning out. All was well. Keep up the fun travelling. What have you lost so far? love, Mum