Salta - A pleasant town with adventures in surrounding area

The train to the clouds tracks
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Saturday 14th July – Mendoza – Salta

The beginning of our most grueling 48 hours. Today we decided to stay around Mendoza and enjoy what the city has to offer – some beautiful parks. After having a good chat with the Hostel owner we set out at a very slow pace to a lovely square, sat down and the watched the water fountain and the people of Mendoza chilling out. We then walked up to Mendoza's gigantic parque and after seeing a group of students having a picnic, we thought what a good idea. We grabed some supplies and sat around were they were and got stuck in to lunch. The group were spending more time searching for their football than playing, so we decided to help. The ball was stuck right at the very top of a gigantic tree and after many hours of attempting to climb this tree, we also helped throw rocks at it, but couldn't quite get it down. So after our efforts, we were invited to play a mixed football game with them, which was truly a highlight for us. They were all really interested in us and laughed at our efforts of speaking Spanish! The game and skills especially of the boys was amazing, they could easily play for the All Whites! Leigh kept thinking they were calling him Wayne Rooney, but maybe in his imagination, especially after getting a few goals! They invited us for a soda, but after a couple of hours of playing we then had to head back to our Hostel in order to catch our night bus. We said bye to our American friends (Kate and Carlos) and gave them the address of the Hostel we are going to stay at in Salta. We then boarded our 3rd night bus (the first Puerto Igazu – Buenos Aires 18hrs, BA – Mendoza 13hrs), this one is due to take 18hrs. We must say the buses in Argentina are amazing and we are going Cama class which is pretty good – big leather seats that recline nicely. But even after 18hrs you do get a bit sore and cranky, like catching a long haul flight! The bus trip wasn't too bad, good service and we managed to watch a couple of DVD's and got a good nights sleep.

In the Salt Flats
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Sunday 15th July – Salta

We arrived into Salta around 2pm and caught a very cheap taxi (70p) to our hostel not far from town. Although extremely tired, we had to battle on and book our upcoming trips and onward travel. We found a few tour companies offering the same tour taking the route of the train to the clouds (as the train was broken, but is a magnificent structure) and stopping for lunch in San Antonio de los Cobres then travelling to the Salt Lakes, seeing the 7 coloured rocks then arriving back in Salta. We bargainned a little bit then booked with a tour company that produced a certificate of compliance (although could have been made up in Powerpoint!!). We then had to make the decision to change the route of our travels as we were going to head into Chile and travel to Bolivia from there, however the roads were closed due to snow and there was a waiting list, so we decided to book a bus directly to the border of Argentina/Bolivia were you then have to walk into Boliva and catch another bus. After all those decisions were made, it was time to watch the football – Argentina vs Brazil. We found a massive bar with two TV's and sat down waving our Argentina flag. Leigh was very excited and could name every player on the Argentina side (mainly because they are in Man Utd!) Unfortunately the result did not go Argentina's way and they lost 3-0. We then had dinner at a foodcourt (can you believe it, this is so like Europe!) which was actually really nice as it included loads of vegetables. We then headed home for a good nights sleep!

At 4000m, with the winding road to go down
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Monday 16th July – Salta

Arghh!! Another early morning start!  And the second part of our harsh 48 hrs. We had to be ready by 6.50am for our pick up by the tour company, so after some rolls for breakfast (beginning to really get sick of bread!) we were greeted by our tour guide Fernando. After driving around picking up the rest of the people on the tour, we set off for our first glimpse the famous train tracks that were used for the train to the clouds. Unfortunately the train stopped working over 10 years ago, but they are hoping to get it up and running by the end of the year. The train was built after the second world war and was used to trade with Chile and out to the coast. It is spectacular also because of the construction of the bridges, some are very long and some very high. Our first stop took us to the longest bridge on the tracks, which was pretty scary to walk across! We took a few quick pics and then hoped back in the van. Our next stop was a quaint little village – Santa Rosa de Tastii. We had the opportunity to wander around the massive Cactus plants, a little museum and the little markets there. After this we were driven above to some Adorigine ruins. It was really strange as there was nothing really to live off here, but apparently they had lots of Llamas back then (approx 300 A.D) and that's what they survived from. The town became desolate and no one really knows why. We made a few more stops along the way to take photos of the every changing and absolutely remarkable landscape. From mountains, valleys and canyons, catcus plants, really barren landscape to quite colourful rocks. Our next stop was in a town called San Antonio de los Cobres, were we got ripped off big time for lunch, which ended up being Leigh's downfall later on in the day. Leigh had Milanesa and rice, (Milansea is deep fried Schnitzel) while Jo had a chicken and salad.  All the advice you get get is to lay off greasy food while at altitude, so unfortunately Leigh had not done himself any favors!  We left this tiny village and continued out trip, still gradually climbing but only our ears popping seemed to be the result of the assent. Our next stop was our first trip to the amazing salt plains of the Americas. The area is that of about Lake Taupo.  You would mistake the sight for a snow field as its blinding reflection from the sky is dramatic between the mountains and the blue sky. We were shown how they extract the salt and then harvest it. You would think this would be a relatively simple and quick process but it is the exact opposite. After perfectly dug squares are made, water is added and then the salt is extracted from these pools. The salt is then left to form which takes about 7 months. After seeing the salt pools we were shown a house made entirely from salt, thats like the Bricks, the mortar and even the furniture all from salt. While we were visiting the House there was a local  salt seller wearing a Silver Fern beanie, he was not the most polite gentleman and after trying to to explain that the fern represented NZ, we let him get back to his work.

View overlooking Salta
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After the salt plains we began the drive straight up to the peak of our journey, were we reached a very steep 4100 meters above sea level! All we stopped for was a photo of the sign and we continued down a few hundred meters to our next photo point...it was at that point that the advice Leigh did not take had an affect on him. The stop in itself was amazing - we looked right down into the valley, falling about 2000mtrs surrounded with canyons and a view of the long winding road that we needed to take.  Not only was the view great but at that height it was pretty damm cold!  We took the winding road and that took us to our next stop of Purmamarca. This is a town made famous by the surrounding rocks which have 7 different colours.  It was at this stop that Leigh needed to rush to the loo for a not so pleasant visit and was rather ill!!  Maybe his first brush with altitude sickness. So our break there was brief, we took a few photos and headed home. We finally got the snacks and soda that we were PROMISED by the rep, that we were supposedly to get throughout the day. It was funny that they only appeared after a few people asked were they were.  The trip home was rather slow and Leigh not being in much of a state made it seem longer. We arrived back to Salta around 9.30pm 15hours after we set off.  It was a very long day, but we saw some amazing sights and got a taste of a very different way of life the people of rural Argentina live which is miles away from what we know at home!

Dog photo for Dee
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Tuesday 17th July – Salta

Today we decided would be a chill out day as Leigh wasn't feeling that great. So, we slept in till about 10am then decided to go grocery shopping for the next 3 meals. We stocked up, as we generally do, then headed back to our Hostel which had a lovely courtyard area. Leigh then whipped up a storm with a Nigella receipe of a flat loaf bread cut in the side and stuffed with avocado, tomato, lettuce and mayo, it was muy bueno!! We then played a game of table tennis and then Jo rang Mum and Dad which was cool, although the free phonecards accumulated through booking hostels allows only 3 minutes per call! We then decided to walk to the top of San Martin Hill Salta is very warm during the day but afternoon/evening gets extremely cold so we wrapped up then climbed the 1070 steps, however the sun was still out so we were roasting! We got to the top of the hill right by where the gondola finishes and got a nice bottle of sparkling water and chilled out a cafe over looking Salta, which is quite a pretty town (slightly bigger than Wellington). After tossing up whether to catch the gondola back or walk we decided to boot it down the hill as the gondola was so slow! We then cooked up a yummy vegetable paella and some steak (of course, when in Argentina!) and chatted with our American amigos.