Gran Salinas

Gauchos in Jujuy
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And so on to Salta and the fabled Gran Salina salt flats.  I had been told that the remote northwest of Argentina was something to see... the Andes rising up from the forests and the Atacama Desert giving way to some pretty spectacular views, and everyone was right.  It is a tremendously beautiful and picturesque part of the world, and I spent my three nights in Salta touring these sights and more.

By far, however, the most interesting and other-worldly aspect of this place was the giant salt lake in Humahuaca.  Being in the middle of that vast white pan is like being on another planet, there's really no other way to describe it.  The whiteness is so blinding that even with sunglasses, I had a headache afterwards.  We (my fellow tour members and I) spoke to men wearing full facial masks and sunglasses while they carved salt sculptures, and they said to the one member of our group without sunglasses that he wouldn't be able to sleep that night.  Apparently it's that intense.

Me on the salt flats
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Anyway, those men carving the salt, I found out later, make an average of 12 pesos ($4 US dollars) a day.  Can you imagine that?  Sitting out in the middle of the salt, carving little trinkets for the occasional tourist out of the caustic, sharp salt.  The beauty of the place captivated me, but probably only because I was passing through.  To do that every day seems like the definition of misery.

But yes, Salta and Jujuy provinces are well worth the trip if you happen to be in the neighborhood.  The 19-hour bus ride back to Buenos Aires, however, was up there with salt-carving as one of the things I'd never like to experience again.  For all 19 hours, babies cried, toddlers ran up and down the aisles, and they played "When a Stranger Calls" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" in Spanish (with scratched DVDs) over and over until we arrived in Buenos Aires.  Not the most fun I've had on this trip.

The carvers of the salt
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Anyway, two days in Buenos Aires, then it's back on the road, this time to the much-touted and fabled Patagonia.  I've heard amazing things, and it's time to find out for myself