Salta and the surrounding area (16 - 25 April 2008)
The busses in Argentina have three categories: Semi Cama, Cama and Super Cama. The Semi Cama (Cama is Spanish for bed) means the seats can partially recline, Cama is reclining seats and Super Cama is ridiculously luxurious busses (something like a business class flight with champagne included). We opted for the semi cama and it was definitely worth the extra money. Our Dutch friends, Maaike and Gerben, decided to splurge a bit and took the Super Cama bus and from what I heard, this is definitely something we should try… Maybe in a couple of months with our bus from Buenos Aires to Iguaçu?
We decided to stay in Salta for a day or two and then rent a car with Gerban and Maaike to explore the famous surrounding area. Salta itself is a lovely city. I felt much safer than in Mendoza and the city has a charismatic feel to it. On day one in Salta, we strolled around the plaza, had a few drinks and then a wonderful dinner. I tried out the Pisco Sour - a local alcoholic drink that tastes somewhat like a Margarita. On day two we searched for a good deal on a rental car and settled for a Fiat Siena. We bought some road trip snacks and took the road to Cachi the following morning.
The Lonely Planet said that the scenery would be nice, but I was stunned by the multiple coloured hills with scattered cactus, the sudden change of landscape and the quaint little towns along the way. The fact that we got on with Gerben and Maaike also added to the fun - now Eon’s Dutch is better than his Spanish! Maaike is almost fluent in Spanish and she exchanged her linguistic knowledge for Eon’s photography lessons.
Eon and Gerben opted to take turns to drive. The Argentineans are known for their horrible road manners; they are reckless and like to speed. They drive on the right side of the road here, so it was quite a challenge for Eon. I laughed every time he reached over his right shoulder for the seatbelt and then grabbed onto thin air! But after a while he got the hang of it.
The initial plan was to drive from Salta to Molinos, but on arrival in this God-forsaken dust spot we decided to push on in hope of findinf something a bit more accommodating. When we drove into Angostaco, we immediately knew that this was the place to spend the night. We checked in to the hotel and then, with the hotel’s three-legged dog following us, we walked through the little town in search of a restaurant and found a very small ‘hole in the wall’. At first we thought it was closed, but then a lady with curlers in her hair opened the door and invited us in. We were the only customers and we had three meals to choose from. After a while, her husband joined us and entertained us with his guitar. He sang some traditional Argentinean folk music and showed us his spectacular money collection. It is the same everywhere in the world - in the smaller towns, you will find people with very little earthly possessions, but they are always willing to give more than any rich man would. I was truly touched by his innocence and hospitality.
Day two was from Angastaco to Al Caldera - a very winding and narrow road. The road was so narrow that we thought we might be in a one way road and we kept pulling off the road to let the oncoming traffic pass! The scenery changed from sand dunes to amazing rock formations in Quebrada de Cafayate and then to a lush green jungles and lakes. We slept over in Al Caldera, a very small town with the friendliest people. There are only two hotels in town and we were the first guests to stay there in over four weeks. We had too much wine and played too many games of shithead (yes, we taught this card game to the Dutch as well).
Day three was from Al Caldera to Purmamarca. We had an interesting lunch just outside of Jujuy (we had huge debates on how to pronounce this word!). The restaurant owner was a short, stocky Argentine who, from the nowhere, pulled out several brochures of things to do and see in the area. He was so passionate about his province and gave us all kind of hints, of course, all in Spanish.
We left our luggage in Purmamarca and took on the winding and climbing Routa 52 that took us up to 4170 meter above sea level. The highlight was the Salines Grandes, the Salt Lakes, where we took way too many photos. We arrived at around 17:00 via a very scenic winding road, played around until 19:00 and then watched the sunset before driving back to Purmamarca. Purmamarca itself is a very pretty town, but it is a bit too touristy. We had an interesting dinner with live musicians to entertain us at an extra hidden fee on the bill.
And on day four it was back to Salta. What a road trip! The scenery was spectacular, the company was fantastic and the experience was unbeatable. Unfortunately, we realised that we needed a visa for Bolivia (no thanks to the South African visa website, which does not even have Bolivia listed on the website). So we had to spend an extra day in Salta to visit the very unfriendly Bolivian Consulate.
Click on the image below to view the gallery of Salta and the surrounding area: