The contrasting experiences of Northern Argentina in the last week or so have seen us both reach the highs and lows of the trip to date.
Corrientes, was only ever intended to be a brief stopover en route to Salta, that turned out to be a travellers lesson in how to fill in time in a town where there truly is nothing of any interest to see or do. From misreading of the map that resulted in an hour walking to find a hostel in a stinking heat to the hotel room that was a shoebox (Kim could span her arms from one wall to the other), it was a disaster. The temperatures were unbearable and everyone went on siesta in the middle of the day making it impossible to find the cold drinks we were hoping for...
We arrived in Salta after another long bus journey a bit downbeat and hoping for an fast improvement in our fortunes - how lucky we were, Salta is definitely a thriving and attractive place to be.
We quickly meet a group of like minded tourists at our hostel from as far and wide as England, Egypt and the USA, and joined tours though the hostel to Cafyete, San Antonio (following the route of the train to the clouds we had hoped to enjoy (now closed due to political issues) and finally Cachi.
Each of the journeys meant an early start but the scenery was varied and spectacular, changing frequently along the way. The mix of nationalities on the tours made for many interesting moments. (All the tours were organised through our Hostel - Hostelling Internationals Backpackers Home, which is extremly good if you are in the area).
Perhaps the most interesting moment was on the Tour to the Clouds which was the day before May Revolution in Argentina - one of the public holidays. This year the president was visiting Salta.
Much like George Dubya the president is not well liked so she was bringing in supporters from all over the country to support her. Protests against this meant that the petrol stations were not giving gas to anyone including our bus which desperately needed fuel...four petrol stations, much heated discussion (none of which we understood), and some aggressive fuel conservation (including rolling down hills) later we made it back to Salta and rolled into a petrol station that was serving customers.
Finally we spent a day exploring the town, enjoying a few of the local brews (and the best empanadas ever) before catching a bus to Bolivia at midnight.
Overall Argentina has been really great, and we hope to visit again.
Unfortunatly getting photos up is proving difficult, but we hope to update the albums soon!
Apologies if some of the photo files are a bit big - i´m doing my best to correct that - click one of the slideshows or the link to more photos to see all our albums.
Adios Argentina,
Dave & Kim
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