After leaving Sao Paulo I got a bus back to Iguazu Falls for just the one night and the next day was on the road again for a 23 hour bus trip to Salta in Northwest Argentina.
I arrived in Salta on the Monday morning and started my hunt for a couple of backpackers to share a rental car with. My efforts paid off and by 8pm I had captured two Israeli guys and a french girl.
We left Salta on Tuesday morning and headed south through some amazing mountains and desert to a little vilage called Cachi. From Cachi we had to endure a very bumpy gravel road for almost 200km. The scenery on the trip was amazing, every 10minutes the colours of the rocks and landscape would change as if someone had planned it.
A puncture stop was also require such was the condition of the road but we made it to our destination for the night Cafayate, just after dark.
Cafayate is the highest wine producing region in Argentina. A cute little town with lush vineyards in the surrounding areas.
We returned to Salta the next evening and then continued our road trip to the north of Salta on Thursday morning.
Once again more dramatic scenery graced us all the way to our stopover for the night Iruya. Remoteness is not the word for this little village. I heard about it through other backpackers and decided it was worth the effort to get there although I think if our car could speak it would have disagreed.
It took us alomost three hours on a dirt track to reach Iruya, crossing rivers and streams on the way. We didnt have a 4x4 by the way just a VW Gol which is the same as a Seat Ibiza back home. A little boy waved us down and as he was a bit away from the nearest village on his own I thought he was looking a lift. We pulled up and opened the window and he smiled, held out his hand and said "Caramelo por favor" (Candy please), the little brat, it was very funny though.
Iruya did turn out to be worth the effort, we didnt arrive until dark but the next morning I was up at 6am exploring the village and getting strange looks from the locals.
I will let the pictures do the talking.
On the way back to the main road and civilization the next morning we got waved down again but this time from a little old lady. I guessed she wasn´t looking for sweets but a lift. Later in the day we gave a policeman a lift and he thought that France was in North America. I didnt even ask where he thought Ireland was :-)
Got back to Salta on Friday evening and yesterday was a nice relaxing day as is today. I am waiting on the bus at 9pm tonight to Mendoza which is Argentinas largest wine producing region and you never know, I might force myself to sample a glass or two :-)
Chao for now
