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After a brief stop over in Cordoba, we made our way to Salta, where we spend our last few days in Argentina. The journey was a 13 hour night bus, but when we awoke in the morning we could already see we were heading towards another world as the dry mountains of Mendoza had been replaced with lush green hills and valleys.
Salta itself was a nice place, but everyone had recommended that we escape to the surrounding villages of Cachi and Cafajate to see some trully amazing landscapes, so we hired a car for 2-days and with a very basic map and half a tank of fuel we set off south towards Cachi.
After escaping from Salta, more by luck than judgement, we quickly began to climb in to the hills, which was probably the worst road I have ever driven on but also one of the most beautiful, with rolling hills, valleys, rivers, a recently dead snake (still waiting for my first wild South American snake) and reached a height of 3310 metres at the highest point. We then decended in to a valley of cacti, with beautifully coloured rocks of purples, reds and browns... stunning.
We stopped for lunch in Cachi, which was a cute little place with more flies than people and then began our quest for fuel. The first 2 garages had no fuel and told us to drive 25km. Each time 25km was starting to become too far! Eventually we found a garage and after some pump trickery and the help of an empty Fanta bottle, we got fuel!
The drive to Cafajate was breath-taking... Moonscape like rock formations with reds, oranges, greens and browns and also some great views. Eventually, we raced through the wineries to arrive in Cafajate just before dark, managed to sort a hostel after several attempts and then enjoyed wine, cheese and olives in the plaza. Just as we were leaving the police approached us and told us it was illegal to drink in public... We played dumb (easy) and quickly left.
The next day we headed further south to to see the ruins at Quilmes, which was strange, but as we climbed the surrounding hills we quickly saw how special it was, with the lay out of the village and the different buidings. From the top we had some great views over the surrounding valley and while Lynne chilled I went off on another snake-man adventure... this time striking gold with my first wild snake laying across the path in front of me! Managed to get a few photos and was then surprised how quickly it disappeared once it realised I was there!
We then drove back via Cafajate for more fuel and filled up after a nice hour and a half wait! The first 50km on the drive back was amazing... Once again, other planet like rock formations in bright reds and oranges with valleys, canyons, rivers and gorges opening up in front of us with every turn. The journey after that was pretty boring and we endured rain to arrive back in Salta. It was a spectacular few days!
Our last day in Argentina began at 4:40am, then a 25 minute walk to the bus station to (just in time) catch our bus. We arrived at the border and endured nearly 2-hours waiting to get in to Bolivia... But eventually we had made it, 2 new stamps in the passport, an extra hour to our day and a cheaper standard of living and travelling. We now have 3-weeks to enjoy Bolivia, first stop is Tupiza.
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Richard Mooie verhalen weer!! Wat klinken die avonturen relaxed zeg! Biertjes/wijn drinken in openbaar mag niet?! wat een onzin!! ;) Waar blijft de foto van de slang? tot snel!!