Sorry its been a while - keep trying to update my blog, but the connections here are pretty rubbish and slow, so pictures cause it problems. Since I last wrote, which seems to have been from Mendoza, so much has happened!

I left Mendoza with Audrey and went up to Salta. We had a really nice time there, enjoying the town and also went on some excursions into the NW Argentinian countryside around Salta. There are some absolutely beautiful quebradas (gorges) with multi coloured mountains, dramatic mountains with cactuses on them and little towns tucked away far from anywhere. We visited Cafayate, and also Cachi, a gorgeous little town with colonial architecture, a bit like Paraty but with a mountain setting rather than a coastal one! On that trip we saw loads of wildlife as well as the views, and even got very lucky to see condors. One of the wild donkeys (I can´t believe they have wild donkeys!) had died quite near the road, and there were carrion hawks and things all over it, and it had attracted a big group of condors too. They were on the ground, and as we approached we saw them take of and swoop high up in the air - I managed to get a good shot, so hopefully will be able to send that soon too!

There was a change of feel ino the north of Argentina - there are indiginous people living there, quechua is spoken in lots of rural areas and things like the local specialities in restaurants change. Also the altitude of the places starts to creep up, and the weather changes.

We met loads of nice people in Salta, and spent some time with two guys from France and Canada - Yoann and Chris. Yoann is fluent in Spanish, and had met an artisan in Parque St Martin who was teaching him the craft of making those bracelets, necklaces etc all woven out of coloured strings. This artisan, Marcello, also became a friend, and showed us around Salta, shared mate with us and was generally very welcoming and interesting to spend time with. We got some funny looks in restaurants a couple of times, turning up with Marcello who is a slightly unconventional looking (sort of homeless, although I think he had somewhere to stay) person to be visiting these places. He was lovely though, and I´m glad we got to know him. He even showed us to a couple of peñas so we had a good, traditional, night out in Salta.

Being with a mixed nationality group meant that Spanish was spoken much more, as much as English, and we got to meet lots of Argentinians. Our original plan was to head straight to San Pedro de Atacama, but when we talked to people from Argentina they were so passionate about the area in the far north of the country that Audrey and I decided to go up there for a few days first. We went to Jujuy, aroun d 100k north of Salta, and stayed a night there in a hostel filled with Argentinians on holiday (mostly from BA). They gave us loads of tips, and from there we set off to Humahuaca.

Humahuaca is a beautiful little colonial town, with a very local feel. We stayed on a farm with a guy called Aldo, who was a friend of the hostel owner we met in Jujuy. It was so beautiful, just outside the town a short walk down some country lanes and set underneath the mountains with lovely old trees all around. Aldo was building the place up as a project, a model for how people could live together. it was all a bit hippy but so nice - a very trusting and relaxed atmosphere. We were only going to stay one night, but loved it so stayed an extra one, just relaxing on the farm and wandering into town for a nice lunch with lots of wine on each of the days! We went horseriding for a few hours in the mountains nearby (one of the locals took us on the horses from the farm - so nice them just turning up in the morning).

Once we could drag ourselves away we got on an early morning bus to a tiny pueblito called Iruya, about 80k from Humahuaca, but there was no road for most of that. The rattly, holey, packed bus wove its way along river beds, around mountains and over a really high pass on the way there, and we shared mate with coca leaves in it with a group of Argentinians, while wrapping ourselves in all the clotes we had to hand to protect ourselves from the cold - about half the windows wouldn´t shut! Iruya was well worth the trip, perched high on the side of a mountian with spectaular views along the gorge below, We stayed for 15 pesos in a simple hospedaje, owned by such a sweet old couple. The weather was a bit extreme however, and although we had some nice clear hours, we also had a lot of time holed up drinking wine in little restaurants while storms brewed outside. All this had quite an impact on the journey home - as I mentioned, the road crossed the river several times, and the river had risen and gained power in the time we were there...

The return journey was actually the funniest part - a classic travelling random day. Our bus to Purmarmarca (to try and pick up the Tuesday morning bus to Chile, having missed the Sunday one we were booked on because we couldn´t bear to leave Humahuaca) was due to leave at 3pm and we met at the side of the river (the closest Iruya had to a bus stop), along with a group of guys from BA who we´d made friends with and had a boozy lunch with, ready to sleep on the bus... fat chance of that! We waited outside the bus, all sitting on bags, posing for photos by the river, chatting or wandering about for 2.5 hours, finally boarding the bus at 5:30, and only then because it started raining. The driver, who had cheeks stuffed with coca leaves and looked somewhat like a hamster, was on the phone talking about problems crossing the river. We were told we may have to stay for a few days due to the water level rising and the crossings having become far more dangerous. There was a coach stuck in one of the rivers, and they weren´t keen to set of with our jam-packed bus, only to get another one stuck. At this point Audrey and I realised we had no more money, and there is no bank in Iruya... so nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat or drink... we considered offering ourselves to our young friends from BA in return for a couple of bottles of wine and a bed for the night, but fortunately it didn´t come to that and finally we set off! Everytime we crossed a river successfully everyone was cheering and singing - we saw the more unfortunate bus that got stuck and it looked pretty bad! Stupid thing is that cos it was meant to be a short trip there were no planned stops for toilet breaks etc, however the general party atmosphere that came out of it meant that everyone went to fetch beer and red wine while we were waiting and got quite pissed. Every half an hour someone else asked the driver to stop, and half the bus got off to pee by the side of the road. Hilarious.

The journey, meant to be 3 hours, took nearly 9 hours and we ended up back in Jujuy late in the evening. Having missed all avaialable seats on the Tuesday bus to Chile as well - aaahh!! So, in the middle of the night last night I bought a ticket for 7:30 the next morning to La Quiaca, which is on the Argentina-Bolivia frontera, crashed at a hostel for a couple of hours and then took myself to Bolivia. Random, as its completely not where I´d planned to go, but I feel pretty good for being spontaneous. I can always go to San Pedro on my way back down to Santiago later in the trip...