Santiago

 The final destination was Santiago, Chile….which is further south than the Tropic of Capricorn and so now it’s the furtherest south we’ve been.  Because of that flight cancellation out of Mendoza we had just the one day here.  

We spent the day wandering around, using the metro, eating, and visiting two museums.   I always feel particularly accomplished when I successfully use public transportation in another country.

The first museum was the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, which tells the story of how a violent, oppressive, military dictatorship shoved into power by the United States so we could continue to exploit Chilean copper resources, took over the country from a newly elected socialist government.  It was dark.

The second museum was the Chilean Museum of Pre Colombian Art.  They had an extensive and beautiful collection.

On this trip we moved much faster than normal, but we only had two weeks and there was so much to see…and eat.  In the end I estimate we spent about $170 per day for two people which includes accommodation, food, activities, souvenirs, and local transportation. It doesn’t include the round-trip airfare from the US or the airfare from Salta to Santiago.  It felt like Argentina was more expensive, but we spent about equal amount of money in each country. We had a range of accommodation prices from $18 a night in Iruya to $50 a night in Purmamarca. The money situation was a little differ t.  In Chile we used the ATM to have a little cash and everything else was with a credit card.  In Argentina cash was king.  We either exchanged money with money changers in the street or used an ATM.  At the ATM there is a $60 withdrawal limit and the fees are about $15 but we have a Schwab account that reimburses all the ATM fees so that was no worry for us.

Being in the highest and driest nonpolar desert on the planet was a really intense experience. The landscapes were just really indescribable And the night sky was mesmerizing. Spending a couple of days with the young women from the Czech Republic was a highlight. Not only were they amicable, travel, companions, but they gave us so much more than we could possibly have given them. Like I’d said in a previous post we’ve had so many people around the world over the years, looking out for us and doing good deeds for our benefit. we’ve gone with strangers into their home in Syria and had a traditional meal with the family, we’ve sat down to dinner with the mayor of a small village in Greece, and we’ve been to the Home of a family that we met on a ferry in Greece and they treated us to rest and a meal. In Southern California, when we were on the ships, we met people who sponsored us, gave us gifts, and places to store our belongings while we traveled. Those experiences gave us the opportunity to build our capacity for seeing the beauty and humanity while helping us to develop our gut instincts. As broke back in the 90s we also really appreciated anything that was free, a few dollar saved me a few more days on the road. These girls we met certainly weren’t broke and didn’t need us to give them a free ride in our rental car, but since we had been given so much, it was the least we could do for the universe.  

An Asado in Mendoza

 A cancelled flight gave us an unexpected full day in Mendoza, Argentina.  We had some very tasty food in Argentina but still had not experienced an asado so we decided to splurge on an “experience” and take an Argentinan asado cooking class.

  We were picked up outside our hostel by our host, Mauricio, and he drove us to his house on the outskirts of town.  

We were together for about 4 hours and cooked all afternoon. An asado is more or less a BBQ with the star of the show being the beef that Argentina is famous for.

A real asado uses a wood fire to cook everything. Mauricio had a huge built-in brick cooking area to roast the meats and vegetables.  Argentinan cooking is pretty simple and uses few and easy to find ingredients-salt, pepper, vinegar, oil, parsley.  It was a meat extravaganza of ribs, sausages, and steaks just like I imagined it would be.

All in all it was a pleasant way to spend an unplanned day, by eating well in a beautiful setting and saying goodbye to Argentina.

Salta

We realized we needed a vacation from our vacation and some city time in Salta hit the spot.  This is one of the nicest Latin American cities I have been in, right up there with Cuenca, Ecuador and Valladolid, Mexico.  Compared to those two favorites, Salta is actually feels cleaner, safer, and more polished but it is way way more expensive.  It still has that sketchy electrical infrastructure with a tangle of wires going every which way from buildings to poles.  It has that nice slightly crumbling but partially restored colonial look, but no packs of stray dogs or street food carts.  Lots of Argentinian tourists but no Americans.  It has a bit of a European feel with street side  cafes on the main plaza.  

The empanadas here are stellar and we continue to eat them daily, but just in restaurants because of the lack of street food. We had a dish new to us called Provoleta which is provolone cheese and herbs baked in a little iron skillet at La Saltena, now we are obsessed.

The observations in the beginning of this post were from walking around town on a Sunday.  Now it’s Monday and the vibe is very different.  It’s quite chaotic, loud, the street vendors and dogs are everywhere, and Luis was followed this morning on his way to a grocery store by a guy he tried to shake by crossing the street twice, and still couldn’t shake him until finally Luis gave him the get the hell away from me look and he backed off.  So much for a nirvanaesque Latin American city.

We did the religious circuit visiting the main cathedrals in the city, and stopped into a few markets along the way.  The “artesian” market in Parque San Martin was filled with imported crap, and the Mercado Central was a real drag as well.  We looked forward to eating in the market as we always do.  Usually I love that grimy overload but this one just had some kind of weird vibe I can’t put my finger on.  Maybe I am too old to like it anymore I don’t know. But that can’t be true  because I loved the Mercado I ate at when I went to Ecuador last April.  Here’s some pics of all the churches from today.

Our third and final day found us back at La Saltena.  Next to the ones I bought from a vendor on the bus to Iryua, the empanadas at La Saltena were the best. 

Next stop is Mendoza, Argentina.  We were scheduled to fly to Santiago, Chile tonight, but our connecting flight was bumped up by a day so we have a full unplanned day in Mendoza tomorrow where we’re going to have a splurge on a special treat so stay tuned :)

Humahuaca and Uquia

Humahuaca is a gem of a town and like all the others in this area it is thriving on tourism.  One of the main attractions to the area is to ride up in a 4 x 4 to 14,271 feet to view the Serrinia de Hornocal.  We intended to take the tour but after the three hour ride back from Iruya we didn’t feel like getting back into a vehicle and driving on another dirt road for another hour…and it would have cost 15 usd per person.  Instead we stayed in town and had a lovely dinner at a place with live music.  It was so precious.  There seems to be so much Argentinian pride for northern folklore music with the whole restaurant clapping along in a unique beat that everyone seemed to know it except us.  Beautiful music, people, and food.

We also intended to stay here for two nights but ended up just doing one.  After being in the dry, windy, bright mountains for seven days we wanted a break so we decided to head to Salta the next day on a 14:00 bus.  

Since we had most of the day we had enough time to hop on a bus and go seven miles south to Uquia to do the La Quedabra de las Senoritas hike.  Getting off the bus you walk through town on a dirt road for about 15 minutes until you see the gated entrance and the parking lot. There, the guide explains the two routes available, one is about 90 minutes and the other is longer at three hours and both require a guide to preserve the area.  We only had enough time for the short walk which provided plenty of breathtaking sights.

The guide let us go on ahead on the way back because we had a bus to catch. Our timing was perfect, we waited at the bus stop only about five minutes when a bus came along that we could take back up to Humahuaca.  

Back in town, we collected our bags from the hotel and dug into a dozen empanadas and a limonada at El Patio de La Abuela before boarding the bus to Salta.

The Tiny Town of Iryua

It’s not the easiest place to get to yet two bus loads of tourists, mostly Argentinian, were deposited in this village along with us.  We bought tickets for about 5 usd from Purmamarca to Humahuaca a day in advance for a very early 06:40 bus.  Around 08:00 we arrived in Humahuaca to get tickets for the 08:20 bus to Iruya.  The bus was already full, of tourists, but the ticket lady made a call and found a van taking the overflow.  The infrastructure for Iruya and probably this entire Quedabra Valley is not set up to handle the volume of tourism it is receiving.  The road the Iruya was dirt and rocks, bumpy as hell, and clung precariously to the mountainside.  We made five stream crossings, two of them were about a foot deep.  It was mostly single lane so when other vehicles wanted to pass in the opposite direction someone has to pull over just enough so they don’t go tumbling off the cliff.  Our driver appeared to be 16 years old and continuously ate cocoa leaves from a huge bag at his side.

We had our accommodation already sorted but if you didn’t it’s easy to find.  Ladies will approach you at the bus station to ask if you need a room, they are very low key and gentle as far as touts in a bus station go. Iruya is a very hilly place with cobblestone roads and old buildings.  

The hike to do here is sooooo hard, to the Mirador de Condors. You gain 1000 feet of elevation in the first mile which is very very steep.  It took us about 90 minutes to go up and 45 to go down.  We pressed on catching our breaths every 50 steps or so.  Like all hikes the view at the top makes the suffering worth it.

We opened the door to our room on the street and this guy wandered in and made himself at home.  Street dogs are usually gross and aggressive but the ones here seem to be well cared for pets.

When we left he was sad and waited for us by the door.

We had a last meal and got on the bus for the three hour ride back to Humahuaca where we plan to stay for two nights.  The bus ride is intense but the driver handles every curve smoothly, waving to every car that he passes.

Argentina!

An epic 8 hour bus ride across the Atacama Desert, past volcanoes and salt flats, led us to Argentina.  We haven’t done a land border crossing in a long long time, but we were prepared for everything we were told the brder agents would ask for including a travelers health insurance policy.  I’ve always cheaped out on buying one but as of July 1 it is supposedly required for Argentina, along with proof of onward travel.  Border control didn’t ask us for anything except for the name of the hostel we were staying at.  It took just about an hour to process all 36 passengers from our bus. It was windy, sunny, and cold at 14,000 feet.

 First stop is Purmamarca.  A well preserved small town that is teeming with tourists who seemed to be mostly Argentinian.  No one spoke English, neither the locals or other tourists.  Off the beaten track for Americans for sure, but not Argentinians.  Everyone was carrying around their tote bags of yerba mate supplies with thermos of hot water and large bag of yerba mate .  People walk around sipping and  replenishing  their tea all day out of these specialized mugs and a metal straw that is perforated on the end to strain out the tea.  I’ve learned that mate is a symbol of national identity. 

Street food wasn’t a thing in San Pedro de Atacama, but it is here…finally!  You can mostly find fried empanadas and grilled quesadillas that are sealed up on the ends.  Both are good but the most incredible street food we had was a paper cone of tiny Andean potatoes smothered in salsa and a handmade blue corn tortilla filled with quinoa and chicken.   In the central square we watched a group of really talented musicians and dancers performing folkloric music and dance that tourists would join in on. Everyone seemed happy and proud. 

Purmamarca is famous for the Cerritos de los Siete Colores, a two mile loop that begins and ends in town and takes you through beautiful scenery of these mountains that display multi colored layers of rock.  

The other reason to come here was to visit the Salinas Grande, the third largest salt flat in the world.  There’s an intersection where drivers will shout “Salinas Salinas”, you give them your name and about 16 usd and wait for the next available van.  Another surreal drive up to 14,000 where the driver will pull over for everyone to get out and take a picture of the altitude marker.  There’s so many people that they installed a duplicate marker to expire the process of van loads of tourists taking photos and at both there is a line of people waiting for the opportunity.  We took a photo of the people taking photos.

Salinas Grandes is completely set up for tourism.  You pay about 4 usd to walk out onto the salt flats where you will see employees in bright green hoodies with a que of tourists waiting their turn for them to take the iconic salt flat photos of them.  They have props of a dinosaur and a mate cup and encourage you to pose for photos that use a technique called forced perspective to create optical illusions.  The seemingly endless horizon of a salt flat eliminates depth cues and can make distant objects appear larger or smaller.

We had a lot of fun with this, and planned ahead by bringing  an object from home, a toy tiger that has been sitting on the frame of  a big mirror in our hallway for 20 years.  The photographers know exactly how to take the perfect pictures.  We didn’t plan this color blocked matching outfit but it kinda worked out!

In the entrance area are many empanada sellers and a section for salt souvenirs.  All the little huts are made out of salt blocks.  The whole trip takes about 4.5 hours. Crazy touristy for sure but it was a whole lot of fun!

Tomorrow we will be heading to Iruya, a tiny village at the end of a very bumpy dirt road.