PAGING DR. FREUD!

Mixed in with the mountains in the Cachi gorge are stretches of cactus plains.



Careful where you sit!



Pablo also took us on walks through the rugged countryside.



And into cattle canyons.



But the real point of this post is to show you the fun we had driving. Remember how I told you that drivers here are crazy? I mean outside Buenos Aires, even cities like Salta with oiver 600,000 people have almost no stop lights or stop signs. Cars race up to an intersection. If there's a hole in the traffic flow they floor it. Otherwise -- AAA!!! As a pedestrian, it feels like being in a carnival game of Whack-A-Mole where you're the mole!

Same craziness here in the mountains. A single dotted line means, feel free to drive on the wrong side of the road -- in fact, we insist! A double solid line when approaching a hairpin turn where you can't see what's ahead means, "Hey, it's up to you, bro." On the few occasions Argentinians are serious, they actually paint huge exclamation marks in the lanes, and then it's kinda like, "Don't say we didn't warn you!"

Here Pablo shows us the happy-go-lucky driving spirit that makes traveling here so much fun.

1) Talk to passengers in the backseat to make sure they're happy. Use your hands to make your points.



2) At curves, take your eyes off the road and flash a smile out the window at pretty girls hitchhiking. Or just check yourself out in the side mirror.



3) As you sail through the air over the cliff, reassure the screaming passengers in the back seat.



4) Leap before the crash and have lunch ready for when your passengers climb back to the road. (If they're kinda dead, make them a nice stone marker. Flowers optional.)



Next stop Cachi, salt flats, and pre-Incan settlements!

Till then,

Allan

SALTA, ARGENTINA!

Iguazu Falls was exciting, but not as exciting as the evening taxi ride from the Salta airport to our B&B. There are three speeds in Argentina: "AAA!", "AAAAAAA!", and "HOLY F***ING AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Argentinians drive like Parisiens with blindfolds. Especially fun is passing three cars and a bus while going up a hill. Naturally I'm delighted. Since getting home, Daniel has found my driving positively rational.

Salta is an astonishingly beautiful colonial city, the capital of Salta province in the north west. The province is a plateau between two mountain ranges, one being the Eastern range before the Andes. There are 600,000 people but all the buildings are low. There is a gorgeous central square dominated by the cathedral which is painted pink-lavendar. At night all the colonial buildings are lit up which makes the whole place look like a bunch of fancy wedding cakes. Exhibit A at the top of this post. Exhibit B here:



Here, by the way, are those cathedrals by day:





(I'd love to see Pope Benedict do mass in a pink cathedral, wouldn't you?)

BTW, the central statue in the park is of General Guemes, the northern hero of the War of Independence against Spain in the 19th century.



Salta was founded by a guy called Lerma who was about to be thrown in jail in Spain, but his well-to-do family managed to get him exiled here instead. Eventually the locals kicked him back home for being a totally major jerk -- but he still rates a statue by the town hall. Both statue and town hall are seen behind Daniel.



If memory serves, the town hall was on Avenido Belgrano, named for another war hero. In any event it was on route to a terrific artsy area by the old train station. Unlike the flea market in San Telmo in Buenos Aires, the craft booths here had really high quality workmanship. And the restaurants! OMG!



Speaking of restaurants, it is so hard to eat healthy in Argentina. For breakfasts, our B&B, Bloomers -- a place the guide books might call 'quirky' and 'charming' -- served dolce de leche (caramel) pancakes, and croissants with candied squash jam. Lunch at a neighborhood restaurant was an empanada and a provelta. The provelta was billed as an appetizer. What it was was a half pound of grilled, spiced provolone which they offered to drench in olive oil. Yesterday for dessert we had that squash jam under a slab of goat cheese. And then of course there are all the local ice creams which are, well.. necessary in order to experience the region.

One other fun thing we did was go up a cable car to the top of the main mountain in town. Here's the shadow of our car against the mountain.



And here's a long-distance view of a suburb of Salta.



And here's a shot I took it from behind a man-made waterfall in the summit gardens looking out through the water.



I promised I'd introduce Pablo today, the hilarious driver/guide who took us through some hair-raising experiences in the most gorgeous mountains you've ever seen. (All different colours, and some almost 5,000 metres above sea level!) You'll also see salt flats, miles of giant cactus, llamas, farms in the middle of nowhere, herds of cows in canyons. But, hey, I'm tired. Tune in to the next few posts and we'll be out in a 4 x 4! I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Till then,

Allan