We departed BA yesterday afternoon in grey, but warm conditions. We enjoyed our time in BA, but we were both ready to move on finding about 4 days is typically our maximum tolerance for large cities when travelling. So another travel day as we again moved northward, northeast to be more precise. About a 7-8 hour drive south of the Bolivian border.
Funny thing is that it sometimes feels southward down here as it becomes progressively warmer the further north one travels. I guess another adjustment to get use to in the Southern Hemisphere! Of course there is also the altitude impact going forward. We are now at 1,152 m (3,780’) and in the coming weeks we will climb significantly higher during our travels. This will of course eventually mean a bit less oxygen and a more intense sun.
Salta is located on a high plain just a bit to the east of the Andes. I was somehow expecting green hills around the town, but there are also lots of agricultural bits up here as well.
Basically not much planted yet, but the soil looks tilled and prepared.
We picked up a taxi at the airport, reputedly all metered and generally honest sorts. There is no bus service into Salta and it’s a bit of a Grand Prix into town! The driver found our little apartment which is kind of nice as we can make breakfast here and there’s a fridge, hot plate, etc. I cooked up some fried eggs this morning which was a nice change.
After arriving we went for a walk about to find some groceries and kind of discovered another side to Argentina. The local families had gathered in the town green space for a Sunday outing and it was busy. We were definitely the out of towners!
I asked directions a couple of times in my slowly improving basic Spanish which eventually took us to the local super mercado and a decent supply of groceries. It’s so nice to be able to converse a bit and to be understood. Walking back to our apartment we began to notice signs of community. Generally it being Sunday things were really quiet, except at the park. Whenever I see murals that haven’t been tagged I find that there is usually pretty good community present. I’m going more certain about Salta’s community after a day walking around.
Yes, even the stray dogs were friendly and followed us along the dark streets last night. Maybe they caught a whiff of my chicken dinner? Did I mention that there are a few birds up here?
We woke to a beautiful morning having experienced a notably colder night. I guess we will have to get use to this as we get a bit higher. The view from our small 6th floor deck space. These are the foothills of the Andes with the real mountains beginning to show themselves to the rear of our accommodation. Rugged and about 3500 m. Not really high, but on the edge of the significant peaks. We plan to climb the hill on the right tomorrow morning to get a bit of exercise, check out the views and break ourselves slowly in to the elevation changes. There is a gondola climbing up, but we think the exercise will do us a bit more good, and it’s free!! The trail runs up the ridge centre right and the views should be pretty good.
The gondola goes up the right side and starts just down the street from us, about two blocks away.
After breakfast this morning we had to take a taxi to and from the airport in order to claim Annemarie’s windbreaker that she’d left on the plane yesterday. Our host called out for us and sure enough Latam Air had it in their lock up. A very happy Annemarie joined me at the centre plaza where we lined up to get cash from the ATM at one of the big banks. Service fees for foreigners are unbelievably high costing $15 for a cash withdrawal. I appreciate that the economy and banks are in some trouble here, but it seems a bit steep. I guess a traveller’s contribution to the banks, sadly not to the locals.
The main cathedral is located right on the plaza. Really a nice church.
Orange trees on the square!
Inside was really a surprise as well. Much nicer than the large church we visited in BA.
Argentina has a massive practicing catholic population, part of the reason the Pope comes from here, 92% of the population. Also 62% of the population has an Italian heritage which is a bit of a surprise to us as we thought is was Spanish. Who knew? Maybe that’s also a part of the reason for the Pope being selected from Argentina. I believe all of South and Central America is heavily catholic.
When we first popped into the cathedral there was a morning service in full swing with people actively coming and going. We walked through but took no photos instead choosing to return at the end before the church was shut down. There was still a line up for this side chapel.
With cash rustling in our pockets we went and paid for the mini bus day tour I’d arranged from home to take us north to Humahauca on Wednesday. They had agreed that we could take our small packs on board and get off before the bus heads south again for the 4 hour drive back to Salta. We could have taken the regular bus, but it wouldn’t allow us to see the small villages and countryside that are highlights of the highway north. This way we kind of tour along getting all the stops then get off before the bus returns south. We continue on to Bolivia via regular bus on Thursday.
A walk about followed. Nice city and it was humming on Monday morning! A big change from Sunday.
This woman was weaving on a hand held frame.
Oranges!
Tomorrow we plan to stay around town. There are some nice excursions from town, but we have lots of activity ahead of us, so a hike and then a visit to the excellent archeological museum here should pretty much round out the day. There are a couple of decent restaurants here that also demand our inspection. Tonight we plan for a relatively quick meal so that we can get back and follow the federal election results from home. I hope everyone gets out to vote. A woman on the plan said to us that she will miss voting in BA while she attends a wedding in Salta. When Annemarie explained that we pre-voted before leaving home, the woman said, “but then you live in a first world country”. The message was pretty clear. The Bolivia federal election happened on Sunday and by all accounts was quiet and well managed. It’s mandatory to vote in Bolivia as it is in Australia. We Canadians could learn an awful lot from that!! Food for thought.
On that note, we are very aware of the difficult situation that has arisen in Chile and thanks to those who have sent us various news links. We’ve been monitoring things for the past couple of days and note that flights are coming and going again from Santiago International. We have a few contingency plans up our sleeves, but we have 9 days until we arrive at the Bolivia/Chile border. Time to assess and move forward. Our initial thought is to skip through Santiago and get south into Patagonia where things are much calmer. I mean who wants to rant and violently protest when trekking in such a beautiful place? I looked up what our Government travel advisories state, and they are still pretty chill. So we will take things as they come, with adjustments as necessary.
That’s about it from here. Remember to vote! It’s your right and privilege!!! The more we travel, the clearer it becomes just how fortunate we are. Cheers!
1 comment:
Nice shots in the cathedral. I've read something about boats carrying workers from Italy to Argentina to help with the harvest, and apparently some of them liked the country so much they decided to stay. Or many of them did!
I think I've caught up with the blogs I missed--or have I? Keep scrolling.
Ken
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