¡SALTA!

Hey yall,

I just came back from an EPIC trip to Salta, Argentina about 20 hours up north from Buenos Aires. Here is a little bit about my experience and some pictures I took (yes, I now actually own a camera).

A surprisingly pleasant 20 hour bus ride

My only previous experience taking the bus was taking the greyhound from Long Beach to Oakland on thanksgiving breaks, so I was expecting to rough it out in Buenos Aires. Boy was I wrong! The bus was super luxurious, Farrah and I got a seat on the upper deck of the Bus and the seats actually tilt back far enough and has a place to put your feet so that your body is making a 170 degree angle! Also, as always in Argentina you’re offered unlimited vino tinto (red wine) and vino blanco to make you sleepy enough. On the way there we sang Suze happy birthday celebrated with a good amount of wine. I woke up 11 hours later with only a few more hours left!

We arrive in Salta to a quaint city with beautiful colonial architecture, catholic churches, and a cozy plaza. The place felt so…unusually familiar. I was quickly flooded with memories of Xela, Guatemala where I had spent a week living in an apartment. It felt good to get out of the ‘Paris of South America’ and experience something smaller, more personal and calmer.

It’s-a-me-a-Mario!

The next day we woke up bright and early and went on a full day excursion up north. My group that I ended up traveling with the whole time was Liz, Susana, Suze, Jon, Farrah, Thy and me (yes, not many men study abroad). We all got in a truck with a guide named Mario who couldn’t speak a word in English. He was awesome. Not only did he know so much about geology, but he was hilarious and loved to talk about sexy women. I finally was able to practice my Spanish!

The day was a blur of unique natural formations. I don’t really even know how to describe the things we saw so I’ll just put some pictures up.

road on the way to purmamarca

salinas grandes, salt flats

7 colored mountain in purmamarca

Wine, canyons and delicious goats

By the end of the first day touring the north, Mario said he’d love to take us to Cafayate the next day and stay with us until we wanted to return to Salta to get back on the bus back to Buenos Aires. Apparently he had a date with some hot girls and his buddies. The 4 hour drive down was very pretty. We took a road called “Quebrada de las canchas” which looks very similar to the Grand canyon with unique formations and colors.

We stopped by a parrilla (bbq) restaurant and I ate a platter full of chivito (baby goat). It was finger lickin’ good.

In the afternoon, we went to some bodegas to do some wine tasting. While I’m the last person to be a wine connoisseur, it was cool getting free wine. I also bought two bottles of very solid Torrontes and Malbec for about $4 each. After we had enough wine in us, we rented some bikes and went on the most stunning bike ride I’ve ever been on through wineries, grape farms and mountains. Here is a picture:

The next morning I did some more biking with Jon, Suze and Susana and we wandered into this huge golf resort/grape farm that must have been 7 miles wide. It had its own restaurants, cafes, lagoon, etc. It was this strange paradise along the highway.

We met up with Mario around noon and he had told us that “Cuando estabas durmiendo, yo miraba tetas grandes.” Apparently, while we were sleeping last night, he went to see a wet t-shirt contest at a Boliche(one of many Mario moments). We finally headed down for some trekking in Quebrada de las canchas.

Dammnn that was beautiful. I forgot how much I missed hiking and trekking. It was surreal just walking down a dried up river and venturing up to the top of vividly colored mountains. I honestly could have done this all day but we didn’t have enough time. I guess that’s what my trip to Patagonia in November is for.

Sitting atop a mountain during the trek, I thought of two things. 1. How God is a more creative and significant being than we’ll ever be. 2. I can’t believe this is my life right now. It was one of those moments like I don’t care what happens tomorrow, I’m content. I’ve experienced enough life. And just when I’m having this epiphany that I don’t need more anymore in life, Mario asks us if we want to go bungee jumping for $20. Oh hell YEAH I’m down. We drove to a beautiful lake and 3 minutes after getting out of the car, I was strapped in standing on the edge of a platform about to jump 350 ft into the water. I was on such a high from the trip that I honestly wasn’t nervous and just jumped—and man words cannot describe how sick the experience was.

Other than all the beautiful nature I saw in Salta, I think the other cool thing about this trip was meeting really down to earth Argentines at hostels. Whether it was Sergio, some bros from Buenos Aires that we went with to the Boliches or chicks from Cordoba, I felt that I was finally able to get to know the people of this country. I realized that when you travel, it’s just a more liminal environment and everyone is down to hang out and get more personal. Ironically, I made more porteño friends (people from Buenos aires) while I was in Salta that I’m going to get lunch with in the weeks to come. It’s awesome to practice my Spanish and also probe on some of the different perspectives they have.

some of the people at the hostel playing some drunk ping pong

All in all, I’d rate this trip an A and while I’m definitely glad to be back in Buenos Aires can’t wait for the trips to come! (October-Iguazú Falls and Colonial Uruguay. November-hopefully Patagonia.) I’m thankful for having this amazing time to just chill and travel though I’m sure I’m becoming more and more of a lazy ass every day, thank you Jesus!