Southern Bolivia and into Argentina

I feel like it has been ages since my last post but I think that is more because I have been moving quickly to make sure I have time to enjoy Mendoza before I have to be in Buenos Aires. So last post was in Tupiza. I ended up spending a couple of days there. The town itself is pretty small and nondescript (but randomly has a ton of Italian restaurants, there are more Italian retaurants than Bolivian ones- odd) but the scenery nearby is terrific! It looks a lot like the red deserts of Nevada and Arizona. I did a half day jeep tour of some of the rock formations which was great. The next day I did a hike up the railroad tracks to see more before I took the night bus to Tarija. I loved Tarija. Tarija is the area of Bolivia where they produce wines. It also has loads of great scenery nearby. My first day I spent wandering around the city. The next day I did a day tour of the surrounding area. We started the tour with a visit to the pueblo San Lorenzo which was home to Moto Mendez, a Bolivian war hero. After San Lorenzo we visited a waterfall at Coimata and the lake of San Jacinto. We had lunch back in town at a BBQ restaurant (Argentinian stlye) and then headed to the vineyards. The first vineyard was a commercial vineyard where we tried Singani (similar to grappa) and a Syrah. Then we went to a quirky older man named Jesus' private vineyard. Jesus ages his wine in large glass jugs and invited us to a ceremony where he siphoned out 2 meters of wine for each of us (about a half a glass) and had us toast before drinking it. Then we tried some of his singani. He was hysterical and we all ended up buying bottles from him because we had so much fun there. The last vineyard we went to was a boutique vineyard where we tried seven different types of wine from communal glasses (that's how they roll in Bolivia). Steve, one of the others on my tour, bought a leather flask of wine that we drank on the way back to town. That night the crew met back up for dinner on the plaza. All in all a great day!

I had planned to cross into Argentina from Tarija via Villazon- about 8 hours away,but our guide told me about a smaller crossing only 3 hours away at Bermejo. So I headed down. It was a bit confusing as the border is before the town of Bermejo and I had to change my money at the immigration office. Also the border guards aren't used to Americans crossing there so there was a bit of a debate as to the procedure. Finally I walked across a bridge to the Argentine side and they scanned my luggage but I had to go to the second office to get my entry stamp. It all worked out. I then spent 2 hours in Aguas Blancas waiting for a bus to Jujuy. There is nothing to do in Aguas Blancas except try to get out of the heat and away from the mosquitos (they were everywhere). But it all worked out and 5 hours later I arrived in Jujuy.

I just spent one night in Jujuy and then headed to Salta. Since I plan top come back through Salta I also just spent one night there but had a good time at the BBQ on the roof of my hostel hanging out with a couple of people I had met in Sucre and a slew of French travelers. Today I took a bus to Cafayte (pronounced Ca-fa-sha-te 'cause it is Argentina). The town itself is pretty small but there are lots of wineries around and good hiking and biking in the surrounding desert. Tomorrow I am doing a tour to Cachi and some hiking and Tuesday biking to wineries and then hiking in the desert (not sure if that is the smartest order, but that is how it worked out). Argentina is a lot different from Bolivia (more expensive, more first world feeling, more touristy) but so far so good.