A short stint in the desert

From Cordoba I took a very disappointing overnight bus to Salta. Since I am not a fan of long bus journeys, I splurged for the ¨cama¨which usually involves a hot meal, wine, pillow and blankets. Our bus (Ken was with me) had none of these. And it arrived late. So that was lame. As was the ridiculously loud snoring man across the aisle from me. But we made it nevertheless. In Salta we headed to the hostel where Ken´s camera was and headed out to check out the town. We wandered around, found some great pasta, and checked out the overpriced, interesting and rather sad mummy museum (that is not the official name for the record). Apparently the Incas used to take the most attractive and physically fit children in each town and make them walk hundreds of miles to a religius ritual. Then they walked back and one of the children was ¨chosen¨to be the sacrifice. This child was taken up on a mountian, fed chicha (alcoholic drink) until s/he passed out, and then buried alive in a cave with ceremonial objects. There were two of these mummified children on display. One of them had obviously woken up before freezing to death. It was kind of gruesome. After a nap, Ken and I decided to have dinner and check out the Salta nightlife. It was Sunday so not too much was going on (we spent Saturday night on the bus) but it was fun watching the souped up cars cruise the strip. Souped up in Argentina runs the gamut from shiny race car look-alikes to beaters with flashing lights.

Monday a crew from the hostel took a bus to San Lorenzo about a half hour away for some hiking. There was a short zipline that a couple of people did and the hike was short but nice. It is really hot up north during the day (finally!) so we were all cool with a shorter hike. That night we treated ourselves to a steak dinner (probably my last in Argentina). Tuesday morning I headed north to Tilcara with a couple of Canadian girls from the hostel. We had a relaxing afternoon reading and enjoying views from the hostel, but one of them realized she had lost her passport and they headed back to Salta to look for it. I hope they found it! Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised by blue skies (forecast was for rain) and spent the day exploring the desert near Tilcara. First I went to Purmamarca which is know for its ¨Seven Color Hill¨which, as the name implies has seven colors of stripes in the hill. I took a little hike there and then headed to Maimara where there is a picuresque hillside cemetary. The walk back to Tilcara was a bit farther than I anticipated, but I go there eventually. Then I headed to an archeology museum and up the hill near twn t the Pucara which is the ruins of an Inca fort. I ended the day with a llama steak (regional specialty) and paid for it later that night. Ah well, the last one I had was fine... This morning I came up to another indigenous town on the way to Bolivia called Humahuaca. I wandered the town and did a short hike to the Peñas Blancas or white rocks overlooking the town. Tomorrow I am heading up to the border to Bolivia. I am so ready t be back in Bolivia! Argentina has been nice to fantastic, but it feels so incredibly first world and comfortable. I will have plenty of that when I get back to the US in 6 weeks (OMG- just 6 more weeks!). Plus I miss the vibe and people and otherworldlyness of Bolivia.

All for now!