Don't cry for me Argentina...

... the truth is we are about to leave you, since this is our last full day here. Tomorrow, we are off to Bolivia at 0915.

Yesterday we made our way by bus from Salta to Tilcara. The journey should have been 4 hours, but it ended up being more than 5. ( Bus had to be changed halfway, due to some problems). We travelled up an incredible valley from 1000m at Salta to 2500m in Tilcara. The sides of the valley are magnificent sandstone mountains, and the valley floor is dominated by a dried up river, though a little stream still flows and an open plain covered in large cacti.

Tilcara itself is a town of 6,000 people. There is some tourism here, but not that much, and otherwise, it's a pretty sleepy town.

We stay in the Tilcara guest house, which is managed by a nice Argentinian, with help from a German lady. We booked two rooms but one is enough so he lets us cancel the booking and take something different. The nominal price was $155 per day, but with the change and unofficial exchange rates, we pay only $60.

The advantages of guest houses/hostels are that generally, people are friendlier and chatty , and they often can help answer our many questions..." Is there a bus from A to B," etc. The only disadvantage is that they are rarely as clean as the Swiss mind needs to feel truly relaxed.

Jama, not Llama, is how to pronounce the Andes cross between a camel and a sheep. We go see some before eating some 😉.

Today, since the kids think they are "cute," we went to see a bunch of Llamas and take them for a walk and a feed. Great fun was had by all.Read more