D8+9 Dragoman- Journey to Salta

With time to make up we had an early start and a long journey ahead to get to Salta. Setting our tents down with head torches and carefully loading the growing number of wine bottles onto the bus, we set off.

As dusk drew near we turned off to our first bush camp. Not the best place, in some scrub near a river bed the local mossies started their attack. Fending them off Charlotte and I set the tents up on sandy ground while James and Izzy cooked a nice meal considering they had to shop at a cash and carry! Retreating from the mossie onslaught it was a hot and stuffy night in the tent so no one minded the 5 am wake up call the next day. Having deeted to the high heavens I had escaped without any bites until I went for a bush wee before I left. The mossies left me 15 bites as a present. The bastards!

Down a hill a few hours later and we arrived in Salta, a large and religious city. We set out to explore and aimed for the main square where the cathedral lies and found the museum for high altitude archeology. It was a facinating exhibition on the Inca child sacrifices found on mountain tops around the andes. A honour for the children who were from the higher classes in society, they were paraded to Cusco and then paraded up to the mountain top. Given a strong alcoholic drink, hit over the head and buried at the top of the mountain along with precious relics. The girl on display at the museum had been struck by lightening after her buriel, the left side of her body was charred. It was surreal to see, and hard to understand such an alien culture.

After a siesta (making like the locals) we attended the end of mass at the cathedral. Over 3000 people must have been in attendance as their was no spare seat and many were standing. An impressive space the alter had an aweinspiring golden halo. After the service a procession started around the main square. They carried a statue of Jesus on the cross, stopping at each of the stationsof the cross. It was humbling to see a city where religion is still part of its lifeblood.

Our next stop was a lively Peña. A traditional place where gauchos would come to eat, socialize and sing. On Balacarce street most were touristy with a stage set and groups singing with folk dancers below them. We had some good empanadas (spicy meat snd ham and cheeee) and tried a tamales. We tried wine from Cafayate since we missed the region. At one point I was dragged off by a dancer to join in a folk dance version of the conga and the hokey cokey! Peñas are definately a must in Salta. With tiredness coming over us after the early start we retired to bed at 1 o clock.Read more