Purmamarca, Salta & Cafayate, Argentina (E)

After some trouble and arguments with the bus company who didn’t want to accept my valid ticket, I was finally allowed on the bus and left San Pedro de Atacama towards Argentina. The bus crept up the mountains until we reached the border post on the Jama pass at 4,400 meters. The mountain scenery was spectacular and the rocks kept on changing shapes and colors. The Jujuy region is famous for the multicolored mountains and I left the bus earlier than planned to spend some time in Purmamarca, a little town based below one of the most beautiful hills of this region. Lydie, a French girl I met on the bus decided to join me and we soon found a good hostel and not so good food...
The name “Cerro de los Siete Colores” does not need much explanation; the seven different colors are quite clearly visible, especially in the morning sun. Easier said than done though - There was no morning sun the day after we arrived, just a lot of clouds and a chilly wind. We decided to spend the day hiking around Purmamarca and give the hill another chance early next morning. The luck was on our side and we were able to see the well lit Cerro from a viewing point before taking the bus to our next destination.

The city of Salta promised to be a nice place to relax for a few days and I didn’t know if there is much to do anyway. The guidebook raves about the old colonial buildings of this “white city” but I didn’t find it very colonial nor where the buildings whiter than in other cities. However I did like the relaxed atmosphere on the main square where people gather day and night to meet, chat and drink coffee. There were proper supermarkets & department stores so I could stock up on some much needed items that weren’t available in Bolivia.

I was sitting on a bench on the main square when someone called my name. It was Stefan, the German housemate of the bungalow in Airlie Beach (Australia). We couldn’t quite believe this coincidence is happening and quickly took pictures to document it. Stefan and his friend joined us that evening for dinner and we could exchange our travel tales whilst enjoying my first proper steak in Argentina.



I knew that Lars from the Uyuni trip was in Salta too so we arranged to meet and discuss our travel plans. He was planning to rent a car for a two-day roundtrip through the wine region south of Salta and I was more than up for a road trip. With Lydie & Thomas from France we found two more people who wanted to join us. The next morning the four of us got the rented VW Gol out of the garage and left Salta for two days. The little car climbed the mountains outside of Salta until we reached a high plateau covered with thousands of huge cacti before descending down to the picturesque town of Cachi where we had lunch. The ride continued along stunning mountain scenery and through beautiful valleys on National Route 40 which covers the entire length of Argentina from the border with Bolivia to the southern tip of the country. We stopped in Cafayate for the night and had a massive tasty steak and some wine. Cafayate is an important wine producing area and we were able to see the production and taste the excellent juice the next day during a visit at Bodega El Esteco, the biggest winery in Cafayate. We continued the road trip back to Salta with many stops on the way to see more of the stunning scenery. Lars, Thomas & I decided to leave Salta the following day to head down to Mendoza where more steaks and wine were waiting for us.

Quebrada de las Conchas

Me posing with Lydie, Lars, Thomas