Part Dos

Hola,
Well since we last talked we have just been kicking around our hostel looking for places to stay at Iguazu Falls as most of the accommodation is quite pricey since it is such a tourist destination and apparently the most impressive falls in the world. Even more so then Victoria and Niagara Falls I have never been to either so its hard to say, but Peter has been so I am looking forward to his verdict on which falls is the most beautiful.

So we ended last nights blog with how we got an Irish Argentinian driver for our trip to El Cafayate. When we arrived at our hostel in Salta we were looking for ways to get to El Cafayate where we had booked accommodating for two nights so we knew we had to get there some way. We didn't want to take the bus because there were a lot of places along the route that we wanted to stop and get out to take photos or explore and taking a bus would not allow for such stops. The next idea was to rent a car and drive ourselves.. after humming and hawwing we decided that since we don't speak a lick of Spanish it could be difficult to rent a car and know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, so the next logical thing to do was look for either a tour or a private car.

We looked at the tour options but none seemed like they would take us exactly where we wanted to go, so we asked Jennifer the hostel attendant if she could phone the tourist place to see how much a private car would be and if they would take us where we wanted to go. It seemed like we got it worked out and set a time for the next morning to depart Salta at 9:00am so we were quite pleased to see that work out in a quick manner.  That evening we walked around Salta some more and had an early dinner which was not very tasty, except for the empanadas. We are learning that "Bife de Chorizo" means "Prize steak cut" which translates to ONE BIG ASS PIECE OF STEAK!! We have been trying to ask for "well done" for me (Sara) as I don't like my meat bloody especially in a foreign country but we have been having troubles going from beef tar tar to medium. Our server was not very polite and I think we will look for another restaurant when we return to Salta. After dinner we stumbled upon a local indoor soccer pitch, which is actually outside but under a covered roof. Some local teenagers were playing and they were quite skilled! The one team was dominating the other team like 8-0. It seems that girls don't play soccer as much in Argentina but really dominate in the sport of field hockey. I have never played field hockey but I would like to try it.

The next morning we awoke and had some delicious sticky croissants for breakfast (seeing a trend her!) .. the coffee unfortunately was instant coffee but Peter managed to get us some hot milk for our coffee so it wasn't terrible. We were waiting for our driver when Peter informed us that there was some complications and that the driver was not going to work out, however the other friendly hotel attendant named Max, offered to hire his Irish Argentinan dad whose name is Emae or "Patrick" like a good Irish man should be named (those were his words!). So we managed to work out a fair price, which was more then we were told for the other driver but we were happy to have someone who could speak English and who turned out to be quite entertaining, as you could imagine an Irish Argentinan would be.

We learned that Emae use to work for the Tobacco industry and it was quite fascinating to listen to him tell stories about Argentina and his work in the industry. He was well traveled and could speak many languages.

We drove with Emae south on route 68 towards Cafayate.  We stopped off first at a large reservoir, which as expected looked like a large lake.  The first 100 kms or so we drove through fields of tobacco and other crops just being planted (soybeans, maize, alfafa).  After a delicious lunch at a goat farm (Posta de las Cabras) where we ate a tapas style mix of goat cheeses, fresh olives, curred meats, and some delicious garlic lentals.  Sara's favorite was the fried goat provolone cheese.  Once we hit the road again the scenery started to change to desert and red rocks. Cacti and other prickly desert type vegetation started to appear.  The green plants made a nice contrast to the red rocks and white flood plain.  On the side of the road in many places are shrines to Gauchito Gil which are noted by red flags.  Before starting a long journey people pray and light red candles to hopes of a safe journey.  Gauchito Gil was from the 19th century, known as a sort of robin hood figure.  I'm sure google can fill you in on the details.  Our driver had a red flag on his turning signal. 

We made many stops for photos as well as stopping at a number of interesting geological formations caused by water erosion, including the toad, the devil's throat, the amphitheatre, the castle, and the windows.  The color of the rocks was a deep red and quite spectacular. 

Well we should get going, the wineries are not going to tour themselves.

Tyson and Sara