Argentina

                            Argentina:

Salta: A long day for most of our group because of Aoifa’s birthday the night before. The truck was scattered with the green faced sleeping bodies of the post alcohol abuse victims! The roads to Salta were very bad and Scoota took a few wrong turns as there were no signs on the road works. We had breakfast that morning next to a dry river bed and we soon saw, as usual, a random dog mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, as if by magic, and approaching our breakfast tables. These dogs are usually equipped with hypnotic powers and the biggest I-am-so-hungry-please-feed-me eyes that it is impossible not to feel sorry for them. It didn’t seem to matter how remote or how random our stops were, Scruffy Dog would always sniff us out!

We had to cross the border on our way to Salta which took much longer than expected as we had to carry our bags over the border to be searched and the truck had to get stamped through as well. We waited for a long time on the Argentinean side and many of us got sunburned while doing so. I crossed back over into the Bolivian border (without my passport) to go and buy some empanadas and just walked straight back over! When the others saw (and smelled) my empanadas it caused a mass exodus of hungry fellow travelers towards the Bolivian empanada stall. The truck papers eventually got stamped although it was necessary for Scoota to do some sweet talking and pay a little bribe (of course…) and at last we set off again.

We set up our tents in a campsite just outside of Salta that evening.  Max had been telling us all day long about a great steakhouse in Salta that had been recommended by various respectable people, which we were apparently not allowed to miss. We were all looking forward to some red meat after our staple diet of solo pollo (chicken only) for weeks on end in Bolivia and Peru. Argentina is well known for its red wine and melt-in-your-mouth steaks so most of us took taxis to the restaurant (even after arriving late at our campsite). The restaurant was packed with locals even though it was late on a Monday night which was a good sign. Most of us ordered the “chorizo steak” which was a good cut of meat of very generous proportions! Most of the girls (but not Gillian!) could not finish their steaks and I took pity on one and finished hers off as well as my own! The food was delicious and I already liked Argentina even though it was only my first day – good roads, lush green vegetation, petrol stations with proper toilets, finished buildings and of course red wine and meat! Even the dogs and people were less scruffy…

Horse Riding: The next morning we were picked up at our campsite for horse riding and a BBQ.  We were all very much looking forward to it as many people had told us about the amazing BBQ. Enrique, our bearded host, was a great guy with a great charismatic personality and an ever present teasing sense of humour. We arrived to an unsuspecting second breakfast of tea, scones, bread pudding and marmalade. Soon after we got on our horses and set off on a slow walk. The actual horse riding that day was very average but at least we got to gallop twice. I got told off for going too fast by our guide. 

What DID make it a very memorable excursion that day were the brilliant BBQ and our host Enrique. We got plied with red wine and copious amounts of really good red meat! All of us ate and drank our own body weight in meat and red wine and there was no saying “no mas” (no more) to Enrique! He kept on piling our plates with slices of fillet and topping up our glasses with red wine. He even spoon fed Matt his unfinished steak while making aeroplane sounds and finished off by kissing him on the head! It was a brilliant day – the food was superb and our host very entertaining. I can definitely recommend it to anyone: www.sayta.com.ar

Salta rafting: Our next activities were zip lining and white water rafting which were at a farm about 3 hours drive from Salta.  After setting up our tents we were given our helmets, wetsuits, jackets and life vests. The rafting was great fun and what made it even more fun was having a dog in our raft! The dog was very cute and just sat there in the middle with a please-don’t-splash-me-with-cold-water-again look in its face, sometimes resting its head on my knee. For many of our group it was their first time rafting and I’m sure their shrieks were audible for miles! Adrian went kayaking with the owner and it was fun seeing the owner doing tricks with his small kayak.

Next up was the zip lining after a bit of a climb to the top. The lines are suspended over part of a dam, along the mountain side and finally over the river back to base. It was great fun sliding along up high with a bird’s eye view over the river and our campsite. The longest run was 700m over the valley! I managed to burn my arm in a few places when I let go of my default position to pose for a photo although I can only blame myself for that. The rest of the day we lazed around the campsite playing cards, football or lying in hammocks and sipping on cold 1 litre beers.

Cafayate: We set off to this town for more camping and the promise of having a giant waterslide and pool where we could relax so most of our group was pretty excited to get there. To make the journeys go faster we’ve been playing cards (president, packets and shit head). This is especially interesting with Scoota racing the truck around corners and with us desperately trying to hold on to our cards! I even tried sleeping on the floor of the truck and found myself sliding back and forth banging my head. Due to potholes and ditches mysteriously appearing in the road at the last minute, Scoota regularly performed emergency stops which would propel all of us across the truck. This combined with driving around corners at 100 miles an hour made sleeping impossible!

When we finally arrived at our campsite we were all deeply disappointed to say the least. The giant slide was out of order and the pool half full of what looked like luminous green nuclear waste. Things hit rock bottom when we discovered hundreds of tadpole eating their dead mother.  There was no hot water for showers and also no grass for setting up our tents on. To pass time we sat around that afternoon and drank anything we could get our hands on – that included beer, whiskey, wine and half a mashed-up watermelon filled with generous amounts of vodka. At least the spirits we drank lifted our spirits as well as having a delicious dinner – bangers and mash topped with Scoota’s famous red onion gravy.

The town of Cafayate was actually very nice as it is a fairly posh wine town surrounded by vineyards. There are nice restaurants and shops and the trees are home to noisy olive green parrots. A few places offered wine tasting and you could also rent motorbikes, quad bikes or bicycles if you wanted to do your own thing. We tried wine ice cream at one shop called Heladeria Miranda which was a very bizarre but nice flavor and also recommended is the steak sandwiches from a shop called Sola (right across from the ice cream place).

Catamarca: Another night of camping but again we arrived to find an empty swimming pool with kids playing football in it, along with a fair few random dogs walking around. At least there was hot water and Adrian’s cooking group prepared Mexican food for us that evening. Max cooked strips of meat which was marinated with soya, Worchester, BBQ and Teriyaki sauce and we had them in tortilla wraps together with salsa, refried beans, lettuce, cheese and guacamole. The food that night was delicious and to top it off Max brought out the tequila which we swallowed down with sour candy worms – a very interesting combo! Apparently there is not much to see in the town and the only excitement that day came from seeing a huge spider walking underneath the truck. This naturally freaked out most of the girls who nearly deafened us with their blood curdling screams.

Cordoba: Eating good quality Argentinean steak was high on our agenda so we made it our quest to find another steak house (Parrilla/Asado) that evening. We found one of these wonderful establishments after much walking and consulting of locals. Adrian any myself had the all-you-can-eat meat carvery and the rest of the group ordered the Bife de Chorizo which was definitely the better option as it was melt in the mouth soft! I got beaten by the meat as it was just too much for me in the end and I pretty much rolled out of the restaurant that night.

The next day was a Sunday and most shops were closed. We tried to get American dollars from 8 different banks but not one of them had any! There is also not too much to see in Cordoba so we ended up catching up on internet chores at the hostel. It is very handy having your own laptop as WiFi is usually free in most hostels. The hostel also had its own kitchen so it was nice to be able to cook our own dinner that evening. Lindsay was a very happy recipient of leftover pasta and she had one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen (visible between mouthfuls of food).

 Matt and Hannah shared a room with us which was a special experience as entertainment levels are sky high with those two around! Matt walks and talks in his sleep and struggles to wake up in the mornings much to the annoyance of Hannah. It was like being in our own live soap opera with them around – I will miss both of them very much after breaking away from the Tucan group.

Mendoza: Mendoza is a pretty town with lots of tree lined avenues. We stayed in a nice backpackers near one of the city’s plazas. The backpackers had its own kitchen and they also offered BBQs. I met a few bikers there who were travelling from Alaska all the way to the Southern tip of South America called “Ushuaia”! It was interesting listening to all their stories and that night many beers were consumed. Two of the guys looking after the hostel were also very good guitar players and they supplied non-stop music for us. Later that evening most of our group ended up going to an Irish pub where we all got fairly hammered. 

Apparently it was a great evening although my memory failed me slightly…Claire found me trying to buy savoury food from a candy floss stand in one of the squares!

The next day I was not feeling the best so I didn’t do too much except for some shopping and wandering aimlessly around town. That night most of our group had the BBQ which the hostel prepared – sausages, beef ribs, steak and a token lettuce and tomato salad. Just before they hostel BBQ I made my famous roosterbrood (BBQ bread) for our group to try and it went down a treat! I also jammed a bit with my harmonica and the guitar players whilst sitting around the camp fire which was great fun. I really liked that backpackers as it had everything we needed and it also had a nice vibe about it especially with the guitars and friendly service.

Wine tasting:  For the next day we organized a wine tasting tour with a company called “Bike and Wine”. They picked us up from our hostel and dropped us off in the Maipu area which is known for its Malbec red wines. Our first stop was the Wine Museum where we got to see many of the old wine making implements and large oak barrels. We got to sample a glass of “don’t-give-the-gringos-the-good-wine” which was very average. From there we moved on to the delicatessen shop, where we had lunch of stuffed chicken breast with veggies and a selection of home-made dips which we swallowed down with a few beers. For dessert we had stewed quince with almond crumble and ice cream. We sat outside in their beautifully manicured garden and felt very posh indeed! 

From there we cycled down to a French winery. Our hostess there was very friendly and we tried a few Malbecs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Malbec Rose and a dessert wine. None of the wines blew us away so we cycled onwards to the next vineyard.

As this particular wine region is known for its Malbec we obviously tried a few more at our next stop. We also tried another Cabernet Sauvignon and Rose but again we weren’t blown away by any so it was onwards to our last vineyard - “Tempus Alba”, which ended up being our favourite. The restaurant is on a deck which has a great view over their vineyards. Their red Reserva blend and Rose were really nice and we bought a bottle of the affordable Rose for later. With all the red wine and cycling we felt pretty hungry and since we’ve been talking about a BBQ all day we headed back to Mendoza where we purchased ingredients from a local market.  That night we had one of the best BBQs we’d had in a long time with fillet steak, sirloin steak, sausages, sliced potatoes and mushrooms filled with butter, garlic and blue cheese all grilled over the fire. It was a nice way to spend our last evening in Mendoza! The next day we travelled to Santiago where we had to cross “the worst border crossing in South America”. 

That morning we travelled through the towering Andes mountains and had breakfast next to a river and a dried up scattered dead horse. This was the last journey with Tucan for many of us so there were mixed emotions. We felt compelled to play as many card games as possible to wind up Gillian for one last time, who was down on her luck. The last place we visited before reaching the border was a natural bridge called Puente Inca. The bridge consists of hardened limestone which formed over thousands of years from the lime-rich water bubbling out of the mountain. The Incas used it back in the days to cross that stretch of river.


Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=302877&id=749927742&l=0d13887e59