the desert sessions

After a few spectacular but often freezing days on the Salar de Uyuni, the warm, dry (VERY dry!) weather in San Pedro de Atacama was definitely what the doctor ordered, even if we did have to stay there a bit longer than we´d wanted to - a long and tedious saga involving Pullman Buses and a malfunctioning computer. Having had enough of 4.30am starts, and seen a few geysers already, we decided against visiting El Tatio (you can have enough of geysers), and basically spent a few relaxing days with Erin and Rebeca, the new friends from Canada who had been in our Salar tour group, and several new chums we made at our hostel - the recent batch of fellow travellers we´ve met have been great, a world away from some of the irritants we had run into previously!

Going to visit the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) at sunset was the only trip we took, which was great as it involved no discomfort whatsoever - I cannot emphasise strongly enough how much we´re enjoying being back in countries with PAVED ROADS. It is BLISS! Anyway, here are some pics from there to give you an idea of the mind-blowing scenery:













We hadn´t initially planned on going over to the Salta region in north-west Argentina, but having heard how brilliant it was about a million times, we re-routed and crossed the border again to the land of gauchos, amazing steaks and red wine, and as you can see we were very glad to be back!

We would have loved to have spent more time here, especially as it looks like we´ll be unfortunately missing out on the festivities held on the Day Of Salta (let´s face it, that´s gonna be a good ´un!), but the bus schedules are beyond our control. If we did have any say in the matter, we wouldn´t be leaving on a 7am bus which arrives at its destination (Iquique, back in Chile) at 1.15am!! I mean, which brainiac thought THAT one up?? So no chance to visit the local club which declares itself to be "furiosamente ochentero" ("furiously ´80s"), though seeing as our last night on the town ended early when we were joined at the table by an Anglophile local who started going on about how Becka looks like Lady Di (?!) and demanding photos of her, that may be a good thing...

Conveniently enough, however, as time has been tight here, our bus ride over here took us past some more incredible scenery, notably the amazing striped mountainsides, so that pretty much eliminated the need to go on another exhausting 12-hour tour. AND last night´s meal out turned into an impromptu peña, with much wine, women (well, Becka) and song, which eliminated the need to go and find one of those for the night!


We found time - just - to visit Cafayate, however, which was almost dream-like in its beauty (though maybe it was just because everything was closed for the afternoon?). A local simpleton strumming away, wailing off-key laments to no one in particular, added to the surreal vibe. We´ve also found time (of course!) to try the local specialities - locro, tamales, baby goat stew, and even though there seem to be, somewhat surprisingly, no salteñas in Salta, they do have some top-notch empanadas, which are especially good with the tomato and chilli relish they thoughtfully provide!

So, after that very pleasant interlude, it´s back to the north of Chile now for more desert action, and hopefully some ghost towns and hot springs thrown in. See you all soon!

PS Are you all still reading, by the way? No one has commented in ages... If you don´t want us to get demoralised and think you all hate us now, then please say hello! Lots of love xx