Hola todos,

As you have read (hopefully) in the previous post we went on a little trip to the northwest of Argentina. We had an awesome 10-day trip and saw things we have never seen before, including the middle of nowhere and the end of the world....So in this blog we will go through the details of our trip for those who may be travelling in this area or for future students, so you know where to go and what to avoid...etc...

We pre-arranged our trip in Buenos Aires by reading travelling giudes (a.k.a Lonely Planet) and seeing where and how we should go. We bought our bus tickets from Retiro Omnibus estacion (bus station), chose a company called La Veloz del Norte (which was really good), and chose seats called Cama Coche (which you saw in pictures in the previous blog, basically seats that resemble business class plane seats, but a little more comfortable). We decided to take the bus from Buenos Aires to Salta on 15.09.06, leaving at 10pm and arriving in Salta at around 5pm the next day, meaning the trip took 19 hours. It sounds bad, but it was actually not that bad, they showed movies in English with spanish subtitles and the busses have free soda, water and snacks and of course a bathroom. Also we got pillows and blankets. So the trip didn't actually seem as long as it was. On the way back we took the same bus company, but went from Tucuman to Buenos Aires on 25.09.06, and the trip only took 15 hours. The whole round trip costs around 80 euros. Not too bad, considering that flying costs 800 euros.

Our La Veloz del Norte Omnibus


The itenarary of our trip was Buenos Aires to Salta, on Sunday 17.09.06, we rented a car, a good company is Localiza (located in different parts of argentiina), for 3 days. We needed a car that was big enough to fit 5 ppl, and our mochilas (backpacks) and we needed to have free kilometers because we would be driving around alot. Our whole car rental costs around 200 euros, so 40 euros per person, not too bad, and the gas altogether costs like 50 euros during the whole 3 days and we drove like alot (don't remember exactly how much, but around 1200km).

Saturday 16.09.06- We stayed at Hostel Los Cardones, which was really nice. Only a few blocks from the pub street and about 10 from the center. Not too bad. The rooms were nice, showers good, a peaceful hostel, price was about 3.50 euros per person per night, including breakfast. Breakfast here in hostels is either pan (bread), or medialuna (sweet croissants), or tostados (hard toast), and jam, dulce de leche (like melted caramel, really yummy), fruit, coffee, tea, juice.

Sunday 17.09.06- we left Salta in the morning and headed toward San Antonio de los Cobres, this is the route referred to as the "Tren de las Nubes", meaning there is a train that used to go to 4000m, that was amazing, but no longer functions so the route can only be driven by car. On the way we saw many amazing views. But during this time of year it is so dry, so the rivers and scenery is completely dry. The roads are not the best in condition, mostly ripio, meaning gravel (no pavements in sight). The cities along this ruta (route) were supposed to be cities, but for example Santa Rose de Tastil was supposed to have 1000 houses but it looked more like 10.
The whole drive back and forth took around 10 hours, with stops etc...but there is really nothing to see at San Antonio de los Cobres, a small town, bigger than the others on the way, but nothing special. The scenery though is amazing because you are driving in the middle of the Andes. Also check that your car AC works and that the car has a CD player and you have cds, our AC broke, we had a CD player but no cds, and the radio worked but couldn't pic up any channels in the middle of nowhere. It was so much fun....not...


There were many non-existent cities like this on the way.....


San Antonio de los Cobres, a city with basically nothing, but the largest along this ruta....hehe

This is one of the larger Rios that we saw, but right now as you can see it is lacking agua (water)


After San Antonia de los Cobres, we drove back to Salta and then continued along ruta 9 to Jujuy. We thought ruta 9 was the straight route there, but unfortunately it wasn't. It would have been a greate route, except that it was night time, completely dark, and it went around and through the mountains, meaning dangerous and scary to drive. So if driving at night take ruta 34, which goes around the mountains, not through. But during the day definitely take ruta 9, because its gorgeous, you go through forests and dry land. Also we got a new car in Salta before driving to Jujuy, with an AC that worked and a cd player, so were good to go.

Along ruta 9, with the geyser, this is the beautiful green scenery that we saw, different from all the dryness elsewhere.....here at an altitude of 2000m...



We arrived in San Salvador de Jujuy (, at night, found a hostel, ate at a crappy restaurant with the worst service called Dancing Zorbas or something like that. The food was great but the service awful, we left a 10 centavo tip (thats 0.025 euros). We stayed at a Hostelling International hostel called Club Hostel, which was really nice and had a pool!!! So great during the summer. During the time we were in this area it was soooo hot, like 25-30 degrees celsius.


Monday 18.09.06- We left Jujuy in the morning to drive up north toward Humahuaca and the Tropic of Capricorn. First we drove to Purmamarca, where theres the Cerro de Siete Colores, hill of the 7 colors, which was touristy but amazing to see because there were hills that had seven colors. Definitely a place to see and only 154km from jujuy. After Purmamarca we drove to Tilcara. Tilcara was a very cute, artisty city, definitely worth seeing. From there we continued to the Tropic of Capricorn, just to say that we have been on the line where the tropics divide. After this we decided to turn around as we had been travelling all day and decided to return to Jujuy for the night. We stayed at another Hostelling International hostel, don't recall the name, but not as good as the Club Hostel. But this is where the others had the famous bucket of strawberry daiquiris, can't believe you can actually get daiquiris to go in this country.

On our way to Purmamarca....pretty dry...


Us and the Andes.....


Cerro de Siete Colores....the picture can't describe it, filled with many colors.....

In Purmamarca walking through the city...


In Tilcara....maybe purchasing some souvenirs....

Tuesday 19.09.06- We has breakfast in a pool house, where we were the only foreigners and not to mention the only girls...thank god Kaarlo was with us to protect us. We had medialunas, jam, and coffee!!!! After this we took the ruta 9 back to Salta. Jujuy was an ok city, but nothing special. It was filled with a million heladerias (ice cream shops), so if you love ice cream, its definitely a place to go. The ruta 9 during the day without scary things was amazing, completely gorgeous and a place where we saw the geyser.

We arrived in Salta in time to go to our regular restaurant where we had eaten the first night in Salta. An amazing restaurant with the best food and service called, La Cava de Piedra at Mitre 81, plaza 9 de julio. After eating, we drove up to the top of this mountain next to the city with a view of the city. It was great to see Salta from up high, and Salta is really a big city and our favorite city in the northwest area! We stayed this night at Casa de Abuela (Gramma's house), a really cute hostel, about 5 blocks from the center, but quite far from the bar area. It was good for that night, because all we wanted to do was sleep.

The city of Salta....it was great for walking around, shopping, etc....it had everything...

A pretty church in the square 9 de Julio, near our regular restaurant


The appetizer at our "regular" restaurant Cava de Piedra in Salta, it was beans and salsa that you ate with bread.....so yummy....


Tiina at the top of a mountain in Salta....how pretty.....

Four of us at the top of the mountain....Anni, Heini, Päivi and Kaarlo


This is how close we got during out trip....we even slept in the same bed....ok, no this is at Casa de Abuela, we got to share a bed....it was a really nice hostel, it was a cute house


Wednesday 20.09.06- We returned the car in the morning, and left with a minibus to go to the base of Salta rafting, where we where going to stay for the night and participate in many activities. It took us around 2 hours to get to the base, but we slept the whole way, so we have no idea where or how we drove. But we got to the base, which was a really nice base. We got changed and our first adventure was rafting. We were first taught the rules, and basics, put on our lifejackets and helmets and got ready. We took a bus to the place where we started our journey. The whole rafting experience was amazing, we went down the river through mountains and uninhabited areas, absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. We saw fossils and wild horses, had fun singing songs, or more like chants, and even swam in the river. We were all soaking wet by the time we finished rafting, but it was amazing nevertheless.

The rafting bus

The professional rafting team, ready to row....


Or not, sometimes swimming is just more fun...or in this case going with the flow.....

Or maybe just to do some gymnastics...


The whole rafting crew


Our team and our mascot, Wikey the dog....can you believe it, a rafting dog, who was probably better than us!

We are ready to go


After rafting we were freezing, because it was warm but not hot...but thankfully we had an asado waiting for us at the base. (meat and more meat). The asado was amazing! After eating and sunbathing for awhile, we were ready to start hiking up a huge mountain. During the rafting we were with a bunch of other people but hiking was just our group, so the 5 of us and our guide Hector Vargas. Hector was so much fun, but didn't speak English, only a few words, so it definitely helped with our Spanish because we could only speak Spanish. We hiked up this huge mountain, it was hard, but thankfully nobody fainted. And once we got to the top, the view was amazing!!!! So gorgeous. And since it was winter/spring, it was still so dry, so everything was just starting to grow. It usually starts raining at the end of november, when everything blossoms and the whole area is completely green. We hiked up and down the mountain and came to this area where a river usually flows. But not during this time, so it was fun to walk in this dry river and see areas that are usually under water. We got to this point of the river where there is a waterfall and we had to rappel it down. It was amazing to rappel, since we had never done it before. After we came down, we climbed up and came down again. We had the best time ever.

Us (Tiina and Heini) on top of the world...sort of

Hector, our guide


We all came down all the way from up there..

Tiina showing us how and actually being able to do it despite being afraid of heights, she overcame her fear during this trip and we are all very proud of her...

Then we also climbed all the way up (Heini showing her moves)

Then sometimes we fall down (Heini on her heinie)


But then we get up again (always laugh at yourself)

And others follow our lead by climbing up and coming down... (Tiina working her way up)

With the same kind of big bang.... (Tiina also landing in the same groovy way)

After such an activity filled day, it was time to take a long needed and wanted shower and have some dinner and drinks. We were the only people to stay in the hostel, it only had two rooms, so it was just the five of us, Hector and Marco (another guide). For dinner we had Maria's (the cook there) famous pizza, which was the best pizza we have ever eaten!!!! So if you ever go to Salta, go do an excursion with Salta rafting and have Maria's pizza!!!! She made the whole pizza herself, it had tomatoes, ham, cheese, etc.....the best ever! We spent the night sitting infront of a bonfire, drinking wine, eating, and singing finnish songs, while Kaarlo played the guitar. The most peaceful, relaxing night, under the stars in the middle of nature.

Enjoying some Maria's Pizza

Yummy...yummy


Thursday 21.09.06- We woke up with a small resaca (hangover), but not too bad. We had some breakfast and were ready to start our canopy adventure. Canopy is hanging from a wire and travelling along it between two points, so much fun! We first hiked up to the starting point and then went along 9 canopies, and hiked alot. Canopy was incredible, flying through the air, the sun shining, feeling the wind against your face....amazing....

The official canopy crew...not

The view from the top...

Tiina in her canopy wear


Me enjoying the view
Tiina doing her thing....


After canopy we returned to the base, had some asado again, and then sunbathed along the shore of the river. Then it was time for us to say goodbye to the base and go back to Salta. This time we were awake during the trip back to Salta, and the route was amazing, gorgeous scenery.

Some sunbathing after canopying.....

On our drive back to Salta from Salta base rafting, amazing scenery...which we were able to see as this time we were not sleeping..

We got back to Salta and were supposed to stay at a hostel near the center of the city, but for some reason it was full even though we had a reservation and we had to stay somewhere else, they had booked us for another hostel called hostel Prisamata, which was close to the bar/restaurant street. Prisamata was a great hostel, definitely recommend it. It only costs us 4 euros per night. The hostels are really cheap.

Friday 22.09.06- Tiina was feeling sick the night before and during this stay, so she needed to rest during this day, which was unfortunate because we had booked a cabalgatas trip (horse trekking), so only Kaarlo and I ended up going. Anni and Päivi ended up driving on ATV's instead. Horsebackriding in Salta was amazing, we went with this company called Sayta, the owner Enrique J.Carbia, the most amazing host. Definitely recommend them to everyone. We had the best time riding, the horses were amazing, we rode western style. After riding we had the best asado in the world!!! It was incredible, and also the salads with the asado were the best ever, all kinds of different salads and grilled vegetables. Also we were served wine that is exclusively bought only by Enrique, which was one of the best wines ever. We had an awesome time.

Heini and her horsie, loved riding, it was so much fun, I had missed it so much. I am definitely going to continue here as it is affordable.

During the night we met Hector (our Salta rafting guide) in Salta and had dinner together at our regular restaurant....wish that restaurant was here in Buenos Aires. The food in the northwest was amazing because it had more flavor. In addition they had delicacies such as lama meat, which was really good.

Our last night at Cava de Piedra....we are gonna miss that place..


Saturday 23.09.06- It was time for us to head to Tucuman, a city about 420km south of Salta. We rented a car again that we dropped off in Tucuman so that we could see the sights on the way. Our car rental costs around 100 euros altogether. The car was our Fiat Fire, which was red and absolutely horrible, but the only car we could get. It had no AC, and no cd player. So we had to drive with the windows down and sing to keep ourselves entertained. We are now an accomplished singing group and ready to tour the world, as long as we have a Fiat Fire and no AC!!!! We were supposed to see the sights and drive through vineyards.The trip from Tucuman to Salta usually takes about 5 hours, but we wanted to take an alternative route, that was supposed to be beautiful, but we didn't know the road was only ripio, through mountains, and awful, so the trip took us 14 hours!!!! Hence, we didn't exactly have time to visit vineyard, or anyting, and we were extrememly exhausted when we got to Tucuman. So the trip was from Salta along ruta 33 through Cachi, along ruta 40 to Cafayate along ruta 307 to Tucuman. Cachi was a small city in the middle of the mountains, Cafayate would have been great because there were so many vineyards there and from Cafayate to Tucuman there would have been the ruins of Quilmes. We can only imagine. But we did see amazing scenery on the way, and it was not that bad. But now we know better for next time. So instead of driving through the middle of nowhere, take ruta 68 to Cafayate if you want to see it or ruta 9 directly to Tucuman. But during ruta 40, we did go through this amazing direct road called La Recta del Tin Tin, which is a road at about 3500m altitude in the middle of the Andes. On this route we were in the middle of nowhere and we saw snow on top of the Andes. After this route, we entered an area with rock formations that looked like we were on the moon or something. So the trip wasn't absolutely awful because we did see things that we otherwise would have not seen. But because of the lack of AC and the windows down, we were covered in sand, because the road was ripio. So all of our stuff including ourselves were full of sand....fun stuff....

Space-like rock formations...spooky

For a second we didn't know if we were on earth or somewhere else....


Our crappy ass Fiat Fire car.....never again with this car....we know what to avoid....


We got to Tucuman safely after the 14 hours and found our hostel called Oh!Hostel, which was painted green, so easy to spot. We returned our car and went to grab some pizza and wine and ate at the hostel and went to sleep. By the way the people in Tucuman speak in the weirdest way, they speak super fast and mumble all of their words....so hard to understand...

Welcome to Tucuman...at night...

Sunday 24.09.06- Our first day off, with no plans, and time to rest. We woke up, had breakfast and spent the day sunbathing on the terrace. It was absolutely the best. The weather was great and it was like 30 degrees celsius! After sunabathing all day, we got ready to tour the town of Tucuman. Tucuman was an ok city, but we all preferred Salta. We walked around the city and we were trying to find a restaurant/bar area. We were told to go to this certain place, and due to the lack of finding taxis we ended up walking 10 cuadras (blocks). We walked through really shady areas and got to the bar area, which ended up being an area with nothing but a Wanted poster for some murderer. So we jumped into a taxi (finally one when you really need one) and headed back to the area where our hostel was.

Wanted poster, if you see something similar elsewhere, remember to run like the wind...or take a cab...

We ended up at this great restaurant called Plaza de las Almas, with like 5 floors and outside tables. We had a whole lot of food and jarras of Clerico (which is like Sangria, but with white wine and really good) but we also had Sangria. At this restaurant we were joined by Javier and his friends. Javier is a guy that used to live in Buenos Aires, who is the friend of the BScBA's that have been in Argentina for the past few years. So we met with him and had a great time.

The restaurant

The group with Javier and his friends

The first time during the trip that Kaarlo was able to hang out with the boys....he was in heaven...not fun spending 10 days with a bunch of screaming girls...

Monday 25.09.06- We woke up with a resaca and spent the day sunbathing since our bus didn't leave until 17 or so. We got some great ice cream and just rested. We left Tucuman by bus and headed back to Buenos Aires.

Overall our trip was an amazing success. We had the best time ever and definitely recommend the northwest of Argentina to everyone. The people are great, the weather is awesome and the food in incredible!

Next up we headed to Uruguay, which we will tell you all about in our next blog.

- Heini