Northern Argentina – Corrientes, Salta and Humahuaca

Corrientes was pretty uninteresting but it provided a much needed stop to break up an otherwise 26 hour bus journey. I was still travelling with Cliona, Siobhan & Elaine – it was great to be with them as they were good fun and easy going, although I was jealous that they had loads of nice clothes, about 10 times as much as me. They were also awful at overnight bus journeys. Argentine buses are the best I´ve ever seen, I wonder what they will think of the crappy Bolivian buses.

We spent 2 days in Corrientes doing very little, and then we moved on to Salta where we spent a further 2 days doing nothing; 1 to recover from the bus journey and 1 to recover from a night getting drunk. After 4 days of doing nothing at all, I was craving some exercise, so I climbed up the local hill. It was great to get some fresh air into my lungs but it made me realise how unfit I am. I hope I´m ok to do the Inca trail in a couple of weeks.

The next day my health burst caught on and I persuaded the girls to go cycling. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day and a great road to cycle on in the countryside – except that it had a slight incine all of the way up. That was ok though, because it meant coming down was brilliant fun, we freewheeled all the way. It took us 3.5 hours to get up (the girls insisted on stopping all the time) and 0.5 hours to get down.

That night I had the best steak, maybe the best meal I have ever had. It was so good I had to write about it here; thick steak cooked so it almost melts in the mouth, wrapped round cheese & tomatoes with potatoes & brocolli. Washed down with a bottle of red wine. The whole thing cost less than 6 pounds, which is actually quite expensive. I am going to miss Argentinian food.

I left the girls in Salta and headed north towards Bolivia. The closer I got to Bolivia the worse the buses got, so I shortened my journey by stopping in a small town, Humahuaca. I´m glad I did, as it was lovely – cobbled streets, small cafes, but very few tourists. That night the sunset was beautiful and turned all the streets and buildings pink.
I am definitely going to miss Argentina and all its luxuries – the 1st class buses, the amazing steaks and red wine, and beautiful scenery. I feel like I´ve only seen a very small part of the country, so I hope I come back one day.