Tucuman & Salta 3rd August to 8th August 2006 We arrive in Tucuman feeling pretty tired after the lack of sleep on the overnight bus from Mendoza. Our first impressions of Tucuman is that it's a pretty dusty and tired looking old town. We get a taxi and the good news is that the cheap place we have chosen has a double room out the back. On closer inspection of the room it feels like we've been incarcerated but the place has got character (ie it's dark and dingy and as usual the reading light next to Stu's bed doesn't work). Apparently Tucuman was the southern most point of the Incan empire and the first town in Argentina to achieve independence from Spain. We have a good walk around the town and are once more frustrated by the grid like layout of the town as one can't walk for more than 50 yards in any direction without needing to cross the road. The weather seems to be getting a bit warmer as we head further North and that's a blessing. We visit some sort of "white house" which played an important part in the war of independence and learn that it was the location of the signing of the treaty of independence. After lunch we head to a nice park and then can't carry on anymore and have to go to bed for an afternoon Siesta. Tucuman has got some lovely looking churches and we pay the homage to them (i.e. take photos and set foot inside for a few minutes) and for the evenings' entertainment we have booked the sound and light show at the "white house". Well what a load of old tosh that show was! It certainly was imaginative as there wasn't much light going on and lots of talking trees (in Spanish obviously). To top it all off (if we didn't feel out of place enough) the singing of the national anthem and general all round 'lets be all great Argentine buddies-type songs later' then we finally got the message that perhaps our hard earned cash had been misspent in this case. Fearing instant unveiling as English spies trying to gatecrash a recreation of one of the few nationalistic moments in Argentine history we head off to a great restaurant. The 3 course menu del dia is pretty good and it's all washed down with a couple of glasses of champers (ha ha, we are truly champagne backpackers after all!!) and red wine, all for 50 Pesos (less than 10 quid). The following day we head off to Salta on the 10am bus. Before we leave Stu gets irate at the croissant shop as they can't understand his Spanish accent and later we arrive in Salta. The highlight of the 5hr journey is Amy beating Stu at scrabble by 8 points and watching "The breakup" on TV. We arrive in Salta and catch a taxi into the center and try to find a hotel, unfortunately it's still the Argentine holidays so there is "no luck at the inn" at the first few places we try. We eventually settle on some sort of apartment building for a whopping 130 pesos a night (25 quid ish) with TV and a hall between the bedroom and the bathroom. Salta is a lovely little colonial town with cafes jutting out into the central square which itself is surrounded by good looking old buildings. Alas, the grid layout rules supreme here as well but at least there are a few pedestrianised bits as well. We have a walk around town (it's pretty warm) before settling heading back to the hotel where Stu promptly breaks the bed just by sitting on it (me lunch wasn't that big honest!). Dinner is another menu-del-dia with the highlight of chicken and mash as the main course. The following day we spend around Salta and head off up the cable car to the top of the hill. Good views are had from the top with the Andes in the distance and the sprawling town of Salta in front of us, unfortunately though it's a little hazy. Lunch are Empañadas by the park which are ridiculously cheap before we head back for a bit of a siesta. Dinner is another menu-del-dia and we head in for the night with a very early start in the morning. The following day we are up at the crack of dawn and check out before 7am ready for our tour to the little town of Cachi. The tour starts badly as the cocky guide immediately announces that he won't be speaking any English today and kindly offers us our money back. Well what are we supposed to do having checked out of our hotel and having got up at the crack of dawn? So it's a none-too-impressed Stu and Amy who barge their way to the back of the bus and generally sulk for most of the morning. Thankfully though the stunning scenery on the way to Cachi lighten our spirits as we make it up to a height of 3350m ish in the minibus. Still there are towering Andean mountains above us, some over 6000m in height and the desert scenery and Cactii are amazing. (Of course we go completely photo crazy and check them out under the photos section, NOW!) We stop for lunch in Cachi and Stu doesn't turn down the Bife de Chorizo which is cooking on the BBQ. Amy settles for a quarter of a chicken and the drive back to Salta is long and dusty. The drive is lowlighted by our guide who is oblivious to the fact that no-one is really listening to what he is saying and really, we are sick of the sound of his voice. The following day we enjoy a nice little lie in at our new hostel and have a nice day sorting out a few chores (Stu picks his fantasy football team) and have a relax in the sun. The following day we are up at the crack of dawn and check out again at 7am for our trip up to Jujuy and Humahuaca. Again the scenery on the way is unbelievable with multi-coloured rocks everywhere (due to the oxidization of the minerals within the rock) and several little indigenous villages on the way. We do our best over lunch to make conversation with the ladies from Buenos Aires, stu enjoys goat and Amy tucks into the local corn/meat type stew which is all very nice. We have a walk around the town of Humahuca and generally we find walking at any sort of pace tiring at this altitude. The drive back to our new hotel in Jujuy is interrupted by local indigenous people protesting and it's impossible to pass by bus. We wait in the minibus for 3 hours before having to walk through the protesters (who seem to be settling in for the long haul) and are met by another bus on the other side. Eventually we make it back and check into our new hotel before falling exhausted into bed after another long day of sightseeing. We do our best to relax in Jujuy the following day as we are both not feeling to well. We have a quick walk around town and dinner in the evening is a somewhat bizarre Greek meal (where the power keeps failing). The food itself was very good but it's hardly what we would have thought of as being our last meal in Argentina. Overall we've had a great time in Argentina (we spent 6 weeks there overall) but are pleased to be moving even further north and into what will eventually be warmer weather. Argentina is a country of great contrast and the people are blessed with some truly outstanding scenery - from the dry desert in the north and Mendozan plains to the wonderful cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires and the fabulous lake district (rainy or what?) and the desolation of Northern Patagonia. Please don't forget Iguassu falls in the north east either! In the back of our minds we are wary that our time traveling is coming to an end (7 weeks to go!) but truthfully we are also beginning to feel a little weary after so long on the road. Thoughts of home are becoming ever more frequent but the fear of having to go back to work is driving us ever forward and we are as intent on making the most out of our last few weeks as we were at the start of this trip, 9 months ago. All the best and keep the messages coming. Lots of love Stu & Amy.