Salta!

For my last excursion of my study abroad experience, a few friends and I explored the northwest region of Argentina, in Salta and Jujuy. We definitely went out with a bang! The area had a very indigenous feel and was like nowhere I'd ever been! 

The night before our trip we received an email saying that our flight was cancelled and we were going to be put on a 12:30 flight instead. While it was a bummer that we had a few less hours to explore Salta that day, we got to sleep in! Luckily, we got in right in time to catch a bus for a 4-hour ride to the small town of Tilcara. After a long day of travel, we enjoyed a lovely dinner where I tried the popular specialty, llama! It was actually quite delicious and came with a yummy squash, onion, and cheese casserole. And of course, we deserved Torronetés with our meals, the white wine of Salta. 

llama

After a rough night sleep in the hostel, we were up and ready to head to Purmamarca for the day! Once we arrived, we had a driver take us to the salt flats, which were incredible! It was so vast and a great location for a photo shoot! 

our view on the drive up!

la conciencia- angel vs. devil

 After the few hour excursion to las Salinas Grandes, we grabbed a few empanadas for lunch and were off to hike the hill of 7 colors. While it was more like a walk, it seemed as if we were the only ones there, surrounded by these amazing, colorful mountains. After our lovely hike, we did some shopping! As we are approaching the end, it is crunch time for gifts, so my friends and I were all on a mission. Thankfully, everything was very cheap compared to the city! Once we shopped til we dropped, we went back to Tilcara and had another amazing meal. Quinoa and goat cheese (a few of my favorites) are usually hard things to find in Buenos Aires, but this restaurant seemed to know exactly what we were craving, although I must say, Argentines have a different idea of goat cheese. After a very satisfying dinner, I got much-needed good night sleep.

Cerro de los Siete Colores

Thursday, we were up early again for a cave hike. We met our guide and the 5 others in our group and didn't really know what we were in store for. For the first hour and a half or so, we hiked up a mountain and ended up at these cool caves! While the hike up was more strenuous than expected, especially with the altitude and heat, it was definitely worth it! We used candles to find our way through the cave, took some pictures, and went to explore another one. This time, we had to crawl through a small space, which I was surprised I could get through, and came out to these awesome mountain views. Unfortunately, getting down was a struggle. We were basically sliding down the steep hills until we finally made it the bottom with a lot of sand in our shoes. Five hours later, we were parched, ready for a good meal, but so glad we did the cave hike! 

the stray pup stuck with us the whole way!

After lunch with our hiking group, we were off to hike to Garganta del Diablo. Even though we were all pretty exhausted, we couldn't pass it up. While we heard the thunder in the distance, we were still excited about the hike and being the storm-lover that I am, I couldn't wait for what was headed our way. At first, there was just a little bit of rain here and there and felt very refreshing. Out of nowhere, the rain started to pick up and turned to hail. While we were being pelted by the hail (which was very painful), we kept on going, and slowly started to freeze. We finally got there- almost. When we saw the steep downhill to the actual destination, we decided it was best to turn around and check out other's Facebook pictures of the Devil's Throat. We weren't trying to break any bones or catch a cold. Of course, once we started heading back, the sun came out and we were basically dry by the time we reached the bottom. 

pre-getting drenched

After a quick ice cream stop, we were headed back to the city of Salta. When we got on the bus, there were very few open seats and I was stuck sitting next to a group of drunken men, yelling at each other, playing their music out loud, and eating coco leaves (which reek). After the long day, all I wanted to do was pass out on the bus, but unfortunately that didn't quite happen. We finally made it to Salta and quickly took much-needed showers and jumped into bed. 

The next morning we explored the city, which had beautiful churches and some good shopping as well! We also checked out the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña, which had sacrificed children on display- quite disturbing. We then headed to the airport where our flight was once again delayed but gave us time for some lunch! Finally made it home Friday night after action-packed days. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit this region. Everywhere I have traveled has been so unique and awesome in its own way!