Day-trip to Cachi
After twiddling my thumbs a little I decided to go to the little town of Cachi for the day. Rushing to the bus station, I jumped on the 7am bus just before it left only to discover that there was no return bus in the afternoon the same day.
I mulled over my options for staying overnight on my cash supply ($3) that was tight to begin with when I was only expecting to buy a light lunch. I contemplated getting off and making my way back to Salta, but in the end I decided to just enjoy the stunning scenery and see what happened.
We winded our way up a steep valley of red earth and emerald green terraces and then crossed a broad high plateau with snow-capped peaks in the distance. After 157km, we pulled into Cachi in the foothills of those 6000m peaks.
A lady on the bus offered me some little booklets on Christianity. I politely indicated that I prefered to read in English, at which point she pulled out another bunch in English too. I thanked her and said no thanks, and asked her if she knew of any other way back to Salta in the afternoon. Fortunately she did; it turns out a taxi service runs on the days that the bus doesnt so I was able to book myself on that for a little bit more than the cost of a bus seat. That left me with 6 hours to roam around and about $2 left for something to eat and drink.
It was the school's back to school day (something like that) and they were holding all sorts of crazy races around the town square. I found a restaurant and awkwardly worked out what I could afford to buy for my pennies and was rewarded with a huge hamburger and fries (80 cents).
Then I headed out of town to the mirador and the town cemetery where I found a shady spot and read for a couple of hours, enjoying the rare moment of peace and quiet.
The trip back I was pinned in the back seat for 4 hours along with 2 others with a taxi driver munching on coca leaves and chain smoking, and eating his dinner while driving like a madman and throwing all the rubbish including his empty coke bottle out the window into the pristine countryside.
I mulled over my options for staying overnight on my cash supply ($3) that was tight to begin with when I was only expecting to buy a light lunch. I contemplated getting off and making my way back to Salta, but in the end I decided to just enjoy the stunning scenery and see what happened.
We winded our way up a steep valley of red earth and emerald green terraces and then crossed a broad high plateau with snow-capped peaks in the distance. After 157km, we pulled into Cachi in the foothills of those 6000m peaks.
A lady on the bus offered me some little booklets on Christianity. I politely indicated that I prefered to read in English, at which point she pulled out another bunch in English too. I thanked her and said no thanks, and asked her if she knew of any other way back to Salta in the afternoon. Fortunately she did; it turns out a taxi service runs on the days that the bus doesnt so I was able to book myself on that for a little bit more than the cost of a bus seat. That left me with 6 hours to roam around and about $2 left for something to eat and drink.
It was the school's back to school day (something like that) and they were holding all sorts of crazy races around the town square. I found a restaurant and awkwardly worked out what I could afford to buy for my pennies and was rewarded with a huge hamburger and fries (80 cents).
Then I headed out of town to the mirador and the town cemetery where I found a shady spot and read for a couple of hours, enjoying the rare moment of peace and quiet.
The trip back I was pinned in the back seat for 4 hours along with 2 others with a taxi driver munching on coca leaves and chain smoking, and eating his dinner while driving like a madman and throwing all the rubbish including his empty coke bottle out the window into the pristine countryside.
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