Allan Stratton's Blog, page 6

CACHI -- PLUS A PRE-INCAN CIVILIZATION

Cachi is a very small and very beautiful colonial town about a five hour drive from anywhere, aka Salta. It's in the pocket between two sets of mountains, so that despite how arid everything is around it, it's actually quite lush from the underground water that pools from the surrounding mountains. this shot is taken from the town cemetery, the highest point in the area. this custom of buring the dead on mountaiun peaks comes from both Incan and pre-Incan civiliations.

The main building in Cac...

PAGING DR. FREUD!

Mixed in with the mountains in the Cachi gorge are stretches of cactus plains.



Careful where you sit!



Pablo also took us on walks through the rugged countryside.



And into cattle canyons.



But the real point of this post is to show you the fun we had driving. Remember how I told you that drivers here are crazy? I mean outside Buenos Aires, even cities like Salta with oiver 600,000 people have almost no stop lights or stop signs. Cars race up to an intersection. If there's a hole in the traffic flow...

ARGENTINA: INTO THE CACHI GORGE!

So far we'd been traveling on our own. But our excellent travel agent, Pablo Kesselman of Carlson-Wagonlit/Clarke-Way Travel -- who's originally from Buenos Aires and whose life story would make a great novel -- hooked us up with a company called Argentina Activa for our mountain trek. And they in turn hooked us up with Pablo Sancho Perez, who in addition to being funny and insightful was actually able to drive the treacherous hairpins without getting us killed. We went in a 4 x 4 -- just us,...

SALTA, ARGENTINA!

Iguazu Falls was exciting, but not as exciting as the evening taxi ride from the Salta airport to our B&B. There are three speeds in Argentina: "AAA!", "AAAAAAA!", and "HOLY F***ING AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Argentinians drive like Parisiens with blindfolds. Especially fun is passing three cars and a bus while going up a hill. Naturally I'm delighted. Since getting home, Daniel has found my driving positively rational.

Salta is an astonishingly beautiful colonial city, the capital of Salta province i...

ARGENTINA: "THIS PIZZA TASTES LIKE CARDBOARD!"

Okay. There are miles of protected semi-tropical bush in all directions around Iguazu Falls. But there's one very clean little restaurant area. This critter is the Argentinian version of a raccoon. He waltzed right out of the bush. On that trail to the swimming hole I showed you last post Daniel and I passed a family of ten. In the wild, masses of these things can be a bit unnerving, but they're very safe.

Here are a few other marvels you'll see in the bush, including a swath of the kind of ye...

SKINNY DIPPING AT IGUAZU FALLS!

It's one thing to SEE Iguazu Falls. It's another thing to be in it.

Well... there's a trail that leads several miles into the semi-tropical bush at the end of which is are a pair of falls that land in a natural pool. It's the one place in the whole area where swimming is allowed. Just make sure you bring lots of mosquito repellent!

Owing to the hike and the bugs, very few make this side trip, so you have the falls to yourself. But first, here are a few of the things you'll see in the jungle alo...

IGUAZU FALLS: SEEING IS BELIEVING!

I was gobsmacked by the Falls when I saw The Mission and Indiana Jones. But seeing them in person is like nothing else in the world. Let's get me and Daniel out of the way so you can get a better look.



Iguazu Falls is Niagara Falls on steroids. In fact, Niagara Falls is actually a bit a joke after Iguazu. For one thing, the area for miles around Iguazu is protected semi-tropical bush, so you don't have to deal with fast food joints, Madame Tussauds and casinos. And unlike the other great fal...

GRAVE ROBBING AT RECOLETA CEMETERY -- PLUS EVITA'S TOMB

Apart from the fantastic ice cream chains (Freddo's, Volares, etcetera), the rubber trees, La Boca, and the amazing art galleries -- the second floor of the National Museum of Art featuring Argentinian art is awe-inspiring -- Recoleta Cemetery, aka the Buenos Aires Boneyard is one of the most interesting places in the city. It's minutes away from our hotel. Above is the church by the entrance.

And here is a street scene from the City of the Dead. As you can see, everyone here is in a family ma...

DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!

Yup, this is me outside the Casa Rosada -- aka the Presidential Palace in Argentina -- the place where Madonna sang that big song in the movie. Er, I mean where Eva "Evita" Peron gave her big speech. Argentina is the first country I've visited in South America, and to get there Daniel and I flew via Chile, i.e. over the Andes. Here's the view from the plane window.



Whenever I think of the Andes I think of that soccer team in the sixties or seventies whose plane crashed and the survivors had to...

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

"Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo..."

Mom left Dad when I was a baby and we went to live on my grandparents' farm. But aside from a spell there, and visiting my Uncle Reg's farm, I haven't had much to do with moocows. And even less with James Joyce.

I always did like to read though, and the picture above is the one Mom likes of me more than any...