Tumbaya, Argentina

Our last night in our lovely hotel, I eat my fill at breakfast and savour the coffee. So far the coffee has been awful in Argentina, but this place brews a good pot. We pack up and head down the hill towards the bus station. Our plan is to catch a bus to Purmamarca and then a taxi out to the Salinas Grandes (Salt flats) as it will be cheaper than a taxi from Tilcara. On the way a taxi stops and offers to take us, looking at time versus money this looks like a better option if we are to make our bus at 3pm. The road winds up for about an hour to 4170metres and then drops down to the salt flats. The scenery is spectacular, with lots of different types of rock and every turn seems to warrant another picture. The salt flats are as expected, but mesmerising as a bright white carpet to the mountains. The texture is interesting as crusty and solid, where I was thinking salt like sand. They have built structures with sections, using it like bricks which is amazing. We spend about 30mins jumping for photos before having to get back on the road. We can sense as we leave that the car is struggling, the gearbox is the issue and we get to Purmamarca in 2nd gear, him pumping the clutch and praying. Once we are there we get into his friends car to get back to Tilcara, where we grab our bags from the hotel and drive down to town. We have 30mins to spare, so Inka manages to buy more llama socks from the market whilst I caretake bags at the bus station. I needn’t have worried the bus is over an hour late, but once again it is not full so we can stretch out for the 4 hours to Salta. Once we have collected my big bag from the previous hotel and checked into our new pad we can relax with a well earned steak and beer!