Tafi del Valle

From La Rioja we were faced with another bus challenge. None of our next potential destinations were far enough away for an overnight bus - not without going beyond Salta, our destination in a few days' time. So in the end we spent a quiet day in La Rioja with a proper lunch in a nice restaurant being the highlight. And then we caught a late afternoon bus to Tucuman, arriving at midnight, and checking into a very nice hostel - booked at the last minute and surprisingly nice. Then back on another bus first thing the next morning for a three hour drive up into the mountains, past really lush forests with trees that we didn't recognise. The bus slowly climbed up through the valley and we eventually reached a more arid plateau with mountains all around. Tafi del Valle is a small town at 2,100m - quite a touristy trekking centre and out of season a bit on the quiet side! We had booked into a b&b just outside the town - a lovely old country house owned by an Argentinian artist and his French wife. Our room was lovely - and including a geode sculpture in the entrance!

We managed a walk up into the hills that afternoon, surviving too much attention from the local dog community. And it was a good thing to go up for the views as the next day was damp and cloudy. We walked nonetheless but kept fairly low, and we had a surprisingly nice time given the weather, seeing flamingos, owls, lapwings, and something like a woodpecker. As well as damp and cloudy, it was cold - especially in the morning and at night - this is when you realise it's autumn.

Next morning we were on another bus - this time to Cafayate and then another one to Salta - through some more amazing scenery - first a climb up over more mountains and once at over 3,000m we were above the clouds, then down through more arid rocky landscapes with a huge number of cacti, then down into the Cafayate valley with endless vineyards with a backdrop of mountains of many different colours - scenery that we plan to return to after Salta.