More Salta and Day Trippin'

Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Salta, Salta Province, Argentina
Monday was another very low energy day.  I finally got some medicine for my gut (who knew they’ve never heard of Pepto Bismol in Argentina?), and we did a bit of wandering, but not much. 
Tuesday was our day for the Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds), which we had booked way back in May—one of the highlights of the trip--and it didn’t disappoint.   We headed out walking to the train station before 6 am—we tried to get an Uber, and looked for a taxi, but no luck (you’d think we’d learn by now that sane people aren’t up and around at 6am) so we did the 30 minute walk.  Now the train used to do the whole trip, but that could often get you back after midnight due to the state of the tracks and dealing with freight trains.  So now, since 2015, most of the trip is by bus, with only about 3 hours on the train at the far end.  But the bus route follows the old train tracks, along the Quebrada del Toro, pretty closely.   The views along the route are just spectacular, particularly once you get up into the Puna (desert).  One big thing about Tren a las Nubes is that a big part of its mission is to support local indigenous Andean communities along the route and in the area generally, so stops are made in several local towns and villages on the bus.  The tour switches over to the train from buses at San Antonio de los Cobres which, to be honest, is a pretty bleak little town—we spent an hour and a half there on the way back! I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.
Wednesday, we were supposed to do another tour, to Humahuaca, but it fell through because they couldn’t find an English speaking guide, which was just as well, because I think we would have been totally burnt out by the time we went to Cordoba on Thursday.  So, instead, we did a little more wandering around town, trying to rehab my calf muscles, which, due to the dehydration from the food poisoning, are now two giant knots.  But I can live with that—much better than I was!
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