Argentina: A Destinations Photo Gallery
While TBD remains a cycling journal, we have taken a generous definition of ‘Adventure’ for our Destinations entries, including some very non-cycling oriented travel posts. These have been sparse over the past two years for obvious reasons, but this has provided a window to catch-up on some old photographs that have lingered on my hard drive. Part II of our Japan travel diaries will be coming soon (Part I is here), but first we have a collection of images from a late 2019 visit to Argentina.
The Foothills of the Andes: Salta
Our Argentina trip was split into two parts: starting with a few days in the foothills of the Andes, followed by the second half in Buenos Ares. With this in mind, our first day in Argentina was largely spent in transit, shuffling through a total of three airports as part of our journey to the city of Salta, which is northwest of Buenos Aires. It was a long day of travel, with a few surprises along the way, but after a restful night’s sleep waking up in our Salta AirBNB with this view was quite the respite:
Empanadas and City Views
We started our Salta explorations at the aptly named Patio de La Empanada. As a large outdoor food court of sorts, we enjoyed a plethora of both baked and fried empanadas from our welcoming hosts who were very patient with our rusty Spanish.
From there we wandered throughout mostly quiet Salta city streets, before taking a tram to the summit of a nearby mountain for a few cold beverages and memorable views before ending the day at a festive dinner in town, complete with a plethora of musical acts.
Into the Mountains: Purmamarca
From Salta we jumped in our rental pickup truck and drove a few hours into the mountains to visit the small town of Purmamarca. Famous for its “Seven Colors Hills,” the entire journey was one beautiful landscape after the next. The photos hardly do it justice - this day was absolutely one of the highlights of the entire trip.
A Brief Trip to Uruguay: Colonia
From Salta we jumped back on a regional flight to Buenos Aires before boarding a ferry for a brief afternoon visit to Uruguay. Colonia was a beautiful old city, though with the benefit of hindsight, we probably could have spent that afternoon in BA rather than shuttling back and forth.
Back to the City: Buenos Aires
The second half of our journey was spent in Buenos Aires, where we ate, drank and explored this truly amazing city. The food and nightlife scene was the highlight of this time, but every day was memorable: from the morning coffee at a corner cafe, to the afternoon spent at the polo grounds, to late night festivities at any number of outdoor bars that sprinkle the city. In all it was hard not to fall in love with BA.