live42day

Thank you to everyone who posted reports and answered my questions over the past year in planning this trip.

Our story: We are a mature, newly retired Canadian couple who are well travelled and spending six months on the road this year.
We are half way through our three months in South America and this is a short report of our favorite part so far.

We took Andesmar bus from Cordoba and 12 hours and 5 movies later we arrived in Salta at 1 am. The bus was comfortable, we chose cama seats which are on the lower level of the double decker bus, recline and the seats are wider. It is like being on an airplane as we had a steward and were served lunch and dinner. They weren't great meals, but we were still served meals all the same which is pretty great.

Our hotel was Ankara suites and the best place we stayed so far on the trip. We had a one bedroom apartment that was spotless, modern and very well designed. Continental breakfast was delivered each morning at a time you specified. It was located five blocks from the main square and cost $70 per night plus the 21% tax

We loved Salta and spent six nights here. It is the rainy season but we were very lucky with the weather, with most days being sunny and warm with the occasional light rain

Things we did:
We took a city tour in a 16 passenger van which was interesting. It lasted four hours and took us to the outskirts as well. It is the low season for foreign tourists so the tours are all in Spanish, although they did speak a bit in English too.

We did a day trip to Cachi, again in a small van. The scenery was fantastic. I highly recommend it. It was an all day trip but the trip there was so beautiful.

There are a number of museums in Salta. The one we loved the most was the museum of high mountain archeology. Here they have three child mummies from the inca times. It was a very small museum but one of the best I have seen on inca treasures.

We were happy to spend six nights in Salta and highly recommend a couple of nights here if you are coming to Northern Argentina.

On our last day we arranged a 4 x4 tour to Salinas Grande. As we are heading north to Bolivia we took our luggage with us to be dropped off in Purmamarca.

The scenery on the way was again fascinating and very diverse. The road followed the tracks of the trains to the clouds for part of the journey.

The salt flats, Salinas Grande, was fantastic. We were again blessed with a beautiful sunny day and I again would recommend a visit here. We are heading to the salt flats in Bolivia now so it will be interesting to see the difference.

Purmamarca. We spent two nights in this lovely little town of 2,000 people. We stayed at the Posta Purmamarca hostel and had a little one room cabin. The hostel was immaculate, very cute and at the foot of a colorful small mountain. The area is home to the hills of seven colors and they really do have ribbons of greens, reds, browns and purple colors running through the hills.
Our rooms cost $110 per night Including tax and continental breakfast
It really is a lovely hotel but walking around town most of the places we saw looked just as great.
The town is almost postcard perfect with every store and restaurant being squeaky clean.
We hiked the trail above the town though the Hills which was nice and then just enjoyed the small town area looking as the many beautiful handicrafts.

This is our last night in Argentina, we head for Bolivia tomorrow but I just wanted to do a quick report on this area because we loved it so much and if you plan to travel to this area feel free to ask any questions.

crellston

Great to hear from you live42day and so glad you are enjoying your trip so far. Let's hope the weather stays kind to you as you head north. Keep your eyes open for the Bolivian immigration office when you hit the border. Plenty of people we met missed it and didn't get their. Bolivian stamps!

live42day

Thanks Crellston. You were of course the sources of so much of my information and we are following in some of your footsteps. We are touring with Tupiza tours tomorrow and using hotel Berlina in La paz to name a couple,
Debbe

avrooster

Thank you, Debbe, for your great trip report about our NW.

Have a wonderful time in Bolivia, where one of my daughters lives, in Cochabamba.

Manisha

Nice trip report, thanks for sharing. Very helpful.

mlgb

Thanks for the report...At Hotel Berlina, ask for one of the rooms facing away from the street, and don't forget to go up to the rooftop.

flintstones

Great report!!! I am happy that you enjoyed your time in Salta. Being a local citizen, I love living in salta, even in the rainy season.
Warm regards,
Angie/Flintstones

live42day

Thanks everyone. The story continues on the Bolivia forum

Greens43

Live42day, a couple of questions if you please...who did you use for the day tour to Cachi? How did you get to Purmamarca? And then to the border?

We arrive tomorrow in Salta and have six nights before we need to be in Tupiza. The beautiful Patagonia has worn us out and I'm behind on planning for Salta! Thank you in advance for the details.

live42day

Hi Greens. We just went to a travel agent near the square, it looked like all the travel agents used the same operator and had the same price.to Cachi.

We also did a four person 4 x4 tour to Purmamarca seeing the salt flats on the way and just got him to drop us off in Purmamarca and the others went back to salta. Again, it looked like all the travel agents had the same tours and prices. You can also take a bus.
If you go to the bolivia forum there is a continuation of the report which includes tupiza

Have a great time.

Greens43

Thank you, live42day. Here now and have a few things booked! Appreciate the tips.