Rainy Day

Still in Argentina, now I am in Salta, a bit further north. We are basically here for the night just because tomorrow morning was the earliest we could get on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama. So it´s off to one of the driest places on earth tomorrow. It´s been raining pretty much all day so I will appreciate the dryness. Last night it rained and of course my room had a leaky roof. The water happened to land right where my face was, a nice refreshing way to be woken up in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping on the floor in my sleeping bag at the foot of my bed because there was no way to avoid the water.

Yesterday we hiked to the waterfalls but I´m not sure that we saw the best one. We chose to go without a guide though so I´m just glad that we at least made it to a waterfall. We definitely got a little lost along the way. It was a nice hike though that involved a lot of river crossings and climbing up rocks. The environment was harsh. Very dry, dusty, and rocky. The vegetation was all very rough and spiky. As a result I have several scratches on my arms and legs. And towards the end of the hike I slipped on a rock while crossing the river, banging my knee and dipping one foot into the water. I wasn´t thrilled about walking the 5 km back to the hostel with one wet foot, mostly because it looked quite silly. I thought about putting my other foot in the water so they would match, but wet socks aren´t all that comfortable, I couldn´t justify it. I took pictures but I haven´t found a place to upload them yet since I´m mostly using internet cafes. Hopefully at some point.

The bus ride to Salta was pretty nice as far a scenery goes. Here are some notes I wrote in my journal in order to remember it:
Ruddy landscape. brown, red, clay, mud, but with green growing from it.
The river is kind of sneaky, if I don´t keep my eyes on it I lose it, then suddenly it reappears. Looks like gushing mud but also a bit like chocolate milk. I would almost expect to see rhinos bathing in it.
The reddish rocks look like carefully carved sculptures, as if they could be part of ruins left from an ancient civilization. The bigger rocks and points also seem to be carefully sculpted by the elements, horizontal lines to tell their history.
All growth is small but green. Even leafless branches are tinged green.

It was truly a remarkable landscape. My friend told me that´s what the Southwestern states looks like, but I have never been there. I am excited about the uniqe landscapes I´m sure to see tomorrow on the 12 hour bus ride back into Chile.