From the north east we moved north west (a distance almost the width of the continent!).
The province of Salta holds a very high population of Indigenous people, and is only a short ride away from the Bolivian border (the 5th and last country that we have reached for, but not crossed over to - Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile). For my birthday my grandmother purchased a private tour for John and I to the salt plains (Las Salinas Grandes) and the mountains of seven colours (Las Montanas de Siete Colores), along the path of the famous Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds). Our tour guide was jovial and funny, and the couple from BsAs that we shared our experience with were kind and astonished by all the beauty we saw that day, even though they were still in their own country.
Our first stop was a town of less than 30 people. John bought a Bolivian looking blanket - bright yellow - from their small market. The next stop was the salt plains, a vast area where the Pacific Ocean is dried up, and the place where Argentina and surrounding countries get their fix of salt! It's white as far as the eye can see - totally surreal. The mountains in Purmarca were as colourful as their name describes as well. On just one mountain you could pick up hues of yellow, pink, purple, and blue.
That day we got to see a lot of geographical mysteries (including being
so high in altitude we couldn't get out of the car without getting
dizzy) that made us fall in love with Argentina even more.
