sudamerica 2009: for the last time, from salta
9th-jun-2009 - posted by dtra
it is with great sadness that i make my last post from south america, i have a bus to buenos aires tonight, and one night in which to destroy my liver before heading home on thursday. i was meant to post all about san pedro de atacama, but since it is my last post, i will have to be very brief about that (apologies if the post randomly changes it's flow). made it there last week, and spent five days there, the driest desert in the world. getting there from la paz is awesome, the views going to the border are great, volcanoes and lakes, and then going from there to salta is great as well, if you get on the right side of the bus (not me unfortunately). not good for the skin, do not recommend it to the ladies, it just dries everything so incredibly fast. had great fun there doing some half day tours, and some cycling around the area. all the tour companies sort of work together so there is no point worrying about who is the best company, just who is the cheapest, i think. and without further ado, i present the pictures of the last week there (and getting there).
after that, came back to salta, which was my last stop in argentina last time round, i didn't really have any plans for here, just that i wanted to do the hostel bbq again, and go to jack's grill again (did both), though jack's wasn't quite how i remembered it (still great). managed to get some shopping in, and also, hopefully go to the museum today. we've been having so much fun here, it's been ridiculous, caught up with elaine (from ireland) again, and just been going out and getting smashed every night, except last night, i think i was drunk all day, and possibly had a hangover in the night. just a note, i may update this with some pictures taken in salta a bit later today.
and now, to the emotional stuff, i've been here almost seven months now, and have to head home in a couple days, which, while in arequipa, and la paz, was sort of looking forward to, but now after being in san pedro de atacama, and salta, i actually wish i could stay longer, though i know that i should go back (my backpack is full of shit that needs to go back home, and also, the greatest photos of south america ever, will never see the light of day if i don't leave). blah, blah, blah, i don't know what to say, it's gonna be really strange going home i think, i have a week off before going back to work to re-acclimatise, so hopefully that will help, and doing the photos may provide some nostalgia, or at least make me wish i was still in south america. greatest experience ever, all that type of stuff, met so many great friends, and did so much stuff that i you just wouldn't be able to do on a shorter trip, and hopefully learnt a new language (but that will require me to continue studying, which i plan to do). now the lists, best places:
- buenos aires, enough said
- salta (i swear it's not you phil, though it's all about the people, and i've had the best combo here, both, the first time here, and now)
- sucre, studying spanish made it so easy to meet other people that were in the same boat
- la paz, just a crazy, crazy, fun city
- arequipa, something about it was so cool
- huaraz, so beautiful
- banos, has to get a mention for ecuador
- taganga, we had such a great group there
- san pedro de atacama, got me revved up again at the end of a long trip
and best places i visited, which you'll see in the photo gallery anyway, but thought i should mention it here:
- iguazu
- the salar de uyuni
- macchu pichu (obviously)
- colca canyon
- the santa cruz trek (but hiking around huaraz in general)
- san pedro de atacama (you'll see the photos)
and with that, i end this post, and will see you again sometime in the next week with a post from home, hopefully having re-adjusted, and getting on with life as appropriate (processing photos, and perhaps pondering the next destination(s)), and getting back into shape, i think that might take a while 
. the plan is to have all the photos processed in a few months, but that depends on how busy those months are in all walks of life. so chau, and nos vemos.
transport and accommodation
semi cama bus from la paz to arica, was fine, and then again from arica to san pedro de atacama, and from san pedro to salta, again, so never saw a full cama bus in chile, i slept ok, so it wasn't a big deal. got a cama bus to ba, so that will be good.
stayed at a place called hostal nuevo almanacer in san pedro, it was a really chill place, ten minutes walk out of town, with hot water, and a great bonfire where everyone would sit and chat at night. and at inti huasi again, which i must say, is quite possibly my favourite hostel that i've stayed at in all of south america.
picture of laguna cejar, perfect reflections as you can see, more to come for sure.
Last edited at 10:13 9th-jun-2009
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