NW Nomad

A FREE Page from the BY Guide to Salta

Because we love NOA and are really keen that visitors come from all over the world to enjoy this area, whether they travel with us or not, we are today giving page 17 free.

I really wish the entire book could be free but it's just a couple of bucks into Paypal and goes to the costs of graphic design and publishing. Well worth it as it's just like having me in the car with you without wanting to stop for a wine tasting all the time. There is a complete itinerary page and a month-by-month guide to weather so you can plan the best time to come - it's not so simple.

There's history and route maps and where to eat for the best food of the unique North and of course the recipe for empanadas. Enjoy!

Sizzling Novel set In Salta and Brazil - How many locations do you recognize?

Aside from the very first BACK.Yard Guide which is a full colour travel book as good as having a private guide in the car and completely up-to-date unlike certain guides that are published as books and already out of date, my second novel "And Then the Magic Began" is newly published to Kindle. Not yet to paperback but then who wants to carry all those books around?

The novel follows Suzanne, a cookbook writer as she moves to Salta for an Inca and tribal recipe book and falls into an atypical love affair with a much younger Argentine. This relationship follows the theme of the first novel, "Last Tango in Buenos Aires' in the difficulty for independent foreign women in creating an equal romance with a macho latino.

The character of Suzanne allowed me to indulge my passion for wine and food (which I always share with the people who travel NOA with me) and there are many references to the indigenous comida (food) as Suzanne struggles with falling into impossible love.

BTW the BACK.Yard Guide contains the recipe for Salta Empanadas with a drool-making photo and there will soon be a recipe book to accompany this novel.

Above is the full cover for the paperback edition - of course on Kindle you only see the front cover. This was created by the same graphic designer who built "BY Guide to SALTA" using two of the photos I took in the Peruvian Amazon.

Some pretty strange events happen to Suzanne and she begins to suspect her lover although her visits to a Shaman in the Andes (those of you who travel with me will know who this is based on as you have probably seen him yourself) convince her to trust her instincts but also that something dark lurks in Salta for her.

Scared, the couple travel to Brazil's stunning northern beaches in search of the idyllic laidback life. They get involved in Candomble, a sort of Africal religion akin to voodoo and events begin to unravel for Suzanne.

Anyone interested in the food and tribal customs of South America will enjoy this and for anyone planning to travel in NOA it's a great little companion.

Mendoza to Salta Guided Tour (Day 4)

From El Penon, which is almost Antofogasta de la Sierra, there are two options to descend again and continue north to the Cafayate wine region and the rest of the Calchaqui Valley or to continue across the puna to San Antonio de los Cobres.

We descended so as to visit Quilmes ruins and to experience some good food and hospedaje in the pueblos but first we drove 40km on towards Antofogasta so as to enjoy some of the 200 volcanoes resting dormant along the ruta.

This is the chance for some spectacular photography - colours and volcanoes and glaciers and high altitude light - but it's not easy. Ansel Adams waited all day for perfect light on one shot but we don't have the time.

The journeys from this point have a looping effect but it is impossible to see everything without backtracking at some stage.

It is never dull returning through one of the gorges as they look totally differnt viewed from the reverse angle - an entirely new vista. And of course there are vicuna at various points along the way, so cute how they lift their heads to check us out.

From San Antonio it is possible to descend into Salta through the Quebrada del Toro which is the route followed by the train to the clouds. As I have stated before, it's better to drive this route unless you're a train buff so as to stop at Santa Rosa de Tastil. Or the drive continues north along a sand track (old ruta 40) that comes out at Salinas Grandes from where you descend to Purmamarca.

Mendoza to Salta Photo Tour (Day 3)

Is it only day 3? We've already done almost a thousand kilometres and fifteen hundred more to come. These first days between Mendoza and Cafayate are the hardest in terms of distances and facilities. I promised the clients they would have better food once we got further north,

We leave Tinogasta although with more time, we usually stop at Fiambala for the termas (I have written about this in another post) and drive for a couple of hours to Londres (so called because at the time of its founding by the Spanish, King Phillip was married to England's Queen Mary). In Londres there is the most important Inca site in NOA at El Shincal, a provincial administrative centre, it is deep in the forest with two ceremonial platforms reaching for the stars (Also covered inmore detail in an earlier post).

There is no nafta at Belen YPF and I scour around for some making us late for the planned lunch stop. We have choripan (chorizo sausage in a roll with fresh homemade chimichurri) from a street oil drum made over into a parilla - the locals seemed fascinated.

At El Eje we leave Ruta 40 and head west onto the puna, one of the levels of the Andean pre-cordillera which means 'cold desert' in Quechua but was the preferred habitat of the Inca. The Puna is situated between 3400 and 4600 metres above sea level - the light is intense and the wind blows wickedly.

These kind of medanos (sand dunes) are formed by deposits from wind erosion and give a completely other worldly lunar aspect to the terrain. The client donned his mountaineering gear to hike off and capture his photos.

 

It reminds me of the glacial ice formations at Perito Moreno in El Calafate, Patagonia.

 

The puna is the preferred habitat of the guanaco and vicuna - the wild members of the camelid family - llama and alpaca being the domesticated members. They are extremely timid around humans but there are so many groups along the way (they herd in groups of one male to eight-ten females) we have no problem getting photos whereas on the Salta and Jujuy puna, it is often impossible to find any because of the increased traffic.

We have bell tents for camping out on the puna but on this occasion the client decided on the comfort of the Hosteria at El Penon. The hotel is very comfortable with many European touches but the food is atrocious and extremely expensive - it may be better to take your own if possible. The guiso de llama was like the rock outside the front door - llama is a meat that must be cooked lightly. I promised them we would have perfect llama in Jujuy.

I wonder whether all those UFO sightings were merely strange cloud and light formations at altitude - they certainly do strange things for the camera.

Driving Mendoza to Salta (Day 2)

Another long day of kilometres today, mostly due to the lack of facilities in the area - the only decent place to stay close (60km or 120km) to Valle de la Luna is in Villa Union.

So from Villa Union in the morning it's 60km (40 Miles) back south to Talampaya National Park - Home of the Dinosaurs (guanaco and suri). It's currently 40 pesos park fee (for foreigners) plus 135 for the bus trip in the overland truck. The truck is almost 4 hours drive into the canyon. It's a beautiful visit with wildlife and petroglifos (stone carvings) but I wish they would do a convoy as in Ischigualasto as it is a little dull looking at 150 metres of stacked up mud for four hours - but perhaps I'm just worrying about lunch!

I'm worrying because through this central part of Argentina in particular, the food is appalling. It may be merely a cultural issue - the nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat was surely invented here about a cross-cultural couple. While I prefer a lomo (filet steak) any day, my partner prefers a cut like vacio, tough and gristly.

There is a cafe in Talampaya which will be filled with tour groups and places in the pueblo will take an hour to fire up some fried empanadas.(The truck ride incorporates a vino and olive stop).

There's the 60km back to Villa Union and then two hours to Chilecito through the Cuesta de Miranda (ripio). Hopefully the timing allows a snack at the cafe on the plaza and a visit to the Bodega, La Riojana. By now you'll notice all the Difunta Correa shrines along the way.

Another two hour drive to Tinogasta for the overnight stop - There is only one decent hotel with nice rooms although the public areas are like a hostel - Best to dine here also, the woks are good and actually contain vegetables. The restaurants are all milanesas and plastic garden chairs.

Check the tiny people in the canyon.

Photo Tour Mendoza to Salta (Day 1)

First off, this is not a trip for people who dont like driving or sitting in cars. The distances are large and the roads are slow going. The first day covers 650km and there isn't much option to make it less apart from stopping in San Juan City for the night - not the best idea.

Starting out early - 8.30am at latest drive north toward San Juan city, I take the 'Olive Route' to get off ruta 40 and bypass the city. This brings you out at a bend in the road and a short drive later to one of the oddest sights in the country - Difunta Correa.

Difunta Correa is a folklore saint with a massive following in the mid- and north west of Argetnina. She was a San Juanina woman who followerd her husband north towards La Rioja Province when he went to  fight in the wars of the 1850s.

Walking across the barren and arid landscape, carrying her new baby, she died from heat exhaustion and lack of water in the middle of the desert. A couple of days later, shepherds discovered her body and the baby still feeding at ther breast, alive and well. This was declared a miracle and Difunta, a People's Saint.

Her shrine is stacked with small houses and car number plates - the faithful thanking her for their prosperity. Walking around it reminds of a model village except the pilgrims are crawling on their hands and knees up the hundred and fifty steps as though ascending Mount Sinai.

The place attracts many thousands of people and more in December for her Saint's Day. Plenty of pollo al spiedo for lunch. Piles of plastic bottles at the roadside aren't rubbish but offerings to Difunta.

Continue on to San Augustin de Valle Fertil - a small town with nafta and basic accommodation. There is the option to stay here but the locations are back to front as Ischigualasto is best in the afternoon and Talampaya is best in the morning.

At Ischigualasto (the Valle de la Luna - Moon Valley) the three-hour circuit of the park is done with a ranger and a convoy of cars. There are five stops along the way, each showcasing the various lunar landscapes formed over 220 million years ago - real dinosaur country.

There is a camp site at the side of the park - well worth it on full moon nights when there is a guided tour around the glowing irridescent formations.

Hurry as these rocks are liable to fall any day now. Taking the last tour of the park, darkness will fall on the drive to Villa Union and there is a serious risk of hitting guanaco crossing the highway. All in all about a twelve hour day.

 

 

Ayahuasca and our own trip to the mystics in Peru Amazon

Those of you who have travelled with us know that we often visit the Shaman in Purmamarca for a reading of the equilibrium in the body. The majority of people living in the Northern Pueblos still prefer to use the Shaman and his plant remedies from the Andes than a 'regular doctor' and from my first visit, I too have been completely in harmony with Carlos.He not only looks at physical conditions but emotional also - they are connected anyway.

Almost all my clients have been amazed at his insights (I often see the spouse nodding vigorous agreement out of the corner of my eye) but some have been dubious and some he has refused to 'treat' as he can see their doubts. You need to have your mind fully open and available for the remedies to be effective. Carlos told me last October that I was working too hard and needed to go to the beach but life ran on and I wasn't able to take a relaxing break. Finally, after a couple of life thwarting experiences, I realised I needed to make a quick escape to refuel the inner me and decided to go to Northern Peru and the Amazon Jungle.

This trip was also partly research for my second novel, about a very intense love story against a background of the folk medicine and mystical beliefs of the Andes and the Amazon. I needed to research some of the stronger ceremonies and so went to Iquitos to learn about Ayahuasca.

Aysahuasca has a lot of press these days. It's trendy in some circles and accounts for around 20% of the tourism to Iquitos and the Peru Amazon. Although illegal in most countries in the world, the tribes have used this plant for thousands of years to balance their bodies and open their minds. many foreigners go looking for the 'trip' of course but there is much more to the plant than psychedelic visions. It is believed by Amazon Shamans that every time a part of us is traumatised or depressed, a darkness latches onto our inner soul and must be purged.

A good shaman is vital to guide you through the journey. Don Lucho has thirty years experience in working with the plants and seemed able to decipher every emotion in his 'patient'. He is also fairly strict with regard to the Ayahuasca diet which is not only as seen below and of course no alcohol or stimulants - His dieta de plantas consists of just that - nothing but vegetables in the purest (uncooked) form. I wasn't allowed either my fruit salad or boiled egg before we headed off to h is compound in the jungle.

No DEET either, which is a no-no for me as I have nasty reactions to mosquito bites but a trip to Belen Market provided a natural repellent and calmer - copaiba. This passage in the market is filled with remedies at every stall. Palo santo wood sticks to purify the space and an oil that attracts love (or draws men toward you) were my top purchases among the skulls and spells.

Don Lucho immediately separated me from the person I was travelling with and put us in individual huts - He knew better than I that this person was a negative energy for me who would leave the compound early because the shaman was "condescending" to her.

I lived in this hut in the jungle for four days. Every other night we had an ayauasca ceremony in the bigger hut which involves drinking a cup of jet engine fuel then waiting until you purge in the cleansing process. The shaman chants for four hours straight and blows smoke over you - also a cleansing process. You live your individual journey throughout the night and at sunrise return to your meditation hut and reflect.

I showered outdoors here using plant water. The shaman came to my hut and gave me vicious green liquids to swallow. After four days I looked like a cadaver (There were no mirrors but I divined this because one of the ladies gave me a plantano, which isn't allowed, because I looked so God-awful).

I came out of the jungle shakily and was fragile for a couple of days but when I returned to Lima my body was a mad thing, demanding to eat constantly. I went straight to 'Astrid & Gaston' (one of the top 50 restaurants in the world) and treated myself to a dish named 'Sea Urchins for the Soul'.(Lima by the way is worth visiting for more than a day - the restaurants are great and there are museums, colonial architecture and pre-inca sites a plenty. More about a trip to Lima at BACK.Yard Guides

Each has his own reasons for exploring this purification and mind-bending experience. I had visions but not the psychedelic ones written about by many. However I wrote a great deal about love for my new novel during my days in the hut and I think the plant works in its own way and over a period of time. I have already seen shifts in outlook and desires for a different life. It's all going to be okay.

Salta Seasons

The advantage of visiting the NW in winter is that you have wonderful light for photographs.

Now however, certain days have hit over 30 degrees centigrade and although it cools down again in the evening, the blossom and flowers are ready to burst.

Gauchos

Today being Santa Rosa de Lima, Saint's Day as well as Corpachada - the last day of homage to Pachamama beofre the new harvest year, I had to post a couple of photos reminding everyone of the festivities.

But I am paying homage to a couple of clients I had from Pennsylvania who posted these photos of their trip.Here we place a stone on the Apacheta - a roadside tribute to Pachamama for a safe journey - add a stone to the pyramid or coca leaves, cigarettes, beer bottles.

I chew coca leaves most of the day while driving - it keeps me focused and staves of peckishness (The Coca Leaf Diet as opposed to the Bolivian Diet which is automatic if you take the bus in that country). The client's doctor at home had freaked her out in regard to altitude sickness as though we were going up Everest. I suggested she take home some coca to show him what the Incas used for mal de puna - it works as does eating sweets and chocolate.

Here Nick free climbs in the Devil's Throat. Travelling with me entails either a great deal of adventure or at least the photo opportunities that make it seem that way.

Oooops - too much coca

Vicuna on the Puna

Vicuna are the wild members of the camelid family, llamas being the domesticated side and in fact, Vicuna will not be domesticated, like Masaai warrior the stress from contact with humanity can kill them. When the Inca arrived there were almost two million in the NW, they almost became extinct thanks to the Spanish passion for the soft wool.

In Molinos there's a criadero, not always easy to reach as the river has a sandy quicksand bed (See rainy season posts of us being tractored across. I was too occupied to shoot the occasions we began to sink and water came over the sills) where they raise and guard the remaining animals.

Seeing them wild feels like a privilege as they frighten easily and are well camouflaged in their landscape, the puna (Cold desert in Quechua) at 3400 to 4600 metres above sea level. Sometimes I feel as though I'm on African safari (and south African visitors I've guided have noted the similar landscape) when the Vicuna run wild.

They are most likely to be seen on the road through the Cactus park close to Cachi and on the road to Salinas Grandes salt flats where they seem to be becoming ever more accustomed to humans passing.

But when you head for La Quiaca, en route to Bolivia, where no tour buses tread, there are llamas galore wandering across the road and truly wild vicuna. We were lucky to spot this group grazing on the dried up bed of the Rio Grande but even the sight of us, high above on the cornice road caused the leader to emit a high-pitched scream commanding his harem to flee. We followed them running at 50km/hour along the valley (unfortunately I haven't yet mastered driving and shooting photos at the same time) but suffice to say, it was thrillling - A photo committed to memory.