Tucuman
The last few days in Cafayate were just as relaxing as the first. We visited another winery, with much tastier wines, had a browse around the Museum of Wine and went on a tour of the Quebrada de las Conchas. The road from Cafayate to Salta is dotted with bizarre rock formations, shaped by millions of years of erosion. We visited a few of the main sights, including the Castillos (castles) and La Garganta del Diablo (the devil's throat), and the whole area is generally referred to as the Quebrada de las Conchas. Very cool.
I'm currently in Tucuman, one of the oldest cities in Argentina (founded in 1556?) and also the place where they signed the Argentinian declaration of independence on July 9, 1816. It's a big town (700,000 inhabitants) but I get the impression it's not a major stopoff for most backpackers. Shame really, because there is a lot to see, you just have to venture a little out of the city centre. Somehow we managed to time our visit here for the weekend, again. Seriously, on Sundays everything completely grinds to a halt. However, we managed to keep ourselves occupied by taking an enormous walk around El Cadillal, a natural reserve some 25km north of Tucuman. There's a big lake surrounded by subtropical forest vegetation, which makes for quite a spectacular view. At times it felt like we were walking somewhere in the South of France!We followed two routes: one which led to absolutely nowhere and would have taken us all the way around the lake had we not turned back (we did see 4 random cows on our way, however, so it wasn't a complete waste of time) and another one, the one marked on our map, which was a loop around one of the hills and much more pleasant route to follow. Yesterday evening we went to the cinema and watched The Omen, a remake of the 1976 horror film. It wasn't particularly scary, the storyline and acting were relatively decent, but the ending was terrible. A sequel is definitely in the making. Good ol' Hollywood predictability.
Today I'm taking it relatively easy and am planning to visit the park here in Tucuman, rather unsurprisingly named Parque 9 de Julio. It's massive and looks like it could be fun. Apart from that, do a few bits of shopping here and there. Then, tonight, I'm catching a bus to San Juan, a town not too far from Mendoza. I'm not exactly sure what there is to see yet, but it's been recommended to me by various people. Just going with the flow.
I'm currently in Tucuman, one of the oldest cities in Argentina (founded in 1556?) and also the place where they signed the Argentinian declaration of independence on July 9, 1816. It's a big town (700,000 inhabitants) but I get the impression it's not a major stopoff for most backpackers. Shame really, because there is a lot to see, you just have to venture a little out of the city centre. Somehow we managed to time our visit here for the weekend, again. Seriously, on Sundays everything completely grinds to a halt. However, we managed to keep ourselves occupied by taking an enormous walk around El Cadillal, a natural reserve some 25km north of Tucuman. There's a big lake surrounded by subtropical forest vegetation, which makes for quite a spectacular view. At times it felt like we were walking somewhere in the South of France!We followed two routes: one which led to absolutely nowhere and would have taken us all the way around the lake had we not turned back (we did see 4 random cows on our way, however, so it wasn't a complete waste of time) and another one, the one marked on our map, which was a loop around one of the hills and much more pleasant route to follow. Yesterday evening we went to the cinema and watched The Omen, a remake of the 1976 horror film. It wasn't particularly scary, the storyline and acting were relatively decent, but the ending was terrible. A sequel is definitely in the making. Good ol' Hollywood predictability.
Today I'm taking it relatively easy and am planning to visit the park here in Tucuman, rather unsurprisingly named Parque 9 de Julio. It's massive and looks like it could be fun. Apart from that, do a few bits of shopping here and there. Then, tonight, I'm catching a bus to San Juan, a town not too far from Mendoza. I'm not exactly sure what there is to see yet, but it's been recommended to me by various people. Just going with the flow.
posted by Job @ 8/07/2006
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