Cafayate, Salta, Argentina
Vandaag verlaten we Cafayate om terug noordwaarts te rijden naar Salta. We kiezen er voor om een ander parcours te volgen dan in het komen en nemen de Ruta 68. Dit is een volledig geasfalteerde weg, die ons doorheen de mooie ‘Quebrada de Cafayate’ voert, ook wel ‘Quebrada de las Conchas’ genoemd.
Cafayate ligt op 1660 meter hoogte in de beschutting van de Cordillera, omgeven door wijngaarden. De Quebrada begint een paar kilometer ten noorden van Cafayate.Naarmate we noordwaarts rijden verdwijnen de wijngaarden. We passeren eerst een dennenbos op een duin van wit zand, welk ‘Médanos’ genoemd wordt. Het zand bewijst dat de zee vroeger ooit tot hier kwam (toen de Andes nog niet bestond), wat meteen de naam ‘Las Conchas’ (de schelpen) verklaart.
Hierna verandert het landschap volledig: gedaan met de vegetatie (op enkele cactussen na) en opmerkelijke, voornamelijk rode rotsformaties domineren nu het landschap!
Prachtige creaties ontstaan door de werking van wind en regen. De opmerkelijkste kregen namen als ‘la ventana’ (het venster), ‘El Obelisco’, ‘Casa de Loros’ (waar papegaaien nestelen), ‘Tres Cruces’, ‘Anfiteatro’ en ‘Garganta del Diablo’.
Na dit onwezenlijke landschap komen we terug in de ‘bewoonde’ wereld. We nemen een lifter mee, een leerkracht ‘Historia’ die een spraakwaterval blijkt te zijn. gedurende de hele rit blijft hij maar ratelen en ratelen en het is een hele opdracht op dat supersnelle spaans van hem te verstaan.
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/hilde/6/1265628095/tpod.html
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Sunday 28/02/2010
We arrived in Iguassu and jumped straight over the border into Argentina. It was so streamlined, we got on the international bus and the driver actually stopped at both the Brazilian and Argentina border control and waited for us to get back on before continuing. We located an acceptable hostel (don’t ask about the state of the one we’d booked…), put our bags down, showered and came up with a plan of attack. The Falls are part of the Iguassu River which forms the border between Brazil, and Argentina so you can see them for both countries. There was a shuttle leaving for the Brazil side within an hour so we were back on the bus and though border control (lot of smirks from the 18 year old border security…) The falls we absolutely amazing! They are taller and wider than Niagara. So I was awestruck by the scale of them! Underneath them is a walkway so you can feel the spray of the water and actually get up close. I have never seen anything as impressive before and I’m not sure any other waterfall will compare. The Brazilian and Argentina governments have done a fantastic job of preserving the natural beauty of the region. The rainforest that surround remain intact and while there is obvious man-made infrastructure it doesn’t impede too much into the ecosystem. We returned to the hostel for the first bit of home cooking in three weeks. I was incredibly satisfied with my frozen veggie pasta meal; it’s going to be on high rotation (just maybe not back home…)
We got up early, charged to see the falls again. We arrived at the Argentinean side and the moment we stepped in to the park, I could feel it was going to be different. The park is huge!! We got on a train just to make it to the falls. At the top there is a walkway called the devils throat. I basically extend over the top of the falls right to the edge. So you can look straight down at the water pounding below. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. We’d booked a boat ride, which takes you to the bottom of the falls. We eagerly put our lifejackets on climbed into the boat and we were off. I thought we were going to go close, maybe get a bit of splash back but we went right up, water pounding down on us so hard that you couldn’t open your eyes at times. So we’d seen the top and the bottom, the only thing next was to see the scale of how wide it is. We walked along yet another steel walkway, along the length, every turn showed another vista, I think I got a little snap happy. I didn’t know where to point my camera, at the falls, at the hundreds of brightly colored butterflies that flutter past or at the coatis. They are an adorable but cheeky animal that jump around and steal your fruit! I had flask backs to the deer at Miyajima when our bag of plums was pulled to the ground. I let them have it but we were told off by a tourist as though we’d tried to feel the Coatis, plastic and all… We were really lucky I’d been told that it rains 4 out of 7 days a week in Iguassu but there wasn’t a hint of a raincloud the entire time we were there. It was perfect on all accounts.
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kymo/1/1268162589/tpod.html
Krabi, Thailand
We had a quiet day to recover from sun burn and to stay out of the heat (impossible in Krabi – it’s hot everywhere) and tried out another of Rough Guide’s food recommendations – Hong Ming vegetarian food. It really wasn’t good. So, apart from our breakfasts at Mark and Mays, we decided to ignore Rough Guide completely. So for dinner we headed back to the night market and had oxtail soup with tripe (RIchard’s choice) and I had a curry. The food isn’t as cheap as most night markets we’ve been to but it’s really good and there’s a fantastic atmosphere. Try the mixed fruit shakes and the coconut shakes – to die for!!
We’d gone back to Siam Smile to book another tour and decided on the kayaking round Hong Island as it included snorkelling. It cost over 1000B and it really wasn’t worth the price. The kayaking was great – there were only three of us, so we had two kayaks and lunch aboard the longtail boat was delicious, but the snorkelling wasn’t good where we stopped, there were lots of stinging plankton and Rich got sea urchin spines in his foot.
It was a nice day, but we wished we’d gone to Thalane to do the half day kayaking through the mangrove swamps.
Back to Night market for more oxtail soup and fruit shakes 
Rain, glorious rain! It didn’t make our room any cooler but it was a small break from the humidity
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lostzimbos/1/1268197997/tpod.html
