Salta News

Guide to BA

2012-01-18T10:19:00.003-03:00

My friend and top musician Mariano from Tilcara is now living in Buenos Aires.

He's currently recording in the studio, but he's keen to meet travellers and practise his English and French.

If you're arriving in Buenos Aires, get in touch: he's an excellent guide to the city and he can point you in the right direction for live music.

You might be lucky enough to hear him play at a peña.

He's listed under our Friends on the right: here's his email: hermanitowayra@yahoo.com.ar

Or phone him on his mobile 011 6833 0417

Salta to Iguazu flights

2011-07-12T12:29:00.003-03:00

It may appear that I'm obsessed with public transport.

But please bear with me, this is really quite interesting... at least moderately interesting if you're planning your holiday in Argentina anytime soon.

It's newsworthy enough to update my blog for the first time in six months or so.. sorry to all my (few) followers, but we've been busy!

Anyway, the news is that Aerolineas Argentinas is now running direct two hour flights linking Iguazu and Salta five days a week (every day except Wednesday and Saturday).

The flights make the daily loop from BA to Iguazu, Salta, Mendoza and Bariloche, and back to BA on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

On Monday and Friday the same route stops in Cordoba instead of Mendoza.

Thus linking up the main tourist destinations of the Iguazu falls and North West Argentina and the Salta/Mendoza wine regions, not to mention the historic pre-Inca sites of the North West with the Jesuit ruins near Cordoba and Iguazu.

There are also direct connections now from Iguazu to Rio de Janeiro and from Mendoza to Santiago de Chile: http://www.aerolineas.com.ar

Meanwhile, Aerolineas Argentinas is promising direct flights from Salta to Cuzco by the end of the year. Watch this space: I promise I'll update it quicker this time.

Train to the Clouds

2011-02-21T18:48:00.002-03:00

Salta's famous Train to the Clouds is back in action after the rainy season break.

It returns to the rails on Thursday 3rd March, and will be running twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays, as well as the occasional holiday (like Monday 7th March).

The 17 hour round trip to San Antonio and La Polvorilla viaduct is a hefty US$158 for foreign tourists.

You can book online and find all the info here: http://www.trenalasnubes.com.ar/

Copa America

2010-12-31T11:17:00.007-03:00

Check out our packages for the Copa America in Argentina, July 2011.

10 day Wine Tour combining the best of the San Juan and Mendoza wine region with matches featuring Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.

Messi, Kaka, Forlan and... er, Alexei Sanchez!

15 day Che Tour combining all six Argentina and Brazil qualifying games with the Che Guevara trail and the Jesuit estancias of Cordoba.

12 day Japanese special featuring all three Japan qualifying games including match v Argentina, plus visits to the wine region and the Andean North West.

All the above trips can be extended to include the knockout rounds, or you can opt for:

The 26 day Full package: from first game on July 1st right through to the final on July 24th: Che and Estancias, Wine Tours.

Contact us for more details: info@ponchotours.com

Copa America in Argentina

2010-11-25T13:55:00.009-03:00

It's here, and it's definitely happening in July 2011.

It's the Copa America in Argentina, and it brings together the national football teams from the whole of South America plus Mexico and Japan.

Most of the games will be played outside the big BA conurbation: in Cordoba, San Juan, Mendoza, Santa Fe and on my doorstep in Salta and San Salvador de Jujuy.

It all kicks off on July 1st in La Plata, and concludes with the final in Buenos Aires (remarkably, and laudably, the only game being played there) on the 24th.

Ticket details will be announced by AFA (Argentina Football Association) around mid-February.

Here at Poncho Tours we'll be running trips which combine with expeditions into the mountains and visits to the vineyards of Salta, San Jaun and Mendoza: contact us for details: info@ponchotours.com

Meanwhile, here are the groups and the full fixture list:

Group A
Argentina Colombia Bolivia Japan
Group B
Brasil Paraguay Ecuador Venezuela
Group C
Uruguay Chile Mexico Peru

First Round
01-Jul-11 21.15 Argentina-Bolivia La Plata A
02-Jul-11 15.30 Colombia-Japón Jujuy A
03-Jul-11 16.00 Brasil-Venezuela La Plata B
03-Jul-11 18.30 Paraguay-Ecuador Santa Fe B
04-Jul-11 19.15 Uruguay-Perú San Juan C
04-Jul-11 21.45 Chile-México San Juan C
06-Jul-11 21.45 Argentina-Colombia Santa Fe A
07-Jul-11 19.15 Bolivia-Japón Jujuy A
08-Jul-11 19.15 Perú-México Mendoza C
08-Jul-11 21.45 Uruguay-Chile Mendoza C
09-Jul-11 16.00 Brasil-Paraguay Córdoba B
09-Jul-11 18.30 Venezuela-Ecuador Salta B
10-Jul-11 16.00 Colombia-Bolivia Santa Fe A
11-Jul-11 21.45 Argentina-Japón Córdoba A
12-Jul-11 19.15 Chile-Perú Mendoza C
12-Jul-11 21.45 Uruguay-México La Plata C
13-Jul-11 19.15 Paraguay-Venezuela Salta B
13-Jul-11 21.45 Brasil-Ecuador Córdoba B

Quarter Finals
16-Jul-11 16.00 Winner Gp A-Best 3rd placed team Córdoba S1
16-Jul-11 19-15 Runner Up Gp A-Runner Up Gp C Santa Fe S2
17-Jul-11 16.00 Winner Gp B-Second Best 3rd Placed Team La Plata S3
17-Jul-11 19.15 Winner Gp C-Runner Up Gp B San Juan S4

Semifinals
19-Jul-11 21.45 S1-S2 La Plata F1
20-Jul-11 21.45 S3-S4 Mendoza F2

23-Jul-11 16.00 Third Place Play Off La Plata
24-Jul-11 16.00 Final Capital Federal

Dakar Rally Jan 2011

2010-11-22T12:44:00.004-03:00

My mate from New Zealand Jed Uhrle took a group in his 4WD last year to follow the Dakar Rally on its course through Argentina and Chile.

He's doing the same this year but as he's got a full contingent in his vehicle I'm planning to run another alongside him.

We've got three spaces left and need people who can afford to pay US$150 per day each plus US$600 for the kitty on food and accommodation.

The rally starts and finishes in Buenos Aires and wends it way through central and northern Argentina and Chile between Jan 1st and 15th.

Contact us at info@ponchotours.com if you're interested.

Meanwhile, here's a link to Jed's webpage: http://saltaoffroad.com/

And here's a map of the route from the official Dakar rally website: http://www.dakar.com/2011/DAK/presentation/docs/parcours_carte.pdf

New flights from Salta to Mendoza and Bariloche

2010-08-18T16:41:00.003-03:00

I spent 15 years living in London, where I learnt how everything revolves around the capital, to the chagrin of everyone living in the rest of the country.

Now, living in North West Argentina, I complain like all the locals about how everything from the news to football is dominated by Buenos Aires.

But one thing is improving.

For years, those of us working in tourism have been moaning about how difficult and expensive it is for our guests to get here: and then travel around the main tourist destinations in the north.

But now we’re linked up better than ever: for the last year it has been possible to take a two hour flight to travel the 1,500km from Iguazu to Salta without going on a round trip almost twice as far and four times as long flying via Buenos Aires… or enduring a 24 hour bus journey.

Andes runs direct flights on Mondays and Fridays: as well as direct flights to Cordoba three times a week: http://www.andesonline.com/

And from today Aerolineas Argentinas have introduced twice weekly flights which link Salta with Mendoza and Bariloche to the south and Iguazu to the east.

This means there are now four flights weekly direct between Salta and Iguazu.

Details of the Aerolineas flights (every Wednesday and Saturday) are as follows:

Salta to Iguazu: dep 13.50 arr 15.40
Iguazu to Salta: dep 9.35 arr 11.25

Salta to Bariloche: dep 12.00
arr Mendoza 13.45
arr Bariloche 16.00

Bariloche to Salta: dep 09.10 arr 13.15
Mendoza to Salta: dep 11.25 arr 13.15

Iguazu-Salta and Salta-Mendoza prices start from $609 one way (ie around £100 or €120) while the trip from Salta to Bariloche will set you back 1,219 pesos.

For more details see: http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/home.asp

Pachamama.AVI

2010-08-11T13:41:00.001-03:00

Copa America 2011

2010-07-13T00:19:00.000-03:00

I've found the perfect remedy for my World Cup hangover: I'm already looking forward to South America's premier football tournament in June 2011: the Copa America.

Argentina will be hosting all the South American teams: those who exceeded their World Cup expectations like Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay, those who disappointed like Brazil and Argentina: as well as Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Mexico are invited, so they´ll be looking for revenge against Argentina, who have now defeated them in the first knockout round in two successive World Cups.

Also joining the party are Japan, who lost to Paraguay on penalties in the World Cup second round.

The good news for me in Salta is that the Copa America is being played on my doorstep.

The opening match will be in La Plata and the final in the Monumental in Buenos Aires which hosted the 1978 World Cup final between Argentina and Holland.

But all the other games will be in Salta, San Salvador de Jujuy a couple of hours north, in Cordoba and in Mendoza and San Juan in the wine region south of here.

Fixtures will be confirmed later, but put the dates in your diary: June 3 to 24.

Our travel agency Poncho Tours will be running trips: combined with wine tours throughout the month. Contact us for more info atinfo@ponchotours.com

Scotland rugby tour

2010-04-27T11:37:00.006-03:00

I have a future guest, David Jones, a Welshman living in Scotland to thank for the following info.

After the England rugby team's visit to Argentina last June, it is now the turn of Scotland to come south of the equator.

They´ll be playing two matches against the Pumas on June 19th in Mar del Plata (on the coast near Buenos Aires) and more importantly for us here in the North West, in Tucuman on June 12th.

Tucuman is only 300km away and my New Zealander mate Jed who knows a lot more about rugby than I do (not hard, admittedly), will be running trips for anyone who is interested.

Check out his website here for latest news: http://southamericankiwi.page.tl/Home.htm

Tucuman is solid rugby country, a bit like Bath in the UK: and they have just won the Argentine championship.

I can see only see one hitch on the horizon: Saturday June 12th also happens to be the day Argentina kick off their World Cup campaign in South Africa, against Nigeria (not to mention England v USA).

I'm talking about the round ball now, of course.

With Scotland not being in the football World Cup, I suspect there is a strong possibility of Scots outnumbering Argentines in the Tucuman stadium.

Which reminds me of my favourite Denis Law story.

The Man United and Scotland striker chose to play golf on the day of the 1966 World Cup final rather than suffer the prospect of the auld enemy winning football's greatest prize.

But back to the rugby:,Argentina beat Scotland at Murrayfield last November (I don't know much about the oval ball but I can use Google): so the Scots will be looking for revenge.

The Argentine rugby website reveals the Pumas will also be playing France in Buenos Aires on June 19th: http://www.uar.com.ar/noticias4.asp?notcod=20091222193351

Didn't the French win a little tournament in the northern hemisphere, recently?

Poncho Tours

2010-04-14T09:14:00.001-03:00

We're delighted to announce the launch of our new travel agency, Poncho Tours.

Check out our website for bespoke tours of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile: http://www.ponchotours.com/

Train to the Clouds restarts

2010-03-17T11:56:00.004-03:00

It's official: the Train to the Clouds will be back on track from Saturday 27th March.

And the good news is it will be running not once a week (as it did during 2009) but twice, on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

It's scheduled until 1st December 2010 and costs US$120 per person.

During high season (Semana Santa and the last two weeks of July), the 434km round trip will cost you an extra 20 dollars.

You can book online here: http://www.trenalasnubes.com.ar/

Visit Argentina airpass

2010-03-02T10:26:00.003-03:00

Perhaps to cushion the blow of the reciprocity fees (see my last blog entry), Argentina Tourism has introduced the "Visit Argentina" airpass.

Valid for the whole of 2010, it cuts down the cost of internal flights quite considerably if you buy a package of coupons.

You'll be paying US$399 for three flights, US$499 for four etc: a pretty decent saving on the prices you'd otherwise be charged as a foreigner: upward of US$190, for example, for the single leg Buenos Aires to Salta.

The catch is you have to book your international flight with Aerolineas Argentinas: http://www.turismo.gov.ar/eng/menu.htm

The prices don't include tax which I'm told by the AA office will be a flat fee of around US$50 regardless of how many coupons you buy.

If you're going further afield, the South American airpass is available: priced according to your mileage: http://www.turismo.gov.ar/eng/menu.htm

Fees for US, Canadian and Australian visitors

2010-02-19T19:48:00.006-03:00

An update on the reciprocity fees which the Argentine government has introduced for US, Canadian and Australians.

They apply to all passport holders of the above countries coming her for work or on holiday and have been introduced as a tit-for-tat response to your governments charging Argentine citizens.

US citizens are required to pay US$131 for a visa which is good for 10 years.

Canadians have to pay US$70 and Australians US$100 every time they enter Argentina.

Here's the official government website with details of the fees: http://www.argentina.gov.ar/argentina/portal/paginas.dhtml?pagina=19&datoid=89703&ordennoticia=1

Though they say they apply throughout Argentina, whether you arrive by land, air or sea, rumours are they are only really being enforced at the international airport of Ezeiza in Buenos Aires.

Coming home from San Pedro de Atacama recently, I gave a lift to a Canadian guy.

We crossed from Chile to Argentina at the Paso de Jama and he wasn't charged.

So here's hoping the penalties will be introduced with customary Argentine efficiency...

Train to the Clouds

2010-02-16T18:49:00.003-03:00

"The magic re-starts in 32 days."

Well hopefully.

That's the optimistic claim on the Train to the Clouds website.

In theory, after a break for the rainy summer season, the train will chug out of Salta station again on Saturday 20th March, heading off on its 15 hour round trip to the viaduct at 4,200 metres above sea level.

It's due to run twice a week (the other day is still to be confirmed, but will probably be Wednesday) instead of just the once as during 2009.

I'm told by the office you will be able to book online from 10th March: but be prepared to be flexible as the re-start is strictly weather-dependent.

We've had some showers here and a few spectacular storms, so there's no guarantee the train will re-start on time.

We'll keep you posted.

Wine harvest

2010-02-02T12:32:00.007-03:00

My friend John is a bit of a wine buff who maintains that you drink white from Cafayate and red from Mendoza (or Chile, but we won't dip our toe into that pool of controversy).

But a couple of weeks ago he was happily supping bottle after bottle of Don David Cabernet Sauvignon from the Etchart bodega here in Salta.

Which perhaps illustrates how much the wine industry is changing, particularly in Argentina, where new varieties are thriving in unexpected locations.

Take Tannat: a Uruguayan grape so strong and tannic it was only used to give body to other red blends: now Felix Lavaque bodega in Cafayate has produced an award winning single variety.

For the wine aficionados among you, a reminder that March is harvest time.

At Finca las Nubes, the small bodega lovingly carved out of what was once just cactus strewn wilderness on the outskirts of Cafayate, the Vendimia is celebrated with a special day and night of harvest, barbecue and of course lashings of wine.

The festival is on Saturday 13th March: after labouring in the vineyards as an unpaid peon, you can enjoy the song and dance long into the night.

For those of you coming later in the month, or in April, there may still be the chance to join the harvest at some of the smaller vineyards where they produce the more rustic "vino patero".

It's called vino patero because "pata" means foot in salteño: the grapes are still crushed in the traditional way, by foot.

We're running a trip to the Finca las Nubes Vendimia on March 13th and can arrange visits to other harvests throughout March and April: email info@ponchohuasi.com for details.

2009-12-24T11:56:00.000-03:00

Summer Football in Salta

2009-11-22T12:15:00.002-03:00

The Torneo del Verano (summer tournament) is when the big Buenos Aires football teams come to Salta: as well as visiting the wine city of Mendoza and top holiday resort of Mar del Plata, which is a bit like Blackpool without the hen weekends.

In Salta the Torneo runs from January 10th to 17th: although Boca have shunned our city (because manager Alfio Basile is too fond of the beach... they'll be in Argentina's answer to Blackpool), Racing, River and Independiente are all here.

Millionarios River play Racing on Thursday 14th, before facing up to Independiente on the 17th, while on the previous Sunday or Monday arch rivals Racing and Independiente meet.

River and Independient are actually doing their week's pre-season training here too, so if you're a football obsessive you can hang around their training pitch or five star hotel as well.

Paris Dakar rally Jan 2010

2009-11-12T10:02:00.004-03:00

I am still trying to get my head round how Argentina and Chile geographically fits in to a race between Paris, France, and Dakar, Senegal, but hey, we're not complaining!

After the success of last year's visit, the great race is returning to Argentina and Chile from January 2 to 16 next year.

It doesn't come to Salta, but my good mate Jed, a New Zealander who lives here, is running a trip following the race.

Contact him if you're interested: http://southamericankiwi.page.tl/Home.htmç

And here's a link showing you the route of the race, which starts and finishes in Buenos Aires: http://www.dakar.com/2010/DAK/presentation/us/r3_5-le-parcours.html

Festivals

2009-10-22T14:30:00.002-03:00

Summer is starting here in Salta: the jasmine bush outside our fourth bedroom is blooming and the pool is beckoning.

Meanwhile, as the nights draw in in the northern hemisphere, I hope you're all thinking of your holidays... despite the recession.

Here are some festival dates for North West Argentina which will hopefully help with your planning:

Tobacco harvest, Valle de Lerma: December to March

Carnival, Cerrillos, Salta and Tilcara, Jujuy: January

Summer pre-season football tournament: when the big teams come and play in Salta: Jan 10th to 17th

Carnival in most of Salta and Jujuy provinces: February

Serenata folk music festival, Cafayate: February

Wine harvest, Cafayate: March

Inti Raymi, Inca festival at Tropic of Capricorn: longest night of the year: June 20th in 2010

Month of Pachamama (Inca earth mother), Puna: August

Bull running, Casabindo: August 15th

Exodus from Jujuy, commemorating events during the war for Independence, August 22nd and 23rd

Milagro: religious festival, Salta city: September

Capac Raymi, summer solstice, Dec 21st

These are just a small sample of the myriad agricultural, musical, religious and cultural events happening in North West Argentina during the year. There are many more fiestas in honour of town patron saints, and different types of food and drink produced in the area.

Update on flights to Iguazu

2009-09-09T10:34:00.003-03:00

An update on flights running from Salta to Iguazu: Andes have dropped the Wednesday flights so they now shuttle between these two tourist destinations only on Mondays and Fridays.

Flights between Salta and Cordoba now run Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

But the good news is there are now direct(ish) flights linking Salta to Puerto Madryn if you want to head for the Peninsula Valdes and Patagonia.

Directish in that you still have to change planes in Buenos Aires, but there's no messing about with changing airports.

One-way prices for foreigners are roughly as follows:

Salta-Iguazu or Iguazu-Salta: 95 euros
Salta-Cordoba or Cordoba-Salta: 63 euros
Salta-P. Madryn or P.Madryn-Salta: 192 euros

Travelling by bus

2009-08-03T11:25:00.003-03:00

Thanks to two recent Poncho Huasi guests, Fiona and Tim Willans, for telling us about this website which promises to make getting buses round the country a lot easier.

It's a one stop shop for booking buses anywhere in Argentina.

As Tim and Fiona well know, trains hardly exist here: even the Train to the Clouds, which they wanted to go on while they were in Salta, only runs once a week.

If you want to travel from city to city you've got a choice of expensive plane journeys (which often route through Buenos Aires regardless of whether it's on the way) and buses.

Or, in fact, just buses.

So check out Omnilineas: they'll do all the hard work of booking the journeys for you as you plan your holiday in Argentina: http://www.omnilineas.com/

Swine flu

2009-07-08T14:02:00.000-03:00

It’s like the elephant in the room (or perhaps in this case it should be a pig), a subject that can’t be avoided anymore.

I’m talking about swine fever, pig flu, or as it’s known in Argentina gripe A1H1, or gripe A for short.

The new health minister announced yesterday that 70 people have died in Argentina since the end of April, the highest figure in any country apart from Mexico and the USA where it all started in April this year.

The government website can’t keep up: it’s still got figures of 60 deaths, three days out of date: http://www.msal.gov.ar/archivos/Parte%20nueva%20influenza%205%20deJulio.pdf

And nobody knows quite how many people are infected.

The official line from the Argentine ministry of health is 2,485 people showing flu-like symptoms of gripe A: http://www.msal.gov.ar/htm/site/default.asp

But that’s hard to reconcile with such a high number of deaths: if we consider, for example, that 14 people have died in Chile among 7,342 cases of infection.

The new Argentine minister of health let slip at his first press conference that as many as 90,000 people could be infected.

And, alarmingly, another official from the same department said nine out of ten flu-like cases could be gripe A.

More reassuring for those who are coming to North West Argentina is that all but four of the 70 deaths have been in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, two in Misiones in the far north east, one in Santa Cruz in Patagonia and one in San Juan.

So far no deaths have been reported in the provinces of Salta or Jujuy.

Best advice is to make sure you’ve got copper-bottomed health insurance, and buy your surgical mask at home and bring it on holiday because they’ve run out of them here.

And don’t hang around in Buenos Aires too long on your way up north.

Copa America 2011

2009-06-25T13:53:00.005-03:00

Our travel agency Poncho Tours will be running trips: combined with wine tours throughout the month. Contact us for more info at info@ponchotours.com

The Natural World

2009-06-23T16:56:00.010-03:00

With the arrival of winter, this is a great time of year to visit the Yungas cloud forest in north west Argentina.

June, July and August provide a small window free of the irritations of high humidity, mosquitos and sandflies.

Well, nearly free. When the sun comes out, so do the little biting buggers, but they're sleepy at this time of year.

This is a beautiful part of the country which I only visited earlier this month despite regular visits to Argentina over the past nine years (invariably at the "wrong" time of year).

I went to Calilegua national park in Jujuy province with my Kiwi mate Jed, who runs this tour company: http://southamericankiwi.page.tl/Home.htm and Facundo, an intrepid seeker of new trekking locations.

This is more info about what Facundo does: check it out: http://www.andeschallenge.com/

They're both pretty keen mountain bikers too, and the main purpose of our trip was to find some wicked downhill trails.

Which we did: you can check out pix and video on Facundo´s blog here: http://mtbcalilegua.blogspot.com/ (thanks, by the way, mate, for giving me the idea to start my own blog).

For those of you who don't want to hammer downhill at high speed on a mountain bike , there are some well signposted treks within the park; you can hire a local guarani guide whose ancestors have lived here for centuries.

For the nature lovers among you, the Yungas contains 300 different species of bird, 100 different varieties of mammal, as well as 3,000 species of plant and 200 different types of tree.

We saw parrots, falcons, condors, a turkey and a small deer as well as a little fella I forget the name of which looked like a skinny wombat.

There are some scenic hill villages on the other side of the park: we camped in Valle Grande, close to the river in a stunning mountain gorge. Where Jed kept on cracking open the beers while I chopped firewood, and Facundo rustled up an equally stunning asado.

Now we're looking into doing a five day walk from San Francisco, a village on the other side of Calilegua national park, over to the Quebrada de Humahuaca, finishing in Tilcara.

We're going to hook up with a local guide: all food and accommodation is provided: we´ll stay with local families in tiny communities along the way.

Keep checking Facundo's website for news of this and other treks: http://www.andeschallenge.com/

Meanwhile, our next challenge is to see if it's possible to mountain bike through from Valle Colorado, where the road ends, to Santa Ana, the end of the road south from Humahuaca and Aparzo.

Now that's going to be a trip!

Keep checking out Jed's website for news of that: http://southamericankiwi.page.tl/Home.htm

Andes flights link Salta with Iguazu

2009-06-22T18:22:00.003-03:00

The Salta airline Andes are now running flights daily direct between Cordoba and Salta.

Perhaps more importantly for tourists organising their Argentinian trip (and trying to avoid having to fly through Buenos Aires every time,) there are also direct flights three times a week between Salta and Iguazu: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As a non-Argentine national, you'll be paying about 100 pounds one way.

Here's the link to Andes: http://www.andesonline.com/

Train to the Clouds

2009-06-22T18:19:00.002-03:00

That worked. So here's some news about the Train to the Clouds.

It's now running again after a summer off for rain and repairs: but only once a week.

It runs every Saturday, though some extra dates might be added if there's enough demand.

Here's a link to the official website where you can book online: http://www.trenalasnubes.com.ar/en_home.html

And here's a link to an excellent article written by Hester Lacey, who stayed with us at Poncho Huasi in August 2008: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/back-on-track-the-return-of-argentinas-cloud-train-1689479.html

What's the point in writing a blog?

2009-06-22T18:08:00.001-03:00

OK, a word about this blog and why it's been set up.

You're not going to hear about the terrific weekend I had eating a huge Argentine asado with far too much red wine followed by a traditional Fernet and coca, accompanied by munching on the finest coca (that's the plant I'm talking about now, not the multinational drinks company).

Right, I've just gone and contradicted myself.

But consider this as purely a scene setter.

What this blog is about, generally, as much as possible, is not me, but about what's happening in Salta, and specifically news that might be of interest to people travelling here.

I run a B&B with my wife Alicia: http://www.ponchohuasi.com/ and we help people plan their holidays: this is just an extension of the sort of information I'm giving our guests.

So if this intro makes it successfully onto my brand new blog page keep posted for news on the Train to the Clouds and direct flights from Iguazu to Salta.