Salta

After two 18 hour bus journeys with 12 hours in Mendoza in the middle it was such a relief to arrive in Salta and it was so much more beautiful than I had anticipated. By chance we hit the opening carnival parade which was incredible. Big noise, bright colours, fantastic music and some interesting dance moves!

And now one for Uncle Tim. We finally visited our first museum of the trip which was the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology and it was fascinating. It documents the discovery (in 1999) of three perfectly preserved children who were buried alive as a gift to the mountain gods in 1480 on Mount Lullaillaco. As part of the trip you also see one of the bodies which was a bizarre experience. I’d never heard of these children but apparently they’re the best naturally preserved bodies in the world. Cultured or what?!

Smith