South America: Argentina

We are now in Buenos Aires. We spent our last day in the northwest visiting the salt flats. They were once lakes that have dried and left the salt behind. The area has had lots of rain, so some of the salt flats were under water, they looked like a lake with snow covering it and little icebergs. The sky was so blue and hills pink, it was an amazing site to see the bright white, clear blue and hazy pink mountains. The road up to the flats (which is the road which connects Argentina to Chile) is quite a drive. It is a switchback which is amazingly well maintained, a real treat after Brazil. They have crews which live in trailers which move up and down the road to clear landslides (there were a few after the torrential rains they had in mid Jan) and shore up the road when it gets washed down the hills. It climbs to 3130m, and the views of the foothills and snow covered Andes are beyond description. The landscape changes as you drive along.
We started in Purmamarca which is a little town that is known for the seven coloured hills. The hills in this area are multicoloured due to the minerals found in the rock. Since it was once under water and there were active volcanos, and tectonic plates and all that other geological stuff, they have ended up with these amazing multicoloured hills throughout the area. As we travelled up, the hills became green, lost their trees and then pink.
We passed isolated places where the natives live on the side of these mountains and use the water from the runoff and solar panels. It is a hard existence. A bus does travel along the road, so they can come into town to get supplies, but its not easy. Sheep and goats graze on the steep slopes, a few cows, but they are not suited to the inclines and often become "flying cows".
We then went to a little town where at noon, a wooden priest comes out of the town tower and blesses all the people standing in the square. They play Ava Maria to it, but the sound system needs some work or blessing. It 's the first time I have been blessed, and probably the last. It was quite quaint. We then visited a preInca fort on top of the hill where 4 rivers meets, the views were amazing.
We are now in Buenos Aires, what a lovely city, but that's for another day