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Salta's beautiful bubblegum-colored Cathedral, seen through the trees of the central plaza

Salta’s beautiful bubblegum-colored Cathedral, seen through the trees of the central plaza

We couldn’t go to Brazil, so we did the next best thing: caught a flight to Salta, northwest Argentina’s biggest city. How did we choose Salta? It was easy – it’s one of the few cities in Argentina with a direct flight from Puerto de Iguazu. And since we weren’t ready to go to Buenos Aires – the other easy destination – Salta it was. Oh, and we really wanted to see Matt Damon’s wife’s hometown!

There was great architecture around the central plaza

There was great architecture around the central plaza

Another square in Salta, this one a bit closer to our hotel

Another square in Salta, this one a bit closer to our hotel

The blazingly white 16th century Convent of St. Bernard. Only Carmelite nuns are allowed in, but from the outside it was beautiful.

The blazingly white 16th century Convent of St. Bernard. Only Carmelite nuns are allowed in, but from the outside it was beautiful.

Sitting in the foothills of the Andes at about 3,800 feet above sea level, Salta is famed for its mild weather, beautiful architecture, great scenery, and European sophistication. We thought it more than lived up to its reputation; I was just constantly thinking that it was the most European city we’d been in since, well, we were last in Europe. Like all old Spanish colonial cities Salta has a central plaza surrounded by great old buildings (pretty much always including the cathedral), but Salta’s 9th of July Plaza was in a class by itself, probably the most beautiful square we’ve seen in Latin America. The cathedral was stunning and a couple other churches were worth seeing, too.

We had only scheduled two days there before moving on to Córdoba (Argentina’s Córdoba, that is, not Spain’s), so we had to pack stuff in. Our first tourist stop was the attractive and very quirky Pajcha, a private museum of ethnic American art, both ancient and recent. It’s a small place owned and run by a woman who is obviously passionate about indigenous art and the links between archeological finds and modern artisans. We were guided around the various displays by Diego who, well, is hard to describe. Little, very excited by his work, sweet, charming, odd … all of that and more. For an hour’s tour through a private collection, though, it was a great time.

The next stop was Salta’s Museum of High Mountain Archeology. Normally I would pass on a museum like that but this one had a unique exhibit. It houses the remains of three victims of Incan child sacrifice from about 500 years ago, all remarkably well preserved; to ensure they’re properly cared for, the bodies are displayed on a rotating basis, one at a time for a few months each. They were discovered in 1999 at the top of Llullaillaco Mountain, a 22,000 foot high peak in the Atacama Desert, the world’s highest archeological site. The display was insightful, if obviously somewhat disturbing.

These child sacrifices were held to commemorate particularly important passages in the Inca emperor’s life. Only children from high-ranking families were chosen and allegedly it was considered a high honor; parents are said to have genuinely believed that their children weren’t dying but rather were being elevated to a place of honor with their ancestors. But after all that explanation in the museum – and the exhibits were well done – there you are, face to face with the mummified remains of a seven year old boy sacrificed and left to die on the top of a mountain. Apparently there is a fair amount of controversy as to the ethics of displaying the body, but for now, at least, there he is.

Another colorful church

Another colorful church

Beyond that there were some beautiful churches to poke around in and great little parks to sit in. High above Salta is San Bernardo Hill, good for an energetic climb (or a lazy cable car ride) for great views of the city. And great restaurants. We’re already getting a little tired of Argentine grills but the quality of the food here was petty high.

Two days here was not enough; there are lots of day trips we could have done and we’d have enjoyed just hanging out more. But we already had our flight booked to Córdoba so we had to make do with a quick stop here.

The interior of the Church of St. Francis

The interior of the Church of St. Francis

One last note. Before getting rejected for our Brazilian visa, we’d expected to spend a few days on that side of Iguazu Falls and then fly to Rio for a few days before heading to Uruguay. We had all those flights and hotels booked. When we failed to get the visa we were sure we were out several hundred dollars. To our surprise and delight, though, ultimately it didn’t cost us a penny. Within just a couple days the airlines had refunded every penny of the cost of the tickets. One of the hotels – the most expensive, of course – was supposed to charge us for at least one night, based on the terms of our purchase and the fact that we canceled at 3:00 PM on the day we were supposed to check in, but they waived it.

Airlines just saying “Oh, OK, here’s your money back”? Hotels saying “Yeah, we could charge you for one night, but we won’t”? Where does that happen? Here, apparently. Obviously, we’re not complaining.

Food was a big deal in Salta. We found a restaurant serving the world's best provaleta - the fried cheese dish on top - and vitello tonato, an Italian veal dish with a tuna sauce. We ate these appetizers three days in a row!

Food was a big deal in Salta. We found a restaurant serving the world’s best provaleta – the fried cheese dish on top – and vitello tonato, an Italian veal dish with a tuna sauce. We ate these appetizers three days in a row!

Mark and a great salad Niçoise

Mark and a great salad Niçoise

A very happy diner

A very happy diner

View of Salta from St. Bernard Hill

View of Salta from St. Bernard Hill

Mark with Diego, the amusing and quirky private museum guide

Mark with Diego, the amusing and quirky private museum guide

The beautiful central plaza of Salta

The beautiful central plaza of Salta

Just some old doorway I walked past

Just some old doorway I walked past

An interior view of the grand cathedral

An interior view of the grand cathedral

And finally, we had a great hotel in Salta, the Legado Metico, set in a grand old mansion. For $150 a night our room was huge and the public space included a couple beautiful reading areas like this.

And finally, we had a great hotel in Salta, the Legado Metico, set in a grand old mansion. For $150 a night our room was huge and the public space included a couple beautiful reading areas like this.

Devil's Throat at Iguazu Falls. A breathtaking - and breathtakingly close - view of one of the world's great waterfalls.

Devil’s Throat at Iguazu Falls. A breathtaking – and breathtakingly close – view of one of the world’s great waterfalls.

We’ve been waiting to go to Iguazu Falls for a long time. Mark & I came to Brazil for three weeks back in 2006 and that wasn’t enough time to see everything. The one place we really wanted to go but had to cut was Iguazu Falls, where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay all meet. So on this trip through South America, Iguazu was non-negotiable. We did it, and it was worth the hassle getting here (and worse yet, the hassle getting away, but more on that later).

The Falls are located where the Iguazu River cascades over the Paraná Plateau. About half the river’s flow is funneled into what’s called the “Devils Throat,” a massive, awesome sight some 270 feet high and 500 feet wide. One of the most impressive things you’ll ever see on this planet. The rest of the river is dividing by countless smallish islands into up to 300 separate, narrower waterfalls (though of a similar depth. The result is that you can walk all around the national park on the Argentinian side of the border with different views of amazing waterfalls.

Various waterfalls stretch along nearly half a mile along the ridge making for one great view after another

Various waterfalls stretch along nearly half a mile along the ridge making for one great view after another

A view of Devil's Throat from across the river. Those people on the left are on the Brazilian side of the Falls, something apparently we're never going to experience

A view of Devil’s Throat from across the river. Those people on the left are on the Brazilian side of the Falls, something apparently we’re never going to experience

Lots of rainbows to be seen

Lots of rainbows to be seen

Argentina has built impressive walkways all around the falls area, allowing visitors to get spectacularly close to the many waterfalls in the park. The first one we did was on a metal walkway out over the river to the very edge of Devil’s Throat. Wow. Some sights, after you’ve anticipated them for weeks or, in this case, years, are anticlimactic. Not this major section of Iguazu Falls. Eleanor Roosevelt summed it up when she visited Iguazu and said simply “Poor Niagara!”

Here we are next to Devil's Throat

Here we are next to Devil’s Throat

Big flocks of birds apparently love the Falls, too

Big flocks of birds apparently love the Falls, too

In addition to this walkway out to Devil’s Throat, there are two other major trails, an Upper and a Lower trail that bring you to various views of waterfalls. And on top of that we did an hour-long boat ride up the river below the falls that give you more great views from the bottom of the falls. Then, after ensuring everything you brought with is in a waterproof bag, the boat roars into the heavy mist from one of the waterfalls (not Devil’s Throat). The first time we went in it felt kind of gratuitous, just a chance to get us wet. The second and third times, though, the boat took us into some really intense water and yes, we got absolutely soaked. Great fun and – as we knew what we were getting into – we had packed dry clothes.

So we loved Iguazu Falls. Just a mile or two from our hotel you could walk up a nice parkway to the confluence of the Iguazu and Paraná River, where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay all meet. There was something just cool about that.

The plan was that we’d come to Puerto Iguazu, on the Argentine side of the Iguazu River, and get our visa for Brazil, then go over there for another couple days to see the parts you can’t see from Argentina. It’s pretty common to go back and forth a bit, so long as you have a visa. Brazil, though, makes visas pretty difficult for U.S. citizens, presumably because the U.S. makes visas hard for Brazilians wanting to visit the U.S. If you apply for a Brazilian visa in the U.S. it can take a couple weeks to process and, since we don’t stay in the U.S. for that long, that doesn’t work for us. In theory, though, the Brazilian consulate here in Puerto Iguazu can process the visa in a day, so that’s what we thought we’d do. And since the visa is good for 10 years that will cover us for quite a while.

Lots of pictures like this

Lots of pictures like this

And this

And this

On the boat. Soon the driver will race us over to where that water is crashing down on the far left of the picture. Going in there was intense and fun.

On the boat. Soon the driver will race us over to where that water is crashing down on the far left of the picture. Going in there was intense and fun.

We got to the consulate on a Thursday afternoon, hoping we’d be able to get a visa on Friday. No. There were problems with our forms, problems with our cash, problems. “Come back on Friday.” So we fix the problems they identified and were at the consulate Friday morning. OK, everything is in order, they tell us, and the visas will be ready noon Monday. Really? You can’t do it today? We have to wait the whole weekend? You charge over $200 each for a visa and you can’t help us? Nope, come back Monday at noon and you can get your visas.

At noon on Monday Mark goes to the consulate; he’s packed so we can get a taxi over to Brazil but he’s not particularly optimistic. “Problem,” the guy says when he walks in. It’s hard to figure out what’s wrong, but somehow the online form didn’t transmit. We have all the confirmation numbers and printed out the form, but that’s not good enough. “Never happened before,” he says. So we dropped the documents off on Friday morning and even though they had our email addresses and the hotel we were staying at they didn’t do anything to contact us about the problem. We try to convince them to process the visa and – with me online at the hotel and Mark calling and texting with instructions – redid the online forms multiple times. Nope, nothing doing, somehow their online forms weren’t working so they couldn’t issue visas. That just wasn’t going to happen, and they couldn’t tell us what was wrong. The one thing the did know was that by 1:30 PM of course they were closing so we should just try it again Tuesday.

Suffice it to say that we eventually gave up – after I said words that might mean we’ll never, ever be allowed into Brazil. Let’s just say we were a little frustrated. We’d booked a hotel on the other side of the river, flights into and out of Rio, a hotel there for a few days and had to cancel all of them. Such a pain but for whatever reason they just couldn’t make their own system work to issue our visas.

Of course, all is not lost. Several hours back at the hotel later we had cancelled all our old reservations and made new ones. Instead of those days in Brazil, there’s a direct flight from Puerto Iguazu up to Salta, an old colonial town in northwestern Argentina that’s supposed to be pretty great. Then we can catch another flight to Córdoba, another tourist hot spot this time in central Argentina. Then we’re going to take a week in Uruguay before wrapping our South American stay in Buenos Aires.

Mark, just before we plunge under some of that falling water

Mark, just before we plunge under some of that falling water

More great pictures of waterfalls and rainbows

More great pictures of waterfalls and rainbows

Loved these views

Loved these views

Couldn't get enough of the power of Devil's Throat

Couldn’t get enough of the power of Devil’s Throat

This is the Iguazu River continuing after Devil's Throat, Brazil on the left and Argentina on the right. That little orange boat is like the one we rode up the river for our showers.

This is the Iguazu River continuing after Devil’s Throat, Brazil on the left and Argentina on the right. That little orange boat is like the one we rode up the river for our showers.

Another picture I loved

Another picture I loved

And another

And another

And butterflies! I've never seen so many of every size and shape and color and design you can imagine. This one lodged on Mark's hat and went for a ride for quite a ways along the trail.

And butterflies! I’ve never seen so many of every size and shape and color and design you can imagine. This one lodged on Mark’s hat and went for a ride for quite a ways along the trail.

There was a great little park at the confluence of the Iguazu & Paraná Rivers. I'm in Argentina while that's Paraguay on the left and Brazil on the right.

There was a great little park at the confluence of the Iguazu & Paraná Rivers. I’m in Argentina while that’s Paraguay on the left and Brazil on the right.

I like the spot so much I went back the next night for a prettier sunset

I like the spot so much I went back the next night for a prettier sunset

The park had its own water features with kids - some little, some quite big - having a great time running in and around the spraying water

The park had its own water features with kids – some little, some quite big – having a great time running in and around the spraying water

And then there was this mister-thing that at sunset had a distinct nuclear fallout look to it

And then there was this mister-thing that at sunset had a distinct nuclear fallout look to it

And finally one last shot from our hikes inside Iguazu Park. As you can see, the weather was beautiful. Other days while we were in visa hell were pretty cloudy and rainy but we got really lucky for our visit.

And finally one last shot from our hikes inside Iguazu Park. As you can see, the weather was beautiful. Other days while we were in visa hell were pretty cloudy and rainy but we got really lucky for our visit.

Remains of a church in the old Jesuit mission of Trinidad, outside Encarnación

Remains of a church in the old Jesuit mission of Trinidad, outside Encarnación

From Asuncion we caught a long bus down to Encarnación, a city of about 100,000 in the very south of Paraguay, just across the Parańa River from Argentina. We had two reasons to go to Encarnacion The main reason was to cross over to Argentina so we could go north to Iguazu Falls. Secondarily, as long as we were passing through, we figured we’d tour a couple of the old and long-ago abandoned Jesuit missions in the area. To our surprise the missions – UNESCO World Heritage Sites – were a great way to spend a day. More than just a place to stop over en route to the Falls, they were worthy of a trip to the area on its own.

The story of the missions is interesting; sufficiently interesting, in fact, to inspire the Academy Award-winning movie The Mission. Starting in 1609, Jesuit missionaries emigrated from Spain to build ultimately dozens of “reductions”, settlements for indigenous people. The Spanish Empire started the process to govern the then-nomadic Guaraní people more efficiently, but the Jesuits were more interested in Christianizing them than just taxing and controlling them. So in an area that now includes parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil dozens of these missions popped up.

OK, not all of Encarnación was about the missions. We saw this strange ad in town, what looks like a Chippendale stripper-type with cute little kids. Not sure what they were suggesting unless it was making your next birthday party a little livelier...

OK, not all of Encarnación was about the missions. We saw this strange ad in town, what looks like a Chippendale stripper-type with cute little kids. Not sure what they were suggesting unless it was making your next birthday party a little livelier…

These religious settlements existed largely outside standard Spanish colonial experience and ultimately the authorities came to believe that the Jesuits were more of a problem than they could tolerate; they were, after all, interfering with the slave trade. Thus in 1767 the Spanish banished the Jesuits and the missions were evacuated. Scattered ruins remain and in 1993 UNESCO declared two of the best preserved sites in southern Paraguay World Heritage Sites.

Off we went to see them, not really knowing what to expect. The first one we came to was La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná, the Most Holy Trinity of Paraná (the local river). It was stunning. The mission was built relatively late in the Jesuit period and was the biggest of them all. I particularly loved the setting, up on the crest of a hill with great views over the region. And unlike so many tourist sites we had the huge space all to ourselves. Just a very beautiful and peaceful experience.

Next up was the ruins of Jesús de Tavarangue. In this case construction didn’t begin until 1760, just a few years before the Jesuits were expelled. The church was being built as a replica of the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Italy and would have been one of the biggest churches of its time, measuring 230 feet by 80 feet. The Jesuits were expelled before the mission was completed, but what remains is impressive.

Mark in the ruins

Mark in the ruins

I loved the isolated locations with huge views of the surrounding areas

I loved the isolated locations with huge views of the surrounding areas

So that was Encarnacion. The town itself was … OK, nothing too special. The city has recently invested in building a big parkway along the Paraná river – second in length in South America only to the Amazon River and which, after later merging with both the Paraguay and Uruguay Rivers, becomes the Rio de la Plata – opening up a big area for biking and running and all that good stuff. We found a restaurant we liked, so we were happy there for a couple of days.

Enjoying our time in Trinidad

Enjoying our time in Trinidad

The church at Jesús had a distinctly Moorish quality

The church at Jesús had a distinctly Moorish quality

Some of the recovered architectural ornaments

Some of the recovered architectural ornaments

The plan was that the next morning we would take a bus across the river into the neighboring city of Posadas, Argentina. It was really hard to get information in Paraguay about our travel options in Argentina, but we figured one way or another we could get to the bus station there and take a bus six hours or so north to Puerto Iguazu, near Iguazu Falls on the Argentinian side. In theory we could have gone north in Paraguay to Ciudad del Este, on the Paraguayan side of the of the Falls, but it wasn’t clear that we could get across to Argentina from there without going through Brazil. And since getting a Brazilian visa is exceedingly difficult for Americans – except, we’ve read, from the Argentinian side of the Falls, where it can be done – we figured we’d first cross to Argentina, then go north, see the Falls, get a Brazilian visa, and continue on.

Didn’t quite work that way. We got the bus across the river into Argentina, got through immigration and all that, and then got on a local bus that we thought would take us to the bus station where we could continue on north to Iguazu. Instead the bus just kept taking us further and further out of town, away from everything. And by “everything” I mean in particular away from all ATMs. Since we didn’t have Argentinian pesos, we were starting to get desperate. So at one point the bus stopped at a traffic light and we just got out, walking back nearly an hour (in 90-degree heat with our luggage) into town. We got a hotel so we could get online … and discovered that we had been no more than two or three minutes from the bus station when we bailed out.

Now, a day in Posadas isn’t all bad. Again, we found a nice restaurant with great Argentinian beef and got tickets for an early morning bus up to Iguazu. The problem was that getting the visa is a two-day process. Had we made it without the overnight stop in Posadas we’d have gotten to the Brazilian consulate Thursday morning and picked up the visa Friday afternoon. Instead we wouldn’t get to the consulate until Friday morning and thus would have to hang around until Monday to get the visas. Not the worst problem in the world, but not ideal either.

At any rate, Encarnación was great, the missions were quite the site, and now we’re finally off to Iguazu.

Mission ruins

Mission ruins

The ruins were very cool to explore at leisure, particularly with no one else around

The ruins were very cool to explore at leisure, particularly with no one else around

Mark again

Mark again

It was like having your own Roman relics to explore as slowly as you wanted

It was like having your own Roman relics to explore as slowly as you wanted

I hope you're not tired of these pictures, because there are more

I hope you’re not tired of these pictures, because there are more

Big open spaces

Big open spaces

Great architecture

Great architecture

Headless saints

Headless saints

One last shot of the remains of the church

One last shot of the remains of the church

The main square in Encarnación had an unexpected Japanese garden

The main square in Encarnación had an unexpected Japanese garden

Sunset across the Paraná River

Sunset across the Paraná River

And finally, one night in Posadas, Argentina. That's a skewer of chicken that we're going to share for dinner. Just a taste of what Argentina - Spanish for "Land o' Lotsa Meat" - is all about.

And finally, one night in Posadas, Argentina. That’s a skewer of chicken that we’re going to share for dinner. Just a taste of what Argentina – Spanish for “Land o’ Lotsa Meat” – is all about.