26th December, Boxing day and onwards to Cafayate

A monument to the Bolivian army in the centre of Uyuni to commemorate the Pacific War when Bolivia was robbed of its access to the sea and the territory was ceded by Chile.

It was a long drive to take the road back to Potosi and onwards to the Bolivian - Argentinian border. There were some interesting geological formations as we drove along the road.

The plan was to camp near the border and them get up early to be first in the queue. It was a slow border and can take up to four hours. 

However we were making good time and in the late afternoon we decided to take a look at the queues for the crossing. Surprisingly there were no queues, but after all it was Boxing Day so we decided to cross anyway. We were through both Bolivian and Argentina checks and document checks and filling in forms in under an hour. So were drove through the arts mountains and found a bush camp.

Next day it was a drive to Salta and out campsite which was in the grounds of Ximena, which claimed to be the largest open air swimming pool in the world.

Our truck parked up under a tree with the awning out... as it was raining.

My tent pitched on the edge of the pool with long views up the pool.

My view of the pool.

The 1930's style main building.

The next day it was a drive up a scenic valley to Cafayate.

There were a lot of red rocks as a result of the amount of iron oxide in the sandstone.

On place en route had a wonderful canyon carved by a tributary into the valley sides, like a slot canyon.

At the head of the canyon was a high waterfall which plunged over the different strata of rock.

The almost unnoticeable entrance to the canyon and the waterfall beyond.

Another stop en route was at Los Tres Cruces, a mirador or lookout up the valley and the colours are true, it really is that red and green.

O close up of one of the trees in the valley with tiny leaves and green bark.

At the top of the river is the flat former lake bed where Cafayate sits which boasts 330 days of sun a year and is an important although small wine producing area.

And of course it hosts a large number of vineries or bodegas, this was the first one and I visited four before returning to the hostel as I had had enough of wine tasting. although some people went on to try several more.

At one winery we saw several humming birds but this was the only decent shot that I got with my pocket camera.