March 14, 2006
Day 167
The view of gondola and Salta.
Today I went to San Bernardo hill, which overlooks Salta, with Andre, a Dutch guy from my hostel. As it was scorching hot again, we took the lazy man's route to the top. A gondola to the top was constructed by a Swiss company back in 1987, giving everyone, including us, access to the views of the city.
As we rode to the top, I saw the bus station, a soccer stadium, lots of houses, and my entire body getting covered with sweat from the sweltering heat.
The map I received of the area on top of the hill made it seem huge. However, the "gymnasium" turned out to be two sets of gymnastic rings, the "amphitheater" only had three rows and a tiny stage, and the "artisan's area" was just a guy selling some necklaces. I can't make this stuff up. At least the waterfalls were impressive.
Still, the only reason I went to the top was to see the city, and the view was great. Salta is a lot bigger than I had originally thought, but it still retains that "small town" feel. We stayed at the top of the hill for an hour or so and walked back down. It was an easy walk because the path was well-shaded by the numerous trees that covered the hill, but I imagine that walking all the way up would have sucked.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Ok Danny, I know you took the picture of the spider just for me, a little warning next time would be good!
The rest of the pictures are great.
Yeah I definitely had you in mind when I saw that spider. I'm glad you enjoyed it!