Car Hire

H, Jess and I hired a car on Friday 7th so we could see some of the surrounding area before we took the night bus to the border town of La Quiaca. The car was delivered to the hostel and off we went. H and I had never driven on the other side of the road before, but Jess had so she drove as we navigated our way out of Salta and onto Route 9, the road to the border.

Jess drove for the first few hours as we headed north, towards Jujuy where we changed over. H then took the controls and drove us to Maimara and Tilcara. The scenery was spectactular and the road wound its way along part of the Andes. It really is a desolate part of the world and some of the roads left a lot to the imagination. The little Fiat Uno did a great job off road with H at the wheel.















We stopped at Maimara to see a cemetery, which had been built on the edge of the village. It was quite a surreal little place, and interesting to see all the crypts and tombs sat on the hillside. Some of them hadn´t been filled yet so it was obvious the people of the village spent some of their time preparing their burial areas.





























From there we went to Tilcara for some lunch and a look around. We drove past some pre-Inca ruins before heading back towards Salta. I took over just outside Jujuy. We had decided to go via Route 34 which was a far safer drive at night. The road Jess had driven to Jujuy was quite narrow and it wound its way up and down a couple of mountains. Having driven for 14 years on the left had side of the road I have to say it did take a bit of getting used to. However, before I knew it I was going into the city of Jujuy which I had hoped to avoid. Route 34 appeared to be on the other side of the road. It was a pretty sketchy drive as Argentinians drive as they please, which is generally pretty erratic. After a few minutes we knew we were lost (I had already driven the wrong way up a one way street as cars passed me. We thought something was wrong but it was only when a huge lorry flashed me that we thought it would be best to turn around). Luckily Jess spoke to a guy at some traffic lights and he kindly guided us out of town. We would have been screwed without him. It was a hair raising drive though the city as I clung to his bumper driving around roundabouts the wrong way and at traffic lights.

After ten minutes we found our way onto Route 34. This was an open road and I was more than happy driving down the dual carriageway. It was all going well until I hit a pothole at 120 klicks. Luckily nothing happened. By that I mean nothing serious happened. We didn´t end up wrapped around a tree or anything. We heard a strange flapping noise but it didn´t feel like the tyre had ben punctured and I carried on driving. I thought the mud flap had come loose, that was all. So I drove for another fifteen minutes or so until we came into a town outside Salta. When we stopped at some traffic lights H looked out the window and could see that the hub cap was bent out of shape. When she got out the car she confirmed the wheel was punctured. Luckily it hadn´t blown out completely when I hit the pothole and it had managed to get us that far.

We had three and a half hours to spare before the three of us had to get the night bus, and we had to change the tyre. We had stopped outside a garage and this local did the job for us. We thought he may try and sting us for cash but he only charged us 3 pesos to inflate the spare. Winner!! So after this slight inconvenience we drove back to Salta. The discussion back was all about whether or not we should tell the hire car company the truth. Having been shafted by them before H and I knew that they may be only too keen to take as much money as they could now and ask questions later. We also had trouble interpreting the Spanish hire car contract.

We still didn´t know what to do when we got back to the hostel but when the hire car people turned up we told them the truth...ish! No mention of potholes at 120k anyway, and they were fine about it.

A takeway pizza and a couple of beers later the three of us said goodbye to Shane and Oisin and the others and we made our way to the bus station for the night bus to the border. The plan was to meet Charlie, Lizzie and Erica in the Bolivian border town of Villazòn on Saturday, and all get the train together to Uyuni. Shane and Oisin would be following us on Sunday.