End of the A-Salta and Eco Yoga Park

 Salta - The End

Quebrada de Haumamuca - view from the bus ride between Cafayte and Salta

We came back to Salta for three more nights. We continued to feel disillusioned and kind of out of it. Salta is a pretty big city, half a million people, and it just didn't do it for us. There is great colonial architecture around the central plaza and downtown area. Lots of museums and art.

We did have one day where we went to an interesting archaeological museum about high altitude archeology. They have found human sacrifices, accompanied by all sorts of preserved artifacts, at amazing altitudes from Inca times. this museum was very well presented and interesting, including the mummies. The museum of contemporary art had a retrospective of a local artist that was fantastic. Below are a few examples of his work. We were very impressed with him and he was there when we visited so we got to meet him too.

Hummingbirds made out of wood and individually painted

Watercolor

Collage

We happened to walk out of one museum about local history into a changing of the guard ceremony with horses,uniforms, speeches and a brass police band. Seeing this series of cultural positives improved my mood for the rest of the day.

Marching out

Riding off

The band plays on

But, all in all our lodging (hostels) were noting special, the food choices were limited and we were happy to move on. But before we returned to BA and we took a break at Eco Yoga Park.

Eco Yoga Park
We were at a point were I thought we needed some good vegetarian food, peace and quiet. Yoga and meditation wouldn't hurt either. We needed to be out of the city and be in nature. I had done some net surfing and looked in Lonely Planet and Eco Yoga Park sounded like it could fit the bill. This is a farm about an hour outside BA run by Hare Krishna people. You can go as a volunteer and work four hours a day or pay a little more and just hang out. There are yoga and meditation classes everyday.they grow most of the food they eat right there.

One of the structures you can stay in, not where we stayed

Temple for meditation, talks and yoga

What made this a good experience was the other guests. Unlike our last Ashram experience in New Zealand, the residents lived quite separate from the guests/volunteers. Except for cooking, and teaching classes, maybe doing maintenance  work around the property, you didn't see them .The Swami gave talks every few days about Hari Krishna traditions. The yoga classes were not so great. The food was excellent and just what we needed. The lodging was just s cut above camping, not super comfortable.. Actually I have had cleaner, less smelly, camping bathroom experiences. So that was a drag.The flies, smells and dogs made us wonder if they were trying to recreate Indian village life in the Argentine country side.

Btu we met a lot of other really cool travelers. There were a couple of good yoga classes taught by a woman from the US. And there was Ashley a man from Britain who had been there almost a year and acted as an activities director, organizing the volunteers and making sure all the non residents knew what the days activities were. He showed documentaries almost every night, organized a "quiz" game and was generally host like. He was a former University professor in Japan where he taught critical thinking. Very intelligent and interesting guy. And we met a bunch of other younger travelers who we really liked. They took Anika under their wing and she had a good time. One night she organized her own quiz game with all arts related questions. I came in as she was quizzing the group, (25 people) about Dali and Van Gough, music and literature. Everyone was supportive and happy to do this with her. It was very cute and I felt proud of her.

Everyone eating lunch

So it wasn't quiet as comfortable as we had hoped but we did have quiet, some yoga and good food. Plus meeting cool people is always the best. It gives you hope for the planet.