Overnight we got a taste of the bicentennial celebrations. A local disco played loud music until 5:00 am. We could not so much hear it as feel it. The bass tones actually made parts of the Tiger resonate in sympathy with the music. It would be an understatement to say that the entertainment made sleeping a little difficult.

Today we headed back to high altitude and the high plateau of the Andes. We traveled along Ruta 51 to the town of San Antonio de los Cobres. This route follows the railway line to Chile and the Salta famous tourist attraction - Tren a las Nubes (train to the clouds) - which climbs from Salta at 1100 m to an imposing viaduct at 4200 m, just past SanAntonio de los Cobres before returning to Salta. We decided not to take the train but to drive. We see this as the first stage of our acclimatization to high altitude as we head into Bolivia. For a number of months now we have been at low altitudes and we are definitely not ready for the heights of Bolivia with out some preparation.