Puna Turismo books tours of the "Quebrada (Canyon) del Rio de las Conchas Cafayate", is located on the north side of the central plaza, and recommended in the Lonely Planet. The attaction itself is enjoyable ... our overall experience was not. This is the second tour we'd taken in 20 months of travel and thought it was a bargain at 60 pesos.... it's also the first time we've had anything stolen from us.

A blue van picked us up, along with travelers from other hostels. We stopped to buy water and the driver filled the cooler next to him with beer. We never got any, never saw him drink any, but don't understand why it was there. We made about eight stops in the canyon. I kept my bag with me the whole time but at the last "mirador" (lookout point) I left my bag in the van with the driver because it seemed like we were only going to walk ten feet and take some pictures. Moments later people were walking up a small hill to get a better view ... we went with them. The driver was in the van the whole time and we were the first travelers back to the van. Upon return my wife remembered that her DSLR camera bag was disorganized inside but she thought little of it because it held nothing of value. She didn't realize I'd left my bag in the van. Once we got back to town, we went straight back to our hostel and didn't leave for the night. The next morning I realized my Canon IXUS digital camera/8gig card was missing. I never used it or took it out of my bag during the tour because my wife had brought her DSLR.

I went to Puna Turismo guy and asked if he could have the owner of the van check the floor. After telling him the whole story he seemed geniunely dissapointed. He made some phone calls ... brought the driver in to talk to ... but nothing happened. Later that day I realized that my pricey windbreaker winter hat was also missing out of my bag.

Long story short: If you're going on the canyon tour in a blue van ... don't let your guard down for a second.