Take note of the time change
Trip Start
Oct 16, 2008
1
9
35
Trip End
Apr 16, 2009
Salta,
Northern Argentina,
Argentina
Friday, November 21, 2008
After taking our time settling in and washing off the grime of an overnight bus journey, we headed down to the main square for a bite and to check out Salta's famous colourful churches (which if you ask me look like great big candy easter eggs). We went the whole hog and ate an enormous meal at a sidewalk cafe in the square, and while there I lost count of the number of people that came up to our table trying to sell us stuff or ask for money/food. At the time all I could think was I'm glad I'm not travelling with Amy Lamoin or this town would bankrupt me. The one thing we did buy was a bag of coca leaves, just to check out what they were like. The old guy that sold them to us didn't have the right change so disappeared for a few minutes, we thought he was gone for sure, with double the asking price in his pocket. But sure enough he came back with the change and tapped Blair on the shoulder with a big grin on his face as though he knew what we were thinking. We also got to observe some pretty dodgy money changing stuff going on in the cloisters of one of the buildings, saw a young guy buy six American dollars (that's right, six) and the whole transaction was very dramatic, lots of toing and froing and looking over shoulders, taking about 10 minutes in all. For six dollars.
At one corner of the square stood the old town hall, all whitewashed and cloistered in its colonial style, and the area outside it was abuzz with music and dancing in various traditional styles. We learned that this weekend there would be a folklore festival in Salta, with musicians and dancers from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay participating. Today's displays were just a taster, but we stood for about half an hour in the baking sun and watched Paraguay and Chile strut their stuff.
Siesta time! The one thing we all love about the overnight bus is the guaranteed siesta the next day. After a lovely nap we packed up our swimming gear and headed to another hostel owned by the same people, where there is a pool and a bar and lots more people. Dinner was included in the price of our room and we were looking forward to a swim and a couple of cold drinks before the 10pm hamburgers we were promised. Well, the swim was fine, the drinks were cold, but by 11pm, when no dinner had yet materialised, we staggered starving back to our hostel and ate some crackers and an apple in the room. On the way in I had a few choice words to say to the girl at reception about having to put my son to bed hungry, but strangely she didn't seem to understand why I was so upset.
The next day we had to sort out a rental car and/or a tour so we could do what Andy has dubbed "The Salta Eight". Blair went out to investigate our options and rushed back with quotes so that we could make a decision before everything shut down for siesta. While at the rental car place, he noticed the time on the clock on the guy's computer differed from that on his own watch, and when we were rushing back to their office to book the car for pickup the following day, it dawned on me that some provinces of Argentina don't have daylight saving. I was filled with dread as I realised that I had yelled at that poor girl the night before for no reason at all .... it had only been 10pm, not 11. Oh no. No wonder she was shocked by my diatribe. Needless to say, that afternoon I made an effort to apologise for my rudeness (in Spanish, I might add) and we were soon friends again. But I made sure that my comment card at the end of our stay included something about telling people arriving from the south about the time difference (as though it's their responisibility, ha!).
Blair and Patrick took in another swim in an attempt to cool down in the sweltering afternoon while I headed back into the centre to get all our photos copied on to DVD (successfullly this time). I had a few other little successes too, picked up a new string for Patrick's hat at a crazy craft store and also bought him a pair of swimming goggles (all in Spanish too - I rock). Dinner at the hostel and a big sleep, ready for the next four days ... The Salta Eight!
