Returning to civilisation

Trip Start Apr 05, 2008
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Trip End Mar 20, 2009


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Where I stayed
Hotel Munay
(Salta hotels)

Flag of Argentina  , Northern Argentina,
Friday, October 31, 2008

Taking a bus from Tupiza to get to the Argentinean border was certainly an experience. Roads in Bolivia are poor at best but this is the first experience where the road was through a river. At 4am it was still pitch black traveling along a narrow dirt road with enough ruts in it to shake your fillings free. We successfully crossed through the river five times before the bus broke down but fortunately it appears here that the qualifications to be a driver are not only that you can drive but also you need to be a mechanic with a full arsonary of nuts, bolts and other such useful parts. 20 minutes later we were back on the road and soon enough the border was in sight. A pretty non-eventful entry into Argentina and itfs not exactly a flagship welcome with barely a smile on the locals faces and the dregs of society lurking, some already with beer in hand (barely 9am). A few minutes of panic as we found out our bus tickets are not actual tickets, just vouchers, overpaid for to boot, and it took some time to locate the person who can actually issue us with real passes for the bus Plaza 9 Julio
Plaza 9 Julio
 . A boy looking barely older than 12 tried to tell us that we would have to wait for the 11am bus rather than the 9am bus leaving now but quickly started to run to get it sorted when I looked like I was going to ring his neck. 7 hours later pulling into the bus station of Salta was a breath of fresh air. The city is green, paved and screams that wefre back in civilisation. Needing to stretch our legs we ditched out bags and explored the city sampling along the way superb coffee. Salta has a distinctly European feel and we immediately loved being here and exploring all ites wonders by foot. There are so many stunning Colonial style buildings, open green squares completed by the warm Spring air. Plus Ems and I have been enjoying window shopping in shoe shops as it's like Spain and every second shop is shoes or handbags, just not such a bargain price, hence the ewindowf shopping only. We spent a fantastic evening in the Balcarce area sampling many local wines, excellent local food and enjoying the summer like feel in the air. Obviously we sampled a few too many local wines as we needed a very laid back day the following day, our excuse of course was that it was raining. We all felt better though just by looking at Kingsley who had given it a bigger nudge than the rest of us wanting our quest of sampling local wines and beers to never end. We took in a whistle stop city tour of Salta on an open top tourist bus where it was only the four of us so the driver stopped only as long as we needed. We went up the cable car to the summit of Cerro San Bernard for views over the city and decided that Salta looks at itfs best from ground level but the gardens and waterfalls at the summit level were well worth the visit. Feeling Empanadafd out (thatfs their local specialty here although itfs called a Saltena) we were feeling human again and ready to further explore the wines of Mendoza.
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