I'll salt ya in Salta!

Well, after an eventful trip up north, I am back in my apartment in BA! The adventure started Friday evening, taking the subte down to Retiro, where the bus station is located, in the pouring rain with all of our stuff was not the most pleasant of experiences, but the hope of warm, dry weather in Salta kept me going! After walking through ankle deep water we made it to the bus station and waited in the area where our bus was going to pull in at 845. Well, 845 comes and goes and no sign of our bus or our bus being listed on the schedule. We discovered that it was delayed, but would be here. At around 945 our bus roles in, we get on and into our seats. My only other overnight bus experience was to Mendoza in early July. We had large, leather seats that almost fully reclined. So the smaller, cloth, sea-foam green seats that didn't recline as much was a bit of a change, but hey, that's what you get when you are looking for the cheapest way to get from Point A to Point B. So at 945 we started what we thought would be a 20 hour bus ride, but turned into a 24 hour bus ride. Yep, an ENTIRE day of my life spent on a bus at one time, doesn't sound too bad, right? They feed you, play some terrible U.S. movies, you get to reflect on life, catch up on sleep, get sick, bus break down...wait, what?? Yep, not only did I get sick on the bus (thank goodness for that tiny bathroom!) but we broke down for about an hour plus. Once we finally arrived in Salta it was the next night and we didn't have much time to do anything but grab a quick dinner at the mall down the street! Woot, food court! It was cheapy and I got a choripan sandwich...this is the sweet sausages they have on some bread. I love them and usually have no issue stomaching them, but I guess I was still sick because let's just say the poor cactus outside our hostel room got an unpleasant surprise in the middle of the night, oops!

I made the difficult choice of not taking the excursion into Jujuy and the northern mountains of Salta. Probably for the best considering I was in bed, still sick until about 4 p.m. that day. I finally had some energy so I took a walk out to the main plaza of the city. It was really gorgeous and reminded me of Sevilla with the orange trees lining the plaza. I wandered into the two main churches and because it was Sunday evening, there was a mass taking place. I headed back to the hostel, stopped at a farmacia that was open, and explained to the pharmacist that my stomach was hurting and he gave me a mystery pill and some ibuprofen, I told him I didn't need any, but he swore that I did. After paying the equivalent of 3 bucks for the meds I went back to the hostel took the meds and took a nap. I woke up and the girls were back from the day! I was finally feeling better and we headed back to the food court for another inexpensive dinner. I settled for plain noodles and slept through the night with no visitations to the poor cactus outside our room :)

Monday was our day to relax and explore Salta! 

Here are some fast facts: 

• Salta means jump in Spanish!
  
• Salta capitol has about half a million residents
  
• Salta had an earthquake the same day this year as Chile, but because it wasn't as big it didn't make much news
  
• Salta is located in the Lerma Valley of Argentina
  
• The mountains that surround it are considered a part of the Andes
  
• The most popular foods are locro, a type of stew with a hunk of meat still on the bone, white beans, and corn; empanadas which are some of the best in Argentina; and, corn tamales! 

Anywho, the day started off by enjoying some daily delivered bread in the hostel and then heading to the main plaza! We walked around a bit, then Steph and I decided to find the start of the cable car to get up to the large hill or Cerro that is in Salta. The top of Cerro San Bernadino can be reached by walking, but we thought the cable car would be much more fun--and it was! We floated over the city and up the hill like Willy Wonka, minus the chocolate. When we got off at the top, we explored the artificial waterfalls, the beautiful gardens, the statue of San Bernadino, and of course, the beautiful views of Salta! We descended the cerro and met up with the other girls in Plaza Guemes right by the base of the cerro. There was a large celebration Wednesday which was the culmination of a pilgrimage that people from all over the province and even as far as Bolivia had walked to get to Salta. The reason is because it is the area's Saint day and there was a huge procession and gathering of people the whole week leading up to it. We walked back to the main plaza and began to see some of the people who had arrived in Salta. Hotels, hostels, and private residences offered up space for the people who had walked so far. It was a great community thing to see! We had a nice lunch outside in the warm sun and then Steph and I continued shopping around Salta. Unfortunately, they take siesta pretty seriously so all of the shops were closed. We walked around, went to the mall which was open and then went back over to the smaller boutiques. We stopped in a bakery and each got small treats and as we were walking down the street, a guy selling baked goods in a basket told Steph in Spanish that what she was eating would make her fat, but what he was selling wouldn't. I assured her he was crazy. 

At the top of the cerro in Salta

Tuesday morning we woke up really early to get picked up for the excursion down to Cafayate. There were some Brits doing the tour with us. We made frequent stops at little towns, natural creations, and pretty views along the way. The mountains were absolutely gorgeous. The Grand Canyon is probably the only thing that beat it but the gorge that we drove through to get to Cafayate was absolutely incredible. The mountains were a variety of colors because of the different chemicals and minerals that were in the rock. Our guide explained to us that all of the gorge used to be under the ocean YEARSSSSS ago, it was crazy to believe but I know evolutionarily speaking, it's true. The rock was very soft and many fossils have been found in the gorge, hence why it is named Conchas, meaning shells in Spanish. The mountains were just absolutely unreal and it seemed that there were so many different types and I was never bored looking out the window or stopping at different landmarks. 

Tres Cruces on the drive to Cafayate

We finally got to Cafayate and went to a winery! The winery was newer but had delicious wines! They were torrontes and had a very fruity, yet dry flavor. I loved it! Afterwards, we were given some free time to have lunch and see some of the 12,000 population 'city.' I tried some of the locra, which is the local stew that I was writing about. It wasn't bad, but there was very little flavor to the soup. I enjoyed the Salta beer much more :) It was medium in color but had a really salty taste! Just kidding... After lunch we were back in the van and on to the other winery. This one was much older but had similar wines. We tasted a red and a white and once again, both were delicious! The dry air and sandy dirt makes for good wine! We drove the four hours back to Salta and then headed out to one of Trip Advisor's top 10 restaurants in Salta which was just down the street from the hostel. They had delicious steak, great milanesas and excellent wine! It was extremely cheap, too! Even cheaper than BA! After dinner, we went back to the hostel for a bit then headed out for a late ice cream snack. On our way down the street, something very strange, or maybe not so strange happened. I was walking one or two steps ahead of the five of us and the light had just changed to red so we started to cross the street. Except, as soon as we crossed a guy on his moped decided to keep going through the light, slow down, and as far as I could tell he was going to try to steal my bag. This was going to be difficult considering it was a satchel bag and across my body, so if he did get it I was going with it. Luckily, I knew what he was going to do so I moved my bag around to my back and instead of snatching the bag he punched me in the stomach. What the eff? Some dude decides it's cool to punch me in the stomach? I was just shocked more than scared, I mean it could have been much worse, he could have been holding a knife to cut the bag off of me, but fortunately, no harm done! 

We were leaving at 1 in the afternoon on Wednesday but Steph and I really wanted to get to the MAAM, the museum in the main plaza that houses three Incan children that are perfectly preserved because they were frozen in the ice thousands of years ago. I checked the website the night before and it said that it would be open, even on holidays. We soaked up the sun in the plaza and as soon as it was 11 a.m, opening time, we walked over to the museum door. There were other tourists standing around, waiting but no open door or anyone inside the museum. After about 20 minutes I asked a nearby police officer if he knew anything. Of course, he walks over, reads the sign with the hours on it and says to me 'I guess it will open tomorrow because it isn't open today.' Wow, thanks. That was such helpful advice! So, realizing that the religious celebration was going to keep it from opening, we walked to the bus station, had a farewell empanada and got on the bus for another 20 hour bus ride back to BA. All in all, Salta was a great trip, minus getting sick. It was so neat to see an entirely different part of the country. Argentina is so large and it amazes me that there are huge mountain ranges, glaciers, rainforests with waterfalls, major cities, lakes, and all sorts of animals all within the same country, and really just a day of driving away! I'll be enjoying BA and the first week of Spring here but the following weekend I'm off to Iguazu to see the waterfalls that border with Brasil! Miss you all tons!