Salta

Salta

We finally made it to Argentina!  We had our friendly driver, Andres, take us through the very last part of southern Bolivia, which was so beautiful. It just got more and more green and lush as we went farther south, since we were dropping in altitude. We said good bye to Andres at the border & got our stamps, then finally found a taxi who would take us to Oran, where we could then get a bus to Salta.

It was amazing to observe the difference in the land as soon as we crossed into Argentina. Suddenly the jungle-like mountains leveled off and it was just flat, beautiful farmland full of orange groves, sugar cane fields, etc. Clearly this was the prime farmland, and poorer Bolivia was left with jungle mountains when they were dividing things up!  Also it was immediately noticeable that we were in a much more developed country. The roads were very good, and there were street lamps everywhere - hadn't seen those in a long time!

Salta is a beautiful city (supposedly the most beautiful city in Argentina according to a couple books, but who decides that?) It is big, about 1 million people, and has tons of lovely squares or plazas and really impressively clean streets lined with very old Sycamore trees. 

We got into the city late, and as we were driving in our taxi to the hostel, we saw folks running. It's been so long since I have seen anyone purposely exercising, that for a second I got scared and thought they were being chased!  

The next day we walked all over the city, exploring the historical center and then walking all the way out to the artisanal market where there are tons of artists selling silver jewelry, leather goods, beautiful shawls and other items made from alpaca hair, woven fabrics, bags, paintings, pretty much everything you can imagine. 

That night we made ourselves some spaghetti primavera and a big salad. We have been craving some fresh veggies and a meal that doesn't center around large amounts of salty meat.  Not that we haven't enjoyed the food, we absolutely have, but they are not big on fresh veggies here.  

The hostel where we stayed was very nice and owned by a family with a son, Matthias, in his early 20s. He is studying English and asked if we'd like to come with him to his class. It was such fun!  It's a group of young people - all around 18-25 - who are taking an intensive English course. They go to class from 9-11pm Monday through Friday. We were seated in the front of the class, facing everyone.  They had a lot of fun asking us all sorts of questions.  What were American people like? What was the weather like in NC? What was our typical food like in NC?  That was funny to try to explain BBQ, slaw & sweet iced tea. I don't know if they believed us about the tea. Some of the guys had heard of the rivalry between UNC & Duke's basketball teams and needed to know who we pulled for. I think we disappointed them a bit there, since neither of us cares much. It was such fun, and we invited them all to come visit us in NC if they ever came to the US. I better have sweet tea ready when they get there. 

The next day Jonathan bought a fabulous used Nikon camera, that is really nice, so he is back to taking pictures!  We took the teleferica (cable car) up the big hill on the edge of the city. It is a beautiful ride up, and  at the top there's a lovely park with lots of lookouts over the city. Great practice for Jonathan's new camera. Also at the top was a sort of gym, with stationary bikes for a spinning class and machines for weight training. Apparently it's a popular workout to run or bike up the hill, pump some iron, and run or bike back down. You know you're in a developed country when there's a spin class at the top of the mountain!

We walked back down the hill into the city and spent the rest of the afternoon reading, researching our next stops and cooking another healthy dinner. We had a bus that night that would take us to Mendoza, our next stop. 

Mendoza is known for its wine. It is the biggest city in the state of Mendoza, which exports huge amounts of wine all over the world. Malbecs are what they are most famous for, but there are also a lot of Cabernets, Merlots, some Syrahs, and many white wines as well. 

The bus ride to Mendoza turned out to be 18 hours, so we didn't get in until after 3 in the afternoon. We met a really nice woman on the bus who is from Texas, and we shared a cab into the city with her and then ended up staying in a 5 person dorm room with her as well, since it's the only thing we could find. 

The 3 of us headed out that evening in search of good steak, since that's the other thing Mendoza (and Argentina in general) is known for. A buffet place had been recommended to us, so we went and checked it out. They cook the meat in a really cool way. They have a kind of giant, iron Lazy Susan, with all sort of cuts  of meat and sausages spread out on it, and there are a few openings where the chef can put fresh, hot coals underneath and then spin the whole wheel around to give certain meats more or less heat.  We ate way, way too much and then waddled back to our hostel. 

The next morning we said goodbye to Brittney and headed into Maipu, it's a smaller suburb of Mendoza, where there are tons of vineyards. I read online about a great campground there, so that is our first destination.  Then our plan is to rent bikes and start touring the vineyards of the area. Can't wait!!