Salta, Argentina

The differences between Bolivia and Argentina were immediately apparent in Salta with trendy cafés, boutiques and supermarkets popping up, and the disappearance of traditional dress in the crowds. There is also the return of McDonalds (Bolivia is the only country to bankrupt McDonalds because local food is so much cheaper) which we celebrated accordingly. We also came back down to earth with a bang as we remembered that Bolivia prices are not the norm - budgets start today! 

We stayed in Backpackers Suite and Bar, which is the first place that I'm going to say I do not recommend. The accommodation was fine and the location was good but the staff were so unhelpful that it bordered on being nasty and was totally unnecessary. 

We had hoped to do a tour that takes you outside of Salta along the Tren de Los Nubes (Train of the Clouds) route, past the Rainbow Mountain and on to Salinas Grandes Salt Flats. Unfortunately all of these tours were booked and we resigned to the fact that we are not supposed to see ANY Salt Flats on this trip!

Instead, we decided to spend the day exploring Salta for ourselves, but we didn't realise just how seriously Salta takes its siesta. The whole town basically shuts down from 1pm until about 5pm, which made exploring a little difficult. We made the most of it with lots of people watching and cups of tea to warm us up - did I mention it was "uncharacteristically" FREEZING the entire time we were there?! 

We did however get to visit the incredible MAMA museum which is home to a one-of-a-kind exhibit. 

In 1999, close to the summit of Mount Llullaillaco, the mummies of 3 children were discovered. These children were sacrificed by the Incas as part of a religious ceremony, up so high that they were already close to the gods. They were from noble families and chosen for their exceptional physical beauty, and it was thought that they would go straight from this life to the next. They trekked to the summit of the volcano where they took part in religious ceremonies and were given alcohol to drink until they fell asleep. Then, they were buried alive with their toys and trinkets. They froze to death as they slept, and 500 years later still look like sleeping children, not mummies. The snow and the thin air on top of the volcano preserved them perfectly. Their skin, physical features and clothes are still intact, there was even blood still present in their heart and lungs 500 years later.

The museum only displays one mummy at a time, as well as the offerings that were found along with them. We saw the body of "the boy", who looked like he would wake up at any minute. 

The next day we made like the locals and spend the day on an authentic ranch in the hills, with a company called Cabalgatas Gauchas. This was definitely the highlight of Salta as we spent the day horse riding in the mountains with incredible views... and a slightly crazy Gaucho! 

We came back to the ranch and had a mouthwatering BBQ where we finally got to sample some famous Argentinian steak and red wine - hands down the best meal I've had in South America and looking forward to more of it! 

Our gaucho drove us back to our hostel through a different area of Salta with beautiful houses and parks and I started to get a glimpse into what the guide books talk about when they describe the beauty of the region. But just when I was getting a taste for Salta, it was time to leave (on the longest bus we've braved so far: 20 hours, eek). 

Next stop: Mendoza 

Crossing the Border: Tarija, Bolivia - Salta, Argentina

Even though we were disappointed about missing the Salt Flats, we had a really great few days in La Paz and had a chance to, em, let our hair down before boarding our flight to Tarija. We knew absolutely nothing about Tarija, it was simply recommended by the girl in the Amazonas Office as a good place to cross the border to Salta. 

It turns out that Tarija a really pretty and scorching hot holiday spot for wealthy Bolivians and Argentinians - it kind of reminded me of The Hamptons. It's best known for its vineyards but we didn't opt to do a tour as we will be in Mendoza soon and will have plenty of time for wine tasting there. Instead, we ate ice creams in the sun, ran away from pigeons in the square and visited Casa Dorada, which is the building on the 20Boliviano bank note. 

Tarija has lots of fancy hotels but we stayed in possibly the town's only hostel, called Casa Blanca. The guy at reception could not do enough to help us and the rooms were nice and cosy. It was a bit loud at night with the road just outside the window and people playing music, but it was definitely a good night's sleep compared to what was ahead of us the night after...

We had no idea how to go about getting across the border to Argentina and then on to Salta by ourselves, so we found a company online called Red Dragon who look after the whole trip for 250Bolivianos. After we found the office and booked our ticket, we read a few bad reviews about Red Dragon online and freaked out slightly. But we had been on 10 hour busses in Bolivia with no air con or toilets - how bad could it be? 

We were pleasantly surprised when we were picked up by a really modern bus and a driver who asked us to put on our seatbelts (yes, it had seatbelts, imagine!). After about 4 hours we arrived to the Bolivian checkpoint and were stamped out of the country, got back on the bus and drove 1k down the road to the Argentinian checkpoint and got stamped into that country. But when we went to get back on our lovely bus the driver was taking all of our stuff off it and loading it into... a Renault Clio. Our new driver was the spitting-image of Hurley from Lost and had a mouthful of coca leaves in his mouth so large that we couldn't understand a word he said. 

So now there was Hurley and an old Bolivian lady in the front, Karen, me and a woman with a baby in the back and all of our stuff somehow squashed in the the tiny boot. It was not comfortable. 

Hurley drove for about 10 minutes before pulling over and making us all get out on the side of the road where 3 Argentinian guards were waiting. As we stood watching him pull everything out of the boot (even the baby looked at him like he was crazy), I gave myself an internal pep talk that went something like this:

"Right, this is it Emma. It was bound to happen at some stage, you're in South America. We have to bribe these guards or we'll never get our stuff back. Crap I can't speak Spanish. Ok ok I've got this"...

Turned out we had a flat tyre. 

And the guards were really nice and gave us a jack and let us use their bathroom. Scarlet for me. 

Throughout the rest of the night we would learn that Hurley has a penchant for power-ballads, we would be stopped by guards and asked to get out of the car and open our bags 2 times, stop for gas and have to get out of the car 3 times, and I would be head-butted by a Bolivian baby (but just the once). 

We arrived in Salta at about 7am and I realised how much I have changed in just 7 weeks of travelling South America, because, all in all, I'd actually consider that journey quite the success! 

I'd still recommend Red Dragon despite their bad reviews, they should just make it clearer that you will have to change cars because some people looked quite frightened and didn't know what was going on. The rest is beyond their control really.