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Published: July 15th 2009
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After bidding our sad farewells to Bolivia we still had to endure the coldest bus journey in the world to reach the typically shabby and horrid border town of La Quiaca, and possibly the coldest 20 minute walk ever, being harrangued by huge Bolivian women reeking of Coca leaves trying to sell us bus tickets to apparently anywhere we desired to go. After fending them off and a small amount of confusion as to where we needed to go to enter Argentina, (Spanish is much harder to understand when every man and their dog are wearing unnecessary swine flu masks, its as if the Daily Mail has infiltrated South America) we were met by a distinctly frosty border guard who seemingly begrudgingly stamped us in and when they tried to search our bags were met by such fullness that they gave up with a classic Latin shrug and waved us through.
We arrived at the bus terminal on the (only slightly less shabby) Argentinian side and were met by a sight that almost brought us to tears...... A bus, a big one, a warm one, one with no livestock on it, the rumours were true, the dream had been realised
we had arrived in Argentina!!!!!
We went in our new found luxury to a small little town a few hours south called Humahuaca where there was little to do but it broke up our journey to Salta, a pretty place filled with mulleted artisan type people selling very well made items (the mullet and dodgy clothing is a uniform for those who turn ordinary metal items into wearable jewellery). After one day there we set off to Salta of which we had high hopes, these hopes were to be proved very well founded as we found ourselves in a gorgeous, relaxed city where although mid winter, you could sit and watch the world go by over a (well made) coffee on the plaza, how European. We also met up with our friend from Colombia Rachael who has managed to get herself a film director boyfriend and is vowing to never leave Salta, which she cannot be blamed for.
After a day there Tom´s girlfriend arrived and while she slept off a touch of jet lag we went out for dinner with a few people we had met on our trip who randomly all happened to be in Salta.
We found a great place where champagne was served on arrival and the waiters looked like they had been drafted in by The Ritz, all of us were distinctly under dressed and looked like we shouldn´t have been allowed into such a wonderous place. We sat down to peruse the menu thinking the worst for our measly dining budgets..... We were pleasantly shocked to see that for around 5 pounds one could have a fillet steak stuffed (yes stuffed) with fois gras, with a side of potatoes. A great bottle of red for 3 pounds and we were away, and it was not long before the whole table were toasting this amazing country (much to the hilarity of the waiting staff) and thanking the lord of travel that we had come from Bolivia to Argentina instead of the other way round.
Once the woozy hangover of the next day had cleared and Hannah (Tom´s lady) had got over her tiredness we looked into renting a car for a few days and exploring the province and surrounding areas. We found a great deal on a little car and left the following day. Now driving in Argentina requires a certain amount
of calmness behind the wheel (of which I am not blessed), and although the horn is not the prominent tool used as it seems to be in the rest of the continent, neither are the indicators used or speed limits followed and franky most people on the road are maniacs. Despite of this we had an awesome four days driving round the incredible scenery of the northern part of the country and saw some great little places on the way including Cafayate where once again Tom got on a horse to give Hannah the opportunity to do some excellent horse riding in the gorgeous setting of the valley.
On our return to Salta we relaxed some more in the beautiful weather (I cannot believe they call it winter here!!) and met up and said goodbye to Rachael who is remaining in Salta with her director man boyfriend indefinitely. It is at this point where he informed us that in Argentina a driving licence costs a mere 3 pounds and no test is required to prove you can actually drive, this news suddenly explained the mayhem and insanity on the roads, and although I cannot be sure if such a
thing could be true it is at least plausible. However what they don´t do well with roads and cars they certainly make up for it in Beef and wine (you will never see a cow in this country as they are all dutifully either on a grill or being made into some great looking shoes).
With sadness we left Salta but with the mouth watering prospects of Mendoza, wine country, vineyards and the malbec grape weighing on our minds......
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