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Published: November 15th 2009
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the past few days have been quiet and relaxing. 2 days ago i went alone into town to make phone calls and stock up on groceries again, then spent the afternoon packing and watching old movies on t.v.
yesterday we flew from bariloche to salta. all flights in argentina connect via buenos aires so we had 2 flights, about 2 hours each yesterday. malaya was good with the travel this time although she only got a 15 minute nap and was a touch cranky. she did fall asleep in the cab on the way to the airport but it was so cold and windy outside that she didn´t stay asleep on the transfer from the cab to the terminal. you win some you lose some.
we arrived in salta last night around 8 p.m. on the drive to the backpackers soul hostel in the taxi i noticed that salta seems a bit of a dodgy city, certainly our location downtown looks like the kind of place where you wouldnt want to walk alone at night. i could be wrong about that since it has been safe here so far. i just dont have the greatest vibe about this city.
i should explain that salta is the most northern province in argentina. the area is known for its history of jesuit misionaries settling here.
our hostel is a dump. there is no other way to put it. upon arrival in our room i could not help but notice the heat. this is nothing to do with the hostel but believe me it is sooooooooooo hot here and the place only has a ceiling fan. it took us 2 hours to find the switch for the stupid ceiling fan. the thing sounds like it has a bag of marbles in it ' clunk clunk thud thud. unreal. there is also a bar in the hostel and the music is so loud our room shakes. also, i discovered we have no towels. the hostel is out of towels. the lady at the front did phone another hostel and by 11 p.m. they brought us 2 towels. i told mark today that if i get herpes it is not because i cheated on him.....it is from the towels here. i was wrong to take the white one...if you can call that filth white. i should have taken the 1970´s pink one.
the shower is interesting. you cannot use any hot water. even a tiny bit of hot water in the shower is so hot it would blister your skin. this means only cold showers. i´m not sure if i will bother to bath malaya in this tonight even if she is sweaty from this heat. i think we shall wait for the next destination. okay back to this shower. the water runs in one very thin line about 1 or 2 cm from the wall. what you need to do is wash, then lean up against the disgusting wall to get some water for the rinse. so gross.
last night at the airport we tried to rent a car and were told all the cars at the airport are gone. today we walked downtown to the car rental district and none have cars today. luckily we found a place that is going to rent us a car tomorrow for the next week. i have to tell you i was absolutely panicked that we came all this way and could not get a car. the thing to do in salta is rent a car and see the province. there were other
people walking up the streets with us trying to get a car. we got lucky and found a place before the masses did.
we spent the rest of the morning walking around the town square. malaya was having a very good time chasing the pigeons there. she would not stop laughing. we also went into a very large church. i dont know what it is called...again i have no guide book.
oh we went to our first restaurant today. it was very nice and not very expensive. for about 15 dollars we ordered 2 quarter chicken dinners, fries, large bottle of water and beer. they brought out bread and 3 dips, one was spicy salsa, another was some pickle mix that i didnt try and the third was a dill dip. for the first time malaya tried dipping and now she is obsessed with dipping her food. she took a spoon and ate the dill dip with it. i would try to stop her from doing it but she screamed at me. lets say she really likes dill dip.
this afternoon we plan to walk up the street to the next hostel to use their pool. we
check out tomorrow and i cannot wait to get out of this dump.
the week ahead should be amazing. we are going to fly by the seat of our pants. i haven´t even booked any hotels. we plan to drive around, stop for sightseeing and meals and then get a hotel wherever we stop. what i know about our journey through jesuit country is that the scenery is great, there are salt flats, mountain drives, volcanos, ruins, old villages, vinyards, a place called 7 colour mountain, and roadside artisans. i´m really looking forward to is. i think having a car for the week will make things easier on us with the baby and i also look forward to that luxury.
i shall now try and attach a few photos of malaya and the pigeons and the church we saw today.
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Audrey
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Holy Guacamole
Holy Guacamole. Maybe those mini towels may not have been a bad idea afterall. I say if it doesn't seem right, get out of Dodge. It may only be a seedy downtown.