Blogs from Salta, Salta, Argentina, South America - page 8

Do you like Ham and Cheese? Then you have to go to Argentina because it is all you are going to be eating once you´ve gorged on steak! To illustrate, when we arrived at Iguazu and visited the restauraunt (built to cater for the thousands of visitors from all over the world they have every day) there were 8 choices on the menu. With no exaggeration 7 of them were subtly different varieties of ham and cheese sandwiches... very subtle. If you go in a pizzeria your choices are ham, cheese, or ham and cheese, and the Empanadas (little Pasties not unlike mini Calzones) have the same array of choices. Anyway, ham and cheese empanadas in hand we headed over to the falls and were not disappointed. (which given that it had taken us around 19 ... read more

I woke up to brilliant sunlight streaming in through the window of the coach this morning, having spent twenty three hours in transit from Puerto Iguazú. We left the thick forests of Northern Argentina behind us and had passed through rolling countryside with the mountains in the distance. I had prepared for the trip last night by cooking a couple of hamburgers and fried eggs to keep me going, even though I had been fed at regular intervals by the coach company. Once in the Omnibus terminal in Salta, I fought my way past the hordes of people trying to drum up business for their hostels to get to the information point. El Argentino Hostel had given me very clear instructions for how to get there from the bus terminal, and all I needed to know ... read more

After leaving the beautiful Cafayate behind, we headed towards Salta. We stayed at the quite nice somewhat contorted hostel "Backpackers Salta" which had multiple roof terraces, one of which we could see from our dorm as well as a garden with a pool. As a novelty, the hostel offered a free dinner which we took part in for the three nights of our stay. The food was not that exciting but it gave us a variety to our routine of cooking pasta everyday. As most Argentinan cities, Salta has a very nice main square with palmtrees, surrounded by white washed colonial houses and a very pretty pink cathedral. We did a little sightseeing but unfortunately for us, Argentina's presidential election was on the sunday we were in town and the few things that are usually open ... read more

Tina Writes First night in Salta we had a wee look around the main square, which was very pretty. They are very good at lighting up their buildings here. We had to eat and as there is no sign of a supermarket anywhere and with cheap steak to be had, that is what we did. We are not doing well with the backpacker budget so far, but there is very little in the way of cheap, easy to cook, food. So we both ordered steak with a side. I ordered papas a la crème, which I guessed was potatoes in cream and Rob ordered something which he thought was some kind veg but it turned out to be apple sauce! I also ordered my usual coke and it came in a 1 litre GLASS bottle. You ... read more

photos from the first post photos for this post Shortly after I left you last time, I travelled up to the Iguazu waterfalls. After my last day of Spanish school a couple of guys who were also heading to Iguazu but on a different bus came out to grab a quick lunch. Lunch consisted of empanadas, the staple snack of Argentina and (apparently) South America. With either a meat or cheese centre, they are wrapped in pastry and either baked or fried. So I got 4 of these with Emerson and Mari, with an eye on the time as I had about 45 minutes until my bus was due to leave. 15 minutes later we jumped into a cab which turned round the corner into deadlock traffic. For a while... read more