No need to call the authorities--I am safe!

Day 26: Currently in Salta, Argentina. I arrived late last night. One thing to note for travellers: the city appears to be exceedingly safe! In every other city in South America, as soon as you enter a bus terminal, a million sketchy cabs (US euphemism for illegitimate cabs) immediately solicit your business. Here, it´s like any American airport! Good old Argentina. There´s a queue for cabs and everyone proceeds one by one to get on legit cabs. Very impressive! I arrived at my hostel safe and sound without much ado.

So Salta is a lovely city--or at least, it appears like it could be if it weren´t for the damned non-stop torrential down pour. I am currently seeking refuge in this internet cafe (slowest computers evah), completely and utterly drenched. I also did some accounting and I am currently way over budget at about $70/day (not including airfares). I don´t know where the money went but I am definitely not going to last very long on my travels at this rate. One thing is for sure, Salta is infinitely more affordable than San Pedro and we´re back to the 3-$1usd exchange rate which I find much more preferable than $460-$1usd in Chile. (DAMN IT USD! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! ANOTHER INTEREST RATE CUT! AHHH! As each day passes, everytime I withdrawl money, it costs more USDs. Ugh).

I was originally planning on spending some time here in Salta but given the rain, I think I´ll get out of here early. I´m going to look into getting a night bus out of here to Buenos Aires tomorrow and in the meantime find indoor activities to do. So sad. No horseback riding yet :(

I will also add that the bus ride from San Pedro to Salta, while incredibly expensive (far more than the quoted $45USD in my guidebook ed. 2008), was gorgeous and also quite comfy. It´s absolutely true that the busses in Argentina are the best in South America. They´re so good in fact that I´m looking forward to a picturesque ride from Salta to BA tomorrow or whenever I leave (17+ hours woohoo!).

Anyway, I was going to post a more substantial update but the slow internet and my laziness is preventing me from doing so. Next time, folks. Maybe. Here are a few photos from the bus ride SPdA to Salta.


Desert.


Salt Lake. (No Salar d´Uyuni, Bolivia but I did get a taste of what it´s like. Gorgeous stuff, huh?)


From desert to mountains. Enter the clouds. Enter the non-stop rain in Salta.


Travel Tips, What to bring--another edition:

- In my attempt to pack light, I heeded the advice of websites to only bring one pair of outdoorsy pants and some tights. Boy do I regret not bringing jeans! They may be heavy, hard to dry, and all in all a pain, but seriously I really want to look somewhat normal for just one day! Sigh. Now I pass every store arching my head trying to get a sense of a jean selection.

- Also in my attempt to pack light, I did not bring flip flops as websites suggested just to get them here and toss them as they get wrecked. Should have brought my Reefs. Not only are they more comfy, they´re quality and hard to wreck. Besides, the flip flops I´ve purchased so far are pretty fugly and not as cheap as you´d think ($6 in Ecuador, $1.50 in Peru=two ugly pairs of flip flops).


Other Things, Postcards:

- I know I said I would send postcards to some of you. Yes, I still have your addresses, but like... where are the post offices? Plus I don´t know the Spanish word for post office. I actually have the physical postcards to send too!!! They´ll come, eventually. No, seriously. If you never sent me your address and want a postcard, email me doods.