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Finally in Salta! Arriving early in the morning feels normal already. We thought to be effective and go to buy the next tickets right away and then there was a big surprise again. "We have a bus strike, so we don't know anything about the buses." Buses from Salta to Iquique go only on Fridays and now it was Thursday… We just have to wait and see what happens.
What I knew about Salta before was that it is a beautiful city and also a bit more touristic. We had heard a lot of positive comments about the city and we were looking forward to see it ourselves. Salta had no real bigger sights, but lots of plazas, churches and pedestrian streets. The city seemed to have a historic feeling with all the buildings and I also had the feeling of a more touristic place straight away. Even though there were lots of people selling stuff, people performing next to the main plaza and the same kind of feeling than being in Madrid or Milan, the city had a really nice atmosphere and it was beautiful.
Pedestrian streets were full of people and you were able to buy all kinds of snacks on the streets. We visited a big market place, smaller market with handicrafts and some really old building that represented the culture and nature of Salta. Salta had nice cafes, big supermarkets and many tourist agencies. I loved the fact that Salta was surrounded by beautiful mountains and the weather started to be also warmer.
In the afternoon, besides trying to solve the ticket mess, we took a cable car to the view point on top of the mountain. Once again we were able to notice how some logistic improvement would make things so much easier. We were not in a hurry, but it felt weird to queue for the cable car about 1,5 hours. First they had a huge queue to the ticket office and another queue to the cable car itself. It is hard to describe how it was a huge mess, but it definitely was, haha.
Views from the top were amazing! It was surprising how big Salta actually was and how small area people actually see in the city center. Funny thing on the top was also an outdoor gym and how people really had come there to show how athlete they are, or try to be. Good entertainment!
During the day we found out that we have a plan B if the bus to Iquique won't depart on schedule. In the evening they still didn't know anything and the bus was supposed to leave Salta 7am. Late in the evening we decided that there is no point in going to the station again at midnight but we just take the plan B and go through Calama and by the next tickets there. The bus company said that there are 10 companies driving that route. Should be easy.
Not only the bus strike, but some more excitement to the trip can appear when you take a shower. Building houses, in this case bathrooms are not like in Finland and this time it was close to cause a trip to the hospital. I took a shower like I always do. The hot water, no air conditioning etc and the steam made the whole room totally wet. Soap, water and tile floor are not a good combination. I had my shirt on and I was drying my hair when something happened and I screamed. I was lying on the floor and wondering if I am alive. My first idea was relief of not hitting my head, but at the same time I didn't have any air in my lungs and I just hoped that I would not faint. I was lying there some minutes before I was able to move. My back hurt and same for my other leg and my ribs. Luckily nothing worse happened and there was no need to go anywhere. Lesson learned - Be really careful at the bathroom, weird things happen. I was able to feel the whole event next day quite well though.
We spend one extra day in Salta exploring areas a bit further away from the center. We went to a small market and invented a great idea for our dinner in the evening. Cooking at the hostel after a long time seemed quite fun! We even made dessert, yum! Days in Salta went fast and the city was worth a visit, definitely. The difference comparing to other Argentinean cities we visited was the appearance of indigenous people and the traditional style in handicrafts. Lots of lama products, colorful fabrics and much more that felt familiar from Peru from five years back.
All together we have spent about a week in Argentina, met lots of local people and seen many different faces of the country. Argentina is huge and so diverse. Beautiful and interesting country indeed and some day we must come with skies and snowboards to try the slopes. Don't cry for us Argentina! You have tried to keep us many ways in the country for longer, but now we have to continue our trip.
All the news has the fun part in the end. This is the one for us now - ENJOY! (The name of the site tells already a lot)
http://www.wtfnews.org/out-of-this-world/gnome-in-argentina/alert/5/
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