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Having been in Tarija for two weeks, and being so close to the Argentinean border, our group of 6 decided that we were due for an excursion. Also, this weekend marked my 5th year, cancer-free anniversary. What better way to celebrate than a trip to Argentina?
On Friday morning, we packed our bags and met at the Tarija bus terminal to buy tickets to Salta, a small town in northern Argentina. We boarded and settled in for the 8-hour bus ride. About 4 hours in, as we arrived at the border, we had to get off about 4 times for passport control, immigration, and luggage check. The tropical region was filled with sand flies and I was practically eaten alive every time we got off the bus. Finally, at about 9 pm, our bus arrived at the terminal. A hostel representative managed to convince us to come with him, but soon after walking into the hostel we decided we couldn't stay there: to say the least, it was FILTHY. We found the name of a nearby youth hostel, and made our way there. For $8 a night, it was perfect. They put the 6 of us in a room of 3 bunk beds, there was hot water, a central, outdoor eating area, and free breakfast of cereal - what more can you ask for when traveling on a budget?
So we met some travelers and went to bed pretty early, exhausted from the long bus ride. The next morning, we checked out the teleferico: a tram that takes you up over the city and to a hill that overlooks it. Lukas decided to be a trooper and hike all the way up! It was a cloudy day, and didn't make Salta look all that impressive, but it was still cool to see the whole city from above. We walked down the steps, through town, and to the main square where we had lunch. We also checked out the Museum of High Altitude Archeology. Among the artifacts were two, extremely well preserved mummies of children that were sacrificed to the gods and buried alive over 500 years ago! Had some mixed feelings about seeing those.
Later, we got the best ice cream that I have ever had, then went to the supermarket and bought food to make at the hostel BBQ/potluck. Everything turned out delicious, and we got to know all the other tourists: from New Zealand, France, Ireland, Canada… it was great.
The next morning we woke up early, I made us all sandwiches, and we headed to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to Tarija. Much to our surprise, the bus driver had decided to delay the departure until the next day, because earlier some people had asked him to, and he agreed regardless of the fact that it is advertised everywhere that the company leaves Sundays and Thursdays. Only in South America. We were annoyed, but didn't have much to do about it, and the driver agreed to give us a discount, which became even more of a discount, him being mathematically challenged, and letting us pay with a combination of pesos and bolivianos (not at all equal currencies).
We found a new hostel, and fell asleep for the majority of the day. For dinner we went to a restaurant recommended to us by one of the people who worked at the hostel, where I got homemade pasta and a delicious salad.
The next morning, I made sandwiches again and this time really made it onto the bus, which actually left for Tarija. 9 or so hours later I was in my home stay, completely wiped out and happy to be back. Argentina was relaxing, but 3 days of sleeping in a top bunk was enough.
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