Salta: How's the Serenity?

Still disheartened from my bad luck I arrived in Salta early on Sunday morning, and again just walked around trying to find a hostel. I managed to find one quite near the town centre and managed to check in at 10am which was a bonus. As most of the tours seemed to be full day activities I decided to walk around town to see which monuments were photo worthy and if there was anything else worthwhile doing.

Looking down on Salta

I ended up taking the cable car to get an overview of the valley. The view was pretty good however more often than not it was blocked by either a tree or eletrical wiring...probably not worth the 35 pesos. Having decided that Salta itself was not particularly interesting I went into a tour agency and booked a 13 hour tour for the following day to Humahuaca and a few other places

Preparing some Coca leaves

The tour itself was really good, the landscapes were spectacular and the group of people all seemed nice, especially those that helped translate what the guide was saying (apparently the English speakng guide called in sick that morning). For lunch I had some sort of Llama and potato dish in mustard sauce which was very tasty...I'll definitely be having that again!

Very "Llamy"

Upon returning from the tour, still buzzing from chewing some Coca leaves I decided that if possible I would head to Bolivia that night, however as it was so late I couldn't book a bus through an agency and had to do it directly at the bus station. Fortunately I had remembered the phrase in Spanish and all went to plan resulting in a midnight bus to La Quiaca (7 hours).

The immigration process was all rather simple however I was concerned when I had to put down when and how I would be leaving Bolivia. I just left it blank and no-one seemed to check which was a relief!

I'm writing this from Sucre in in Bolivia and will post about Tupiza and Salar de Uyuni over the next few days

I'll try to keep more on top of the blogging however due to the fact it would be quicker to cook a three course meal than upload one photo it's not that easy...

Tom