Salta

We arrived into Salta much later than planned due to our tardy start so by the time we got to the hostel it was dark and we were wrecked. We stayed in Las Rejas hostel which was more like a B&B. Fresh towels were such a treat!

We spent the next day wandering around Salta, glad to be off the bus and stretching the legs! We walked to the cathedral on the main square. It is a peach coloured building built in 1882. We had coffee on Plaza 9 de Julio before heading into the controversial Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana. Inside they have the mummified remains of a six year old girl found high up in the Llullaillaco volcanoe (6739m) in the Andes range in 1999. Three mummified remains of children were found in a sanctuary in Llullaillaco and many locals believe they should be laid to rest instead of being on display. It is eerie to observe the yound girl who was found still perfectly intact and lifelike due to the freezing temperatures at that altitude.

These child sacrifices were given a maize drink which made them fall asleep and then they were left in the mountain as an offering to the Gods. They were accompanied by gold and silver statues and textiles.

Afterwards we headed towards Cerro San Bernardo and ascended by the cable car. It gives a fantastic view over the city and the surrounding mountains. We wandered back to the main square via the white washed walls of Convento San Bernardo and the ´ox-blood coloured´ Iglesia y Convento San Francisco. It is a nice town to wander around but most of its activities involved a bus one way or the other so we opted for aimless wandering instead. We easily secured our tickets for the following day to our next destination, Puerto Iguazu.

Counterfeit 100 peso notes are something of a problem in Argentina. The worrying thing is twice now I have received false notes from ATMs. We hoped to tackle the situation in Salta but the queues for all the banks were astounding. We could not figure out what was going on. The queue around outside the post office went for a couple of blocks. It was the same the next day too.

Of course now that we were back in Argentina we sought the best steak in town to make up for lost time. The proprietors of Las Rejas highly recommended La Monumental restaurant. We stopped in ´Los Tribunales´ a lovely little pub/ cafe on the way to the restaurant. We were drawn in by the appearance of the place and the old fashioned decor inside. Lots of old men sitting around reading papers drinking and smoking. It was like Salta´s answer to Fletcher´s. La Monumental did not let us down and we enjoyed a delicious meal there before calling it a night.