Salta; Didn't see too much in town, but saw a lot outside of it!

Salta, Argentina. I am not sure what this place is known for.  Just seemed like a good place to stop before heading into Bolivia since the bus ride from Mendoza took almost 12 hours anyway.  We started our day walking about the city and we decided to rent a car again for the next day to drive to a town about 3 hours away called Cafayate.  I cooked lentils that night! No Indian spices available, but it came out pretty darn good! And it was nice to get away from eating sandwiches.

The drive to Cafayate was absolutely stunning, and I'm pretty sure it took us almost 7 hours to do the drive. I haven't done it, but I imagine the drive to Cafayate was comprable to what driving through the Grand Canyon would be like.  Lots of red and lots of amazing rock formations. After finally arriving to the town, we did a quick drive through--like 5 minutes--and stopped off at an ice cream place that is special because it makes ice cream from red and white wines. I wasn't a huge fan of the flavor, but it was ice cream (more of a sorbet, really) so I can't complain considering the heat.  We stopped off at a winery where we did a tasting and after relaxing a bit and enjoying a bottle of wine, we got back into the car, and drove back to Salta.

My second day in Salta was a relaxing one.  The boys just slept and hung around the hostel while Candace and I spent the day walking around the city.  It was a good day to plan for what to expect for the rest of our trip since most of us are coming down to the end of our trips. 

Scott, Candace and I spent our last day in Salta doing another day trip out of Salta to a town called Cachi. This was a guided trip, which really just consisted of someone driving for us and telling us about some of where we were stopping.  The Cafayate drive was completely red, brown and blue, whereas the Cachi drive was full of green hills and mountains, and lots of altitude.

After getting back from Cachi we basically just got on our next bus which was going to take us to the border of Bolivia.  What a nightmare!! We opted for the cheaper Bolivian bus vs. the more expensive Argentine bus, and it was probably the worst mistake we could have made.  1. Bolvians smell. 2. The bus reeked of BO and just musty nastiness. 3.  Candace and I saw fleas, yes FLEAS, crawling in our seats. OMG GROSS! 4. Bolivians enjoy traveling with babies on buses who like to cry. 4. There is no heating even though it is freezing cold, but there is AC.  It was a pretty painful 10 hour bus ride, and we got to the border at almost 5am and had to wait another 2 for the crossing to open.

After getting through the line to exit Argentina and making it inside to the Bolivian border crossing station hours later, I am not granted a visa into Bolivia.  Apparently, they don't issue visas at the border, they give them to you in a town that is another 4 hours inland. What the shit!? So I entered into Bolivia with no visa and there was no record of my entrance put into the system, so you can bet that the first thing I did when I got to a computer was register with the State department so they knew I was in Bolivia. Ridiculous.

Traveling from Brazil, Chile and Argentina is definitely going to be a huge shock since it is like going from the first world to the legit third world.  Bolivia is the poorest country in south america. But that also means things are really cheap here which is awesome because I am going broke!

Next up, Salt flat tour!