Heading to Bolivia

Mike and Bree in the Cloudforest, Salta
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So When I got back from Spain I stayed with Tinka and Natasha in their apartment for a night and then spent the second night in a Hostel. It was very nice actually to arrive to a setting where I would know people- especially after the companionship of Spain. Making this time around all the sweeter was that Toby and Anne were also in Buenos Aires for vacation. I got taken out to three phenomenal meals and all around spoiled by them. Sometime´s after a period of budget traveling you just need to get spoiled (not that Spain can possibly qualify as budget traveling).

Villazn, entry to Bolivia
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After seeing some real estate with Toby and Anne and blissfully dropping off some stuff for them to send home (thus continuing my trend towards lightening my pack), buying some desperately needed shoes (the ones I had just bought were stolen from the Hostel two weeks earlier), getting a Typhoid vaccination, and having a final coffee with Tinka and ´Tash, I was heading to Salta la Linda in Northwest Argentina. My trip from out of Argentina, my home for the past 3 months, had begun.

Changing Worlds

Altiplano
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They say Northwest Argentina is very distinct from the rest of the country, and in the 2 and a half days I was there, I could definitely agree with that. The people are much more indigenous looking, the customs and traditions seem to come from a different culture, and the food mm the food is to die for yet very different than the rest of the country! When I go to the Bus Station there I ran into Mike and Bree (i knew they were in Salta), a completely awesome couple from the States that I had met in Mendoza. We bought some baguette and cheese and just sat on the steps outside of the church in the main Plaza and talked. It´s these simple type of things that I have really come to appreciate in my time here. The next day we took a local bus out to San Lorenz and hiked through the subtropical cloudforest to an overview of Salta. The misty rain obscured the view but no matter. We also went to a peña, which is a dinner followed by traditional Salteño singing and dancing. The following morning Mike and Bree left and I took a quiet day walking around town, doing some research on Bolivia, and kicking around with the people who ran the Hostel I was staying in (where to take a shower you basically had to be standing on the toilet seat...). My last dinner in Argentina was way past my budget but totally worth it. I had like 6 empanadas, a huge steak, some wine from Mendoza, and a traditional cake from Salta which gave me a sugar buzz for the next half a day (price 10 bucks)

Horse trail through the Mountains
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Leaving early in the morning I took a bus to the border of Bolivia.

Walking across a tiny bridge, across a nearly dry river I changed environments completely. The people were entirely indigenous. The streets had almost no cars. The stalls lining the streets were filled with the colors indicative of Bolivian handicrafts, there were the wrinkled old women half my height wearing traditional garb (including bowler hats) walking along pulling carts filled with all kinds of things. It could have come straight out of a picture. I took a two hour bus from Villavizón at the border to Tupiza, and those two hours felt longer then the 18 hours from Buenos Aires to Salta. The bus seats were tiny, the aisles completely filled with people, there was no AC, the were no lights, the road not only wasn´t paved but it was in horrible condition and was wide enough only for traffic from one direction at a time.

The Altiplano
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Luckily I met a British guy and we decided to split a hotel room together. To get a nice room with cable TV and reliable hot water cost us the same as the cheapest possible Hostel in Argentina. My dinner with 2 beers cost me under US 2.50. Today I took a guided horse trek through some of the low altiplano. We passed surreal red mountains sticking up from some harsh scrub growth. The sheer strangeness of the land and the way the light played on the red earth was awesome. I ended up being the only person on the tour, and the guide was my same age so we got along great. We had a great time kicking around. 5 Hours of a private tour including a tip for him cost me under US 15. I relish being in a country where the prices they give you are open to negotiation for almost everything, it makes touring, shopping, traveling a much more hands on and involved experience. Welcome to Bolivia I said to myself as I fell asleep!