Argentina - Just Like Back Home

Argentina and the city of Salta reminds me of Europe more than any other country so far. This fair city of Salta is a pretty colonial town in a lush valley - and judging by the fair skin tone and taller stature of the people here, the conquistadores were anxious to spread more than just religion to the locals. Everything from the menus of restaurants to the clothes people wear enforces the feeling that this could well be a town in Europe.

The town cathedral - a very pretty and impressive building - is full of VHO (very holy objects), statues of suffering Christ and holy Mary that the locals prostate themselves in front of with more religious fervour than I have so far witnessed on this trip. The cathedral tower strikes the hour with a recorded jingle, that had me looking out for the ice cream van the first few times I heard it.

The time comes - in nearly every travel - when the local bacterial strains get a royal flush - and indeed I have been doing a lot of rushing to and flushing of toilets these last 2 days in Salta. So I'm not quite sure when I will be moving on. 7-hour bus rides seem like not such a good idea right now... 

also, I haven't really been able to see as much of the town as otherwise. However my hotel is ideally placed next to the town main square and one of the centres of action and crowd-gazing. They even had a half-hearted Carnival session there, but it was very lame affair compared to the real thing. 

On average, finding any action between 12-17 is challenging. All the shops close for an impressive 5-hour siesta and the place suddenly is as empty as downtown Helsinki on a Sunday afternoon in February. However at 17.00 the shops flood the pavements with music and neon once more and people come out of whatever hibernation they have been in. The town is absolutely buzzing around 21.00 - which due to my current decrepid state is about as late as I've been out.

I did brave the cablecar teleferico up a green hill to a kind of tropical garden at the top with nice views of Salta. Salta and surroundings are the first place on this trip which are truly lush and green - previous places have either been too high up or in the centre of the desert for luxurious lushness.

Another difference I notice here is, that the locals have decided that since it's summer they will dress accordingly. Whereas in Peru you will be warned of the dangers of going out without an overcoat and scarf once the temperature gets below 18C, here it's tank tops and shorts even at night, when, let's face it, it isn't quite that warm any more. Also no-one here dresses in traditional costume, maybe they do further North close to the Bolivian border, but here it's western wear all round.

So any day now, stomach permitting, I will head on back to the North, Bolivia and higher altitudes (dammit) again. Hmmm... maybe my tummy is reacting to the change in altitude? I was talking to a local lady from the highlands, who had been on holiday to Rio de Janeiro a while ago and had gotted sick with the altitude difference from being too low. This is a form of altitude sickness that's less talked about.