Salta

It took 2 and a half hours to get from Jujuy to Salta. Not 1 and a half as we were informed. NB. When asking for an estimation of travel time in South America be sure to add at least an extra third of the time to the journey.Still, its nice to be travelling on posh buses again here in Argentina; buses in Bolivia were pants.

We're staying in Hostel Sol Huasi which is nice enough, right in the centre next to the plaza. Salta is lovely, very European looking, has a massive PINK cathedral and a busy high street with HOT DOG STALLS! So many hot dog shops, we're eating about 6 a day, minimum. They're well nice, they come with tiny minature chips, cheese and sweetcorn (best vegetable in the world) and you get a choice of like 15 different sauces.

So we went on a cable car up a mountain, had to queue for an hour to get on it but it went pretty fast because we made friends with the couple in front of us who were rubbish at cross words. The lad, Ese, was listening to Linkin Park and trying to sing along (making noises which vaguely resembled the lyrics). Him and Ric had a little sing song together whilst I talked to his girl friend, Lorena. The cable car ride was nice, nice views of Salta, and the top of the mountain was pretty, overpriced cafe and some waterfalls.

Found a bargain in the supermarket - litre of gin, 2 litres of tonic and a couple of lemons for 25 pesos which works out at about 4 quid. Eaten some damn good steaks (not much vegetables on the menu but I'm not complaining).

Went on a loooong hungover walk to this mercado artesanal which was absolutely rubbish and overpriced. I am sick to death of seeing llama jumpers. However we were much amused by some of the shop names we saw on the way such as Gay Gas, Mary's Muebles and Drugstore (selling cigarettes and chocolate as oppose to drugs as the name suggests).

Like Salta. Good meat, good hot dogs, good booze.