Salta, La Linda

I arrived in Salta this afternoon with Patrick, a friend I met at the hostel in Mendoza who happened to be on my bus to Salta, although not in the first class section like me!

The contrast between Mendoza and Salta is incredible to say the least. First of all, the weather is much, much warmer here (although apparently the cold snap is still continuing, so it´s colder than usual here as well), and sunny, and there are people on the streets and tons of vendors selling llama socks and sweaters, pan pipes and ocarinas, in addition to the usual cumbia CDs and pirated DVDs.

After checking into the hostel and dropping off my bags, I went for a stroll to the center, which in Salta is named Plaza 9 de Julio (instead of the usual Plaza San Martin). The plaza is very cool, filled with orange trees and palms and surrounded by cobblestone streets and sidewalk cafes, with the town Cabildo on one side and the pink Cathedral on the other:

It also appears that the Salteños are big fans of the Simpsons:

Also note that "Coca y Bica" (partially covered by the woman walking past) is on offer here -- this is a reference to coca leaves and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), which is not technically legal in Argentina but the sale and use is tolerated in this region of the country because it is a traditional part of Andean culture.

And at the bar I went to later:

Cool!