Salta

after a restful day spent in calama, we woke up early and made the course for our early bus trip. we knew it was going to take most of the day and would have us arrive in salta towards the end of the day. we boarded a full bus and started the long trip. it was here that i made an on-the-go mix of really relaxing music on my ipod that is still on it to match the really beautiful scenery that continued to change gradually as we moved from desert to salt flats to more hilly area.

along the way our bus stopped a few times. naturally, we had to stop at the border to have our bags inspected by drug dogs and to pass through customs but we also had the pleasure of stopping at a roadside cafe for a small lunch and coffee or tea. while there Elizabeth struck up a converastion with chilean woman and her two (or maybe three? my how the memory is hazy) kids. she was a school teacher and very conversational. or maybe she was just appreciating conversation with people over the after of 20 since her kids where elementary age. regardless, it was a nice diversion and she was one of many people on the trip whom we met that were very friendly and just interested in chatting and hearing stories.

when we arrived that night, we were both extremely hungry and couldn't think of anything apart from food. thankfully, our hostel was near the bus station, we were able to drop our things off, and receive a recommendation on where to go for some affordable, tasty food. after pasta and a bottle of coca-cola (delicious!) we retired back to the hostel to spend the first of about six nights there. even spending six consecutive nights in a singe place felt like settling in for us at this point and it was great.

what the days ended up being was lots of sleeping in, spending days walking around the town, climbing up to the lookout point over town, and seeing three movies. here are two pictures from the top of the lookout: