Today, on ANZAC day I’m in Salta. Everyone I’ve met has raved about it and said to allow as much time as possible for here and the surrounding region. After just a day of wandering around and being harassed by travel companies, looking to book me on a tour somewhere i can see why. Its a lovely little town, well the centre of town is anyway. The centre plaza is probably the nicest i’ve seen, with cobblestoned streets surrounding the centre.
There also appears to be an abundance of old churches and cathedrals here. Is there a difference other than name? My knowledge of religious building is constrained to the beauty and architecture i’m afraid. In these parts of the world, it seems red and pink are the colours to paint your holy places. You’ll see from the photos what I mean.
Iglesia San Francisco
There a numerous old buildings around the centre plaza as well. A plaza wouldn’t be a plaza without cafes and restaurants. The coffee here is quite good, scary thing is i’ve even taken to drinking my coffee black on occasion, only because I ordered the wrong coffee or they gave me the wrong coffee. However they were nice cups of coffee, so i can’t complain. Lunch has given me garlic breath also, so don’t come to Argentina for a surprise visit.
There is also a mountain overlooking the place with a chairlift to the top. Given it was a bit overcast and drizzly, i’ve left that for another day. So yes i like Salta and my hostel here is nice and comfortable, i’ll be here for the week, until I fly to Iguazu falls on Friday. I had planned to go to a small village further north, but instead, I will do day trips from Salta to explore the area.
So in the next few days expect things like old towns, colourful landscapes, maybe some jungle, hopefully some llamas and there is even a cactus forest/plain with millions of giant cactii (yes I am looking forward to that).
My spanish phrase of the day is a simple one. Beware of bell towers on Sunday morning. they have a habit of waking you up, when you don’t want to be awoken. Oh better write that in spanish for you…. “Tenga cuidado con los campanarios domingos por la mañana.”
Iglesia San Francisco at night