Salta was my first stop in Argentina - a very pretty city in the north of the country. I was shocked by the sudden changes when I crossed over the border - Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia had a lot in common with one another but as soon as I crossed into Argentina the people looked and sounded very different, the roads, cars and buildings were generally more modern and in better condition - it was a different world.

We arrived in the evening and the first item on the agenda was sampling the famous Argentine steak and red wine. We went to the main square in Salta, which looked beautiful with the impressive buildings illuminated in the dark, and we found a restaurant that had live music and traditional dance.

The following day a few of us took a guided tour of the city in a strange green army truck, which attracted a lot of attention as we drove around town! Our guide was a lovely old man named Benny Smith - born and brought up in Argentina to English parents. He was great at explaining the history, facts and traditions of Salta.

We drove up to the top of Cerro San Bernardo where we had a great view over the whole city and then took the cable-car down. We visited lots of other places but unfortunately I lost my notes so you're going to just have to look at the photos!

The next day a group of us went white water rafting. As we drove through the countryside we passed many tobacco fields and trucks carrying tobacco leaves. The rafting was fairly easy-going, level 2-3 rapids. It was the first time I had tried white water rafting and I didn't particularly enjoy it - I just felt I was being splashed a lot without the thrill that I had expected.