After just 17 hours in a bus from San Juan I arrived in Salta. Only half a minute later after I got off, my couchsurfer Rosa greeted me on the terminal. She was working for "her" hostel, picking up tourists to invite them to stay there. Of the two hours left until Rosa finished her shift we spent one hour talking about couchsurfing, books, school, sisters and brothers and other stuff I can't remember right now. From the first moment she seemed to be very sympathetic, always smiling and making jokes in a "French" accent.

Unfortunately I'm sure I could have spent pleasent days in Salta if not the day of my arrival was the beginning of my "diarrhoea-week" which was of course extremely unpleasent...

However, I spent one night at Rosa's place in a suburb of Salta together with
- her two sisters
- her cousin
- her parents
- one turkey (dt. Truthahn, esp. pavo, rus. индю́к)
- one loro (a type of parrot (Papagei)) which always repeated: "Hola, Pepe!"
- two tiny dogs

The following two nights I spent in the hostel where Rosa works because from there excursions were easier to organise and the center was easer to reach.

I think Salta is the most beautiful Argentinean city I've ever been to. You can wander in between colonial building, sit in vivid parks and be amazed by the green everywhere. Unlike many other cities in the south of Argentina Salta is situated in the "green north" so no artificial irrigation system is needed to keep everything lush.

In Salta I visited The Museum of High Altitude Archaeology of Salta which fulfills the task of preserving, investigating, and making public the finding of the "Llullaillaco Children," one of the most important archaeological discoveries of recent times.
The three Inca children were found frozen at the peak of Mount Llullaillaco, 6,700 m. above sea level, on March of 1999. One hundred and forty-six artifacts, which formed part of their trove, were found together with the children: a miniature treasure that accompanied them in their journey to eternity. Studies reveal that they lived more than 500 years ago, during the height of the Inca rule, a short time before the Spanish Conquest.
The museum exhibits this wonderful discovery through a scientific perspective and in a didactic way to help us appreciate and further understand a culture that is still alive today.

The guided tour in Spanish was excellent but the frozen and still very good preserved mummy children were creepy...


I also went to the Museum of Fine Arts but was more fascinated by the giant poinsettia (dt. Weihnachtsstern, esp. flor de Pascua) than by the art exhibited.


Apart from Rosa I met a few other very interesting people in the hostel. One of them, Jessica (28 years), had been travelling for 4 years by now in South America, making and selling her handicrafts. I spent with her, Rosa and two other women a very funny evening which even made my forget my disturbed digestive system ;)


Actually I stayed only three days in Salta as I decided spontaniously to organise a 6-days trip to the southwest of Bolivia. It was on my first day in Bolivia when I realised that I got ripped off (dt. über den Tisch gezogen, esp. timado, russ. моше́нничество) by the Saltaen travel agency... But, you know, I also got ripped off by my Austrian travel agency. I guess this happens if you don't have much experience in travelling. (s*** happens ;P)