I woke up at 4am as the English girl sitting next to me got off at Tupiza. However as the train rattled on towards the Argentinian border town of Villazon I drifted off again. I was startled by the train stopping near the border and then escorted to the executive lounge where I was given coffee and scrambled eggs. I got off the train feeling really tired and disorientated. I found Mark and two English girls called Natalie and Sarah. Natalie was 19 and a little naive while Sarah was 35 and had lived and worked in South America for 2 years and her Spanish was excellent. We were approached by a Bolivian guy selling bus tickets to Salta, we followed him to the office and paid a reasonable price for the tickets however the bus was leaving at 8.50am and it was nearly 8 already. Nevertheless he assured us customs would be quick and we'd make it. We breezed through Bolivian officialdom but then were stuck in a huge queue to enter Argentina. The Argentines are a lot more picky about who they let in and will check your backpack. We entered Argentina and got a taxi to the nearby town of La Quiaca. By the time we arrived at the bus terminal our bus was gone so we sat in a cafe and drank coffee to pass the time after we'd had our tickets changed. Myself and Mark chatted to an unfortunate Welshman by the name of Keith, he'd had his 15,000 pound camera stolen (he's a photographer by trade) and his front tooth has fallen out but no dentists in Bolivia can do anything for him. We left him in the cafe and got on our bus with the girls. The bus was amazing compared to Bolivian buses with a toilet onboard and comfy seats. Also the air-conditioning worked! We watched a film called "Welcome to the Jungle" starring The Rock. The film helped pass the time and soon enough we'd reached the valley where Salta is located. It's a beautiful city especially from up high on the mountains as we made our way down. We got off the coach and had to tip the guys who pull your luggage out which seemed a little strange but it's the done thing here. Myself and Mark then bought bus tickets to Puerto Iguazu for tomorrow at 6.50am. We decided to go out tonight and then stay up all night until our bus. We wandered around the city looking for our hostel with the girls in tow and a random Swiss girl called Anna. We found our hostel called Terra Oculta after 20 mins but it was full up. So we had to stay at the nearby hostel Paila which was really nice and cheap too! In our dorm we met an Aussie guy called Brett and a Tunisian/German guy called Kharim who we nicknamed Dr Evil. A tad harsh but his head was pointy (look at the photo). The hostel manager recommended a nearby parilla (steak house) called La Rodizillo. We walked over with Brett and Dr Evil. We sat in the plush surroundings and ordered bife de chorizo and a bottle of Malbec wine (really famous Argentinian wine). When the steak arrived I couldn't believe my eyes; a huge lump of glistening, tender, succulent cow! It tasted amazing..best steak I've ever had. They also served us great garlic potato chips..it was just so good. Our Uruguayan waiter was really gregarious and friendly. He recommended we try the ice-cream and what a recommendation! Superb ice-cream covered in a treacle with walnuts. We all sat at the table with huge smiles and stomachs about to burst. We walked down the main streets of Salta around 12am as things just start going then. I couldn't believe how busy it was with street vendors, people milling around and artists selling paintings. We walked to the main square and admired the colonial architecture which was all lit-up. We walked to the main bar area and had the choice of maybe 15 bars but we opted for one called Cafe del Tiempo. It was a nice bar with a live band playing, people were still having dinner incredibly at nearly 1am. We drank some bitter, medicinal tasting Fernet with coke. Later we tried some of the cocktails which were horrible and half the outside glass was coated in blue sugar so your hands got all sticky. Around 2am the lights suddenly went out and we soon realised the whole of Salta had no electricity. Eventually after 30 mins the electricity was restored and we walked to the club nearby called Zepellin. Natalie and Sarah went home and me, Mark, Kharim and Brett danced to electronica. The place was rammed with young Argentinians and had a great atmosphere. Around 5.30am the club shut and we walked along the street back to the hostel. We met some girls on the way and had some banter with them. A drunk girl spotting us as tourists ran up and asked where we were from; I replied "Escocia" and she gave me a kiss but when Mark said "Inglaterra" she slapped him on the face and then walked off. She left us standing there bemused..crazy! We got back to the hostel at 6am and then jumped in a taxi to the bus terminal where we got on our bus to Puerto Iguazu (20 hours!!!)