¡Hola!

Salta was my first stop in Argentina and, although the city (town!) itself was nothing special at all, I had an awesome time, mainly because I was concentrating on being sociable, going out and drinking.I decided to stay at a more gingoey backpacker place and I met some guys at the bus terminal intending to do the same, so we went to a place called 'Backpackers' and shared a dorm - the first time I have done this since I was in Nicaragua nearly a year ago.We arrived late, but joined a big barbeque going on in the garden, then played drinking games with a big group of Dutch and English guys until 2am.We then headed into town with the staff from the hostel to a pretty massive club, which was very dark and full of extremely hot Argentine girls waving their bits about.Obviously, I was extremely disappointed about that.By this time I was very drunk, having played some weird dice drinking game with a group of Dutch guys - who were the only ones who actually understood it - but I still managed to stay on the dance floor until 6am.After that my recollection of events becomes sketchy, but I do remember joining a group of very sober-looking people for breakfast when I returned to the hostel, by which time I had pretty much lost the power of speech.Unfortunately, I have no photos from this night.

The next day I went for an unimaginably large steak and a bottle of Argy red wine for lunch at a place called Viejo Jack, and then had to spend the afternoon sleeping it off.That night we played more drinking games, but it was much more subdued.On my final day I went into town and bought an Argentine football shirt (not an original one - sorry Wilbur, but they were $100), ready for their first World Cup match the next day, and then went back to the bar to watch the opening matches of South Afica v Mexico, and France vs Uruguay.We couldn't resist going back to Viejo Jack's one more time for lunch, which was even better than before.

There are lots of excursions to do around Salta, but since I've done so many outdoor activities in Bolivia (for a fraction of the price) I'm abstaining from spending any money on stuff like this now.Most of my trip to date has been pretty wholesome, but I can see the next week or so in Argentina is going to be characterised by drinking, watching football and staying out late.Bummer, hey?

R

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