At the Base of the Andes Mountains

Hi Everyone,

I am in Salta at the base of the Andes. I think I am going to change the itinerary I posted a few days ago. I am ahead of schedule on it anyway. I will probably go north of here into the mountains. I feel a need to be in a smaller village that is actually in the mountains rather than at the base of them. Maybe there will be something interesting to report in 2-3 days!

Monday, Jan. 17

Poor me. I had to spend 13 1/2 hours squeezed next to Blubber Lady! I always worry about who will sit beside me on long bus journeys (and planes, too). I prefer someone small or normal in size and someone nice. When I took my seat last night, I noticed the lady across the aisle from me was large enough to take up more space than just her seat, and I was so glad she was there and dnot next to me. Then a young couple consisting of a big man (big from fat) and a slender woman. I sighed with relief when she sat beside me and he sat across the aisle next to BL (Blubber Lady). He immediately talked to BL, however, and I knew what he was asking. I lost my thin seatmate through an exchange of seats. My bet is that his concern was more about being squeezed together with BL than it was about wanting to be with his wife!

It was supposed to be a 12 1/2 hour trip and stretched to 13 1/2. There was no center armrest, so her body just molded over against mine. Her thigh was against mine, her arm was against mine, her every movement moved me. The worst, however, was when she would try to coil up in her seat for sleeping. That caused her whole butt to be pressed against me. I could even feel her crack! I spent 13 1/2 hours counting each one of them--SLOWLY!

It was a back highway that has not been maintained because, I guess, the area is so sparsely settled. The road was so potholed it was like a lunar landscape. Vehicles have made paths to the sides of the pavement, but they are not wide enough to keep from being partially on the pavement. We spent HOURS weaving from one side of the road to the other and sometimes going so far that the bushes were scraping the bus. Yet we still were bouncing from hitting potholes. And each bounce, of course, made BL´s body move like a water bed, shifting but keeping constant contact with mine.

We were supposed to arrive in Salta at 7:30, and at 7:50 we pulled into a station where everyone, it seemed, started piling off the bus. I was so glad to get away from BL that I joined the crowd and got my luggage. Myh guidebook had said that the bus station was being reconstructed and there was supposed to be a park across the street. I didn´t see a sign of either as I walked out of the station. Then I saw the highway sign: "Salta 57." We weren´t in Salta. This was a station where everyone going to Bolivia had to get off and change buses. I looked back, and my bus was pulling out of the station. I ran toward it waving my arm, and I banged my fist against it as it appeared that it might not stop. It did, however, and guess who was my seatmate for 40 more minutes!

Salta is a pretty town set on a flat valley between foothill mountains of the Andes. The air is fresh, and it is an active place. I will probably be here for 3-4 days and maybe in the area 1-2 more days. I have to check with the tourist office about bus connections between various places.

My hotel room is so nice. It has only a fan, because a/c isn´t needed here in the mountains. But it has a TV; there are a wardrobe, a desk, a lamp table, bed frames, and a wooden shutters all in the same medium-tinted wood; the beds have nice sheets, attractive bedspreads, and an extra tailored pillow with nice buttoned covered; the bath has inner and outter areas with a marble vanity in the latter and a toilet, a bidet, and a shower in the former; and the floors are tiled with an area rug between the beds. Just outside my room is a small sitting area if I want a more open area to read or relax. All of this, including breakfast, is just $10 U.S. per night.
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After stopping by the tourist office for some information, I explored some of town looking for the market, a barber shop, extc. I was tiring fast when I came across an Arab take-away place. It is operated by a Syrian Christian. I had seen their large church earlier. It is imposing with an Easter Orthodox corss above one of its blue tiled domes. What really got my attention was the Arabic writing above the portico. The writing made me guess it was a big mosque, but then I glanced up to see the cross. Anyway, I ordered kebab and rice for one person. Three other people received their orders while mine was being prepared. It consisted of 5 patties of spiced ground meat (each 8 cm [3 inches] in diameter and 5 mm [1/4 inch] thick). They were juicy and freshly cooked and placed on a bed of rice pilaf. I brought it back to the room and ate it Arabic style (using my fingers), since I had no knife or fork in the room. It was a great and filling lunch for $1.34 U.S.

I napped for two hours and read in the afternoon. Everything closes here from 1:00-5:00 p.m., and I was exhausted from the uncomfortable overnight close encounter with BL. Now I will bathe and go back out for the late afternoon and evening.
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I found some nice areas of town. Salta has many old buildings like the colonial cities of Mexico. I was too tired to stay out long, however. I felt the same as when I have made time changes via overnight flights. I bought a bottle of wine (Tittarrelli Malbec Reserva 2001) and two sandwiches (dried ham on French breead and a loaf with beef and eggs on a bun with sweet peppers) and dhad dinner in the room.

Walking: 24,979 steps (19,649 aerobic steps), 1020 calories, 16.86 km (10 miles)