Salta to Mendoza

We slept well and awoke to a cold, cloudy, rainy day in Salta. Thankfully, we were warm. It was nice to be in the same place for 3 nights which settled my spirit as well as gave us time to re-group and an for the next leg of our journey. Chris was still feeling the effects of food poisoning (everytime I type food poisoning auto correct changes it to good poisoning). Our room was already reserved thus we had no choice but to oblige by the 10am check out time-which is the latest we've seen in South America. Just as we were checking out our laundry was delivered. We re-entered our room (kudos to Chris for not locking it) and re packed our bags for the journey. We had "breakfast" at the hostal and delayed our journey into the grey until 11am. Quite a difference from the past two days but still 100% better than Bolivia. We'd had a chance to warm up. 

We headed to the square, thankfully without rain. The Cathedral was open and we took a trip inside. Actually, we felt like homeless people-no place to go? The church is open. Spend time there. This Cathedral allowed for pictures-the first pictures we've been able to take inside a Cathedral. This Cathedral was destroyed in an earthquake & re dedicated just less than a year later. It was a warm spot to pass time this morning. 

We walked around until our faces looked like cherubs. This is the coldest weather we've had on the trip (no sun = does not warm up). We walked to La Criollita for lunch. I found the restaurant in the city of Salta guide which included a coupon. I'm backpacking and I found a coupon. How exciting is that? We opened the doors to Criollita and were emersed in warmth. We both ordered soup. Good old chicken soup (and I had a tamale).

Chris was feeling well enough to walk the 6 blocks to the bus station and we bought fruit from the one fruit stand we passed. Two days ago when weather had been nice we passed 10+ fruit stands. Street stand business must be very weather dependent. Finally, the event we'd been waiting for: we boarded the bus for Mendoza. 

I'm sure from photos you cannot tell how nice this bus is-but we knew. There was a uniformed bus attendant checking our tickets. We have leg room-complete with leg rests & cup holders. In addition, the heat was on as we climbed aboard. Yes, the tickets cost three times what we normally pay in lodging-but we'll wake up in Argentina's wine country. 

When it was snack time, the stewardess passed out cafeteria trays to lay across our laps. Our snack was coffee/tea with an alfajore. These are fabulous sweet treats. Gram cracker cookie sandwich with caramel (made from condensed milk) in the middle, dipped in chocolate. Oh how I had forgotten some of the sweet treats Argentina has to offer. Snack time also coincided with a security search in which an officer boarded the bus & checked everyone's documents. It was the longest document check I've ever participated in. I think the security guy wanted out if the cold. Oh, and the bus played the movie Nonstop. I found it rather ironic. I didn't see that movie as an option on our flight down-for obvious reasons. 

This bus service included Bingo. Tested my Spanish number skills. I was one number away from winning. 

Another movie. Dinner was served at 10:30pm. Cold potatoes, quiche, and meat. There was a roll and some gelatin flan that was too strange for me to continue eating. Blankets AND pillows were passed out. Lights were dimmed, I pulled my hat over my eyes and off to sleep for a good 9 hours. I'm going to say this was the best bus ride we've had. We had another alfajor for breakfast with tea/coffee and arrived into Mendoza at 11. The 20 hour bus ride was enjoyable. Nice job AndesMar. We look forward to traveling with you again. Wine country, here we come!!