San Pedro de Atacama - Salta - Villazon

Ello!

The trip in Chile was great... Wonderful people, nice experiences and amazing memorable moments. We took the bus from San Pedro to Salta in Argentina, which would take about 12 hours. The trip was not too bad and didn´t seem to take that long. We crossed the Andes and we had great views. We even got coffee and little snacks on the way.  With the time difference we arrived earlier than we thought. We booked into Backpackers Soul and after a good sleep we went to see the city. It actually surprised me in a very positive way. The city has got a nice atmosphere. Lots of things happening and very different to Chile. Salta is very green and very humid compared to the dry heat in the desert of Atacama. And no dust!!! We wlked around the city and took the cable car to have a good look over the city. We rounded the day off with a good steak at the main square, Plaza des Armas. (All cities seem to have one!) We also booked our next bus trip to the border of Argentina and Bolivia with the idea of going to Sucre. Early in the morning we took the bus to La Quiaca, a small village at the border. When we got off the bus we noticed the difference with all the places we had visited before. A lot of activity on the streets, honking cars and a lot of people. We walked to the border and got our departure stamp. ("Where are you from?" 4 times!) After crossing the river we queued up to get our entry stamp in Villazon, Bolivia. . Not too bad! Then we walked to the Hostel and cobbled together some Spanish and checked in. Stayed in bed and watched football because of the heavy rain and thunderstorms. Finally we went out having a pizza in a tiny local eatery (I couldn´t call it a restaurant, but they did serve a big beer). Since the town has got no big touristic attractions we decided the next day to just walk around the market and watch the daily life passing by. Before catching our next bus to Sucre we had some lunch at a food stall close to the railway. It was chicken with rice and chips (there always seems to be at least 2 carbs in a Bolivian meal.) The lady deepfried it in open pans and we ate it squeezed on a bench with locals under an umbrella. Tasty experience!

Up to Sucre!