Southern Exposure

Tuesday, February 24

After the last three days on the road we were in need of serious rest. Although our 5-star hotel was a total splurge, nothing felt so good in a long time than waking up in a king size bed and a fancy room and having an awesome buffet breakfast (included in the room price). Though, we didn’t get to sleep in (by our standards) as the cut off time for breakfast was 10 am. We rolled in to the restaurant at 9:50 am and lingered till 10:30 am when all the food was cleared by staff and they were impatiently waiting for us to leave.

After a quick run to a convenience store, I busied myself with the blog while Matt went downstairs to work on the bikes trying to figure out my electrical problem and fix what he could from our list of post Bolivia bike problems.

The afternoon went by very fast and we didn’t end up having any rest. Before dinner we took a cab to Salta’s moto stores district to buy fuses for my bike, low beam bulbs, and oil. We also got some cool stickers, including “46” for my bike. In this part of the world, as I suppose everywhere in the world, Valentino Rossi is the people’s favourite. Even tiny 50 cc scooters sport number 46 on their panels, and Matt couldn’t miss the opportunity to photograph next to Rossi’s graffiti image. I take great pride in the fact that Valle and I have the same exact birthday date, down to the year. 🙂

After a successful shopping trip we went back to the hotel and asked our very helpful doorman for a dinner recommendation. We were keen on trying some good Argentinean meat and wine and were recommended an authentic parrilla (grilled meat) restaurant in our neighborhood and a must try Michel Torino Don David wine from the nearby Cafayate Valley.

In this part of the world people enjoy long afternoon siestas. The stores are open 9 am to 1 pm, then close for a four-hour siesta and reopen at 5 pm to 9 pm. Consequently, the dinners don’t start until 8 or 9 pm. We were the first customers in the restaurant at 8 pm. After some deliberation we decided on a “Classic Parilla for 2,” mashed potatoes, mixed greens salad and a few empañadas to start with, accompanied by a bottle of Don David Malbec.

The parrilla arrived on a sizzling pan with a tray full of still burning coals underneath. It was a substantial selection of grilled meats, including beef, chicken, pork, chorizo, and some intestine type pieces that we didn’t care for so much.

The meat was exquisite and we very much enjoyed our meal, albeit we couldn’t finish it all, so I took a few pieces of beef to home to make sandwiches for the road. One bottle of wine for two usually is not a big deal for us, but this time, probably because we have not had a drop of alcohol in a long time, gave us quite a buzz.

We hurried back to the hotel to watch Obama’s presidential address to congress. It felt good to finally listen to a coherent presidential speech that was both inspiring and to the point, though I couldn’t last past 11:30 pm and fell asleep in the middle of the broadcast.

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Wednesday, February 25

While we could not afford another day of four-star treatment, we decided to change hotels and stay in Salta for one more night. We found a nice hostel and moved there after breakfast.

Salta was a pleasant town, big enough to have nice shops, cafes and restaurants and small enough to be able to explore it in a day or so. We’ve walked around the center enjoying its harmonious architecture and urban ambiance. For lunch and some people watching we stopped at a plaza coffee shop called Van Gogh.

Matt continued having intense pain in his back, which started worrying us, so we decided to find a doctor. Fortunately, the hostel was next to a hospital. We paid $30 for a consultation and the doctor determined that Matt had seriously strained muscles in his lower back. He prescribed him some muscle relaxers and told him to take it easy on the riding. We bought the prescription and also a kidney belt that we saw Martin and Lauren wear, hoping it can provide some support and ease the pressure on his back while riding.

In the late afternoon we visited the archeological museum and its only exhibition focusing on the “Llullailaco Children,” one of the most important archeological finds made in Argentina. Three naturally mummified Inca children were uncovered in 1990 atop Volcan Llullaillaco, west of Salta, 6700 m above sea level, by an expedition of mountaineers and scientists. They were a 6-year old girl, a teenage girl and a 7-year old boy, all three were royal Inca children who lived around 1490 AD and were sacrificed to deities. Their incredibly well preserved corpses have been kept in a laboratory, and only the 6-year old girl was on display. Her little figure in a sitting position was quite creepy, the skin, the hair, and the expression on her face were very vivid – it looked like she died just a few days ago. Artifacts, textiles and treasures were buried with the children as well as photographs and video interviews of the expedition members were also part of the showcase. Even though it was a small exhibit and cost a hefty $13 per person, it was worth it for us as neither of us have seen anything like this before.

I then dragged Matt to a museum of contemporary art across the street, which was free but a complete disappointment. Apart from a series of five surreal photographs there was nothing even remotely interesting or inspiring.

We decided to grab a quick dinner at one of the plaza restaurants. My caesar salad came covered in a solid blanket of parmesan cheese with about five tiny leaves of romaine lettuce underneath. It was lame but funny at the same time.

Another day passed by and we hardly got any rest, no sleeping in, no day naps, not much relaxation. Unfortunately, we can not linger here for another day. We have made plans with Matt’s mom to visit us in Santiago, Chile. We gave ourselves a comfortable week to get there from Salta. Maybe in Santiago we can finally get proper rest.