Crossing the Border from Bolivia to Argentina
To gallivant across the border from Bolivia back into Argentina, we had two choices. Take the ridiculously overpriced night bus for $48/each or piece meal (bus-boat-local bus-bus) it for $37 in total. Naturally, what do you think we decided? And of course, our friends opted to save $60 and tag along with us for the 12-hour adventure, which at least made it all the more fun!
The first step was to take a 4-hour bus from Tarija to Bermejo, the Bolivian border town, for less than $4/each, which ended up being a beautiful drive particularly as we moved south into greener and less dry conditions.
This made our second long distance bus with Roos and Bob.
In the meantime, this baby stared us down for several hours. It was quite amusing actually because the father was completely passed out underneath him, yet somehow managed to keep him from tumbling off his lap. That’s a skilled baby balancer!! 🤣
Unlike some, the border town of Bermejo had no issues, nor was the least bit gritty, other than some questionable meats. Rather than get off at the bus station, we had the option to exit where “Las Chalanas” boats dock for Argentina. This is on Google if you need to find them.
So, after finding the location where the boats dock, we bopped down to confirm the cost before depositing the rest of our Bolivianos in Bolivia. The cost for this international border crossing, which took 45 seconds, ended up costing 500 Argentinian pesos or 2 Bolivianos/each. ($.30)
Don’t forget to dump the rest of your Bolivianos before leaving!
This is literally how close the two countries are….we could have practically waded across the low Bermejo River to Argentina.
But rather than risk getting our houses wet and causing a scene, we happily paid our $.30, and so did the frugal Dutchies. Speaking of which, we recently learned that the term “going Dutch” comes from the frugality of their culture. No wonder we all get along so well. 🤣
Once you get off the border boat, it’s not at all evident where to go for migration. But, you need to wander to the right up a path through the forest. This leads to a bridge, and the official office which represents both the Bolivia and Argentina sides.
After getting out of Bolivia by the skin of our 30 days, we wandered to the buses in the very borderish Argentina town (village?) of Agua Blancas, which was about 5 minutes east of the migration office. It consisted of lots of dirt, taxis, a few food stands and a giant Flecha chariot awaiting us. Unfortunately that chariot would not leave until 16:30 for Salta so we chose to instead take a local bus to Oran about 45 minutes away for $.80.
This gave us about two hours in Oran to grab a meal at Comedor de Tia before our bus to Salta at the same time of 16:30. Notice we said Comedor de Tia and not Comedor de Abuela. Let’s face it…aunt cooking is never the same as grandma cooking, so we were stuck with the usual chicken and fries, but also draped with fried eggs to “spice things up.” Yum. ($3.50/each)
The long journey between Tarija and Salta.
After a 4-hour bus ride to Salta and $.60 (each couple) cab ride, we arrived to our two-bedroom/two bathroom Airbnb apartment for the next nine nights where we could recover in the comforts of our own kitchen without having to touch chicken or fries. Cost of this unit was 17,000 pesos or about $19/night.
The 7th floor balcony caught some cool breezes in the hot city and had a decent view of the surrounding mountains. Yes, seemed like a perfect place to veg out for a week!
Exploring Salta
Salta is simply a comfortable and pleasant place to live and be. And, although Argentina isn’t ripe with colonial charm like many Latin American countries, it still manages to exude much of it in this city with brightly colored churches, as well as a tree-lined main square, cable car with sweeping views of the city and some of the most bizarre and well preserved child mummies you’ll ever see. The Basilica of San Francisco (pictured above) is the most iconic church in Salta and the loveliest we’ve seen in the county so far. It also has the highest bell tower in Latin America at 54 meters.
The view of Salta as seen from the top of Cerro San Bernardo.
We stumbled upon a fun photo shoot in the cultural center one day.
Inside the popular museum Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña or MAAM you will find one of the most bizarre findings in Incan history…the 500+ year old mummified bodies of two children and a young woman from the Inca period, shockingly offered to the gods in a Capacocha ceremony on the Llullaillaco volcano (6739 m), at the border between Argentina and Chile, with over 100 burial objects.
Only one of the three mummies at a time is on display in a glass-enclosed cold chamber. We got to see six-year-old “Lightening Girl,” who was named as such because she was struck by lightning, which penetrated more than a meter deep into the earth. It charred the outer cloths around her and burned parts of her body and face, which is framed by braided pigtails. The eyelids are half closed, and teeth can be seen in the slightly open mouth. These are photos of photos because photography was prohibited in the actual exhibit.
One of the main pedestrian roads leading to the main square. This is where you’d typically find guys for money changing.
The main cathedral of Salta consisted of a precious palette of baby pink. Some of the intricate details on the church…
Inside the church was an unusually out-of-place optical illusion covered floor, and a spiky and smoky altar.
Many parts of Salta, like Buenos Aires, felt like they felt out of Europe.
Stages used for dance shows inside the cultural center, and rooms for dance lessons. The entrance to the cultural center leads up to a marble staircase
Pedestrian thoroughfares, near the main square and impeccable weather for alfresco dining.
The golden glow at the Basilica San Francisco was gorgeous…
…although we found the inside to be a bit strange, including the Jesus front and center looked a bit like clip art 🤣
The main plaza couldn’t have been more picturesque.
San Martin Park lined with paddle boats and palms
The beautiful stained glass in the cable car station as we waited in line like the tourists we are on this day.
The cost to ride the cable car was about $4.50/each, which felt a little steep when compared with other things in the city. However, it was a nice long ride to appreciate the scenery.
More scenes of the city…
Life in Salta
The vibrant preserved colonial city of Salta in NW Argentina was an idyllic place to unwind for nine nights after a rushed travel itinerary over the previous five weeks. Although it’s a city of half a million, it feels much smaller and has a spirited nightlife in its Peña folkloric dance restaurants, truly the best empanadas we’ve had, nice places to walk, some very unique museums and for those able to get the blue dollar rate, continued value as the Argentinian peso continued to dip following a still undecided election in late October 2023.
According to Lonely Planet, the father/son owners of Tacita Cafe offer some of the best empanadas in Salta in a no-frills, authentic setting, which was true…it definitely felt like it had been around a long time.
However, we’d have to disagree that the empanadas were the very best. Despite this, they were very tasty, baked (not fried like in other LA countries!) to perfection and oozing cheese and other fillings. Cost for a typical empanada is about $.30 making it a wonderful snack. Also, in the top left was the Argentine version of a tamale, which basically tasted like all the other Latin American versions we’ve had! But the cozy view in the cafe next to the prettiest church in Salta was absolutely worth the visit in itself.
So there we were again. In a country that truly gets the inflation, this is quite poignant street art. While no one is quite walking around naked, the locals definitely continue to struggle. And, after reaching 138% in September, it’s an interesting time to be here.
When your prices change daily, it makes total sense to switch to chalkboards for everything. At this market it was possible for us to get 30 orange-yolked eggs for $1.77. Reminder, the locals are now paying about 60% more.
This brick, photo courtesy of our Dutch friends, is what 1000 euros looks like in Argentinian pesos in November 2023 after a trip to Western Union. (Not robbing a bank.) As we mentioned in a post back in Buenos Aires, the 1000 note (what this is) was valued at $53 upon its release in 2017. When we visited in September, that note was valued at about $1.50 and today the same note is worth about $1.10.
Also, if you haven’t gotten a pedicure in years and are moving into summer, it’s a good place to release the little piggies. Cost for a pedicure was $3.50, including a $1 tip. A women’s haircut was $7, and man’s was $2.
In Salta one of the most popular things to do is visit a Peña regional restaurant for a folkloric dance show on Balcarce Street. We choose El Antigal which was wonderful and opened at 7:30 for us Northern European types who like to eat at an hour made for appropriate digestion. Not that a plate of 12 empanadas was exactly appropriate digestion… 😬 The music started at 8 and the dreamy instrumental and vocal sounds invite everyone in the audience to follow the rhythm, as you watch two gaucho-esque dancers clutching a handkerchief, a napkin or just stamping their what seem to be lovesick feet.
A Little free library in Salta!
We noticed prices for clothing were significantly less expensive in Salta than in Buenos Aires. Or, two croissants, called medialunas in Argentina and a coffee at McDonald’s cost 950 pesos which is about $1 for us. In a traditional cafe, it would be about 700 ($.70)
Or, Roos demonstrates on a night out, a BOGO fruity gin and tonics in a brewery were about $1.50, while craft beers remained about $1.25.
This is what happens to Greg’s eyes when he drinks quality craft beer for this price.
And of course we had to cover all the sinful bases with ice cream on the way home for $1, for two scoops. The low cost per calorie is definitely dangerous 🤣
Near our apartment you could find lots of alfresco restaurants, and one of many pleasant pedestrian streets in the city.
Doing something we rarely do because we could…having lunch at a touristy restaurant in the main square. We had quinoa cakes with a creamy goat cheese sauce and andina potatoes for $3.50 each+tip.
And here is officially our vote for best empanadas at Las Casa de las Empanadas. The one is the bottom right is an Arabic version.
On the flip side, the poor locals seem to be waiting for hours in lines at the banks, everyday. It must be such a struggle and we feel so bad for them. Foreigners…please, please tip well if you come here!! Every little bit really helps.
We also got lucky enough to see a group of kids performing a Peña dance one day in the square to a live band. Oh my goodness! Too cute ☺️
Our favorite restaurant in Salta we unfortunately discovered on our last day, called The Salad Bar. We had smoothies for about $1.75, And a cooling gazpacho for about the same.
Mandy also had some of the best avocado toast with smoked salmon she’s had in forever for $2.80, and Greg a falafel sandwich for the same. The smoothie and gazpacho soup were extra tasty on our last day because temperatures were clocking in at super steamy. (39 C) This was by far our hottest day in Salta and about 25 degrees above normal. Needless to say, when it’s not this hot, Salta is a very comfortable place to be and we see ourselves returning for a one month stay.
