Salta, Argentina - Down Time

So after an insane bus ride into Argentina, I'm finally here and couldn't be happier and more relaxed, Salta is a smaller city and has some beautiful buildings and an overall relaxed feel. I was up real late last night writing about the trip to get here, so I slept in today and just relaxed. As I was getting into bed last night - at about 1:30am - I felt bad because I woke up the girl in the bunk below me (yes, I'm sleeping in a room with three bunk beds). This morning when I got up I apologized and she was totally cool about it. Her name is Natalie and she's from a small country town in Vienna. She's traveling with a girl from Cologne, Germany, and we all went out to lunch today. It was nice to just stroll through the city and take it easy, and both girls were very nice and easy to hang out with. They were planning to leave Salta this morning but their ride left them, so after lunch they headed to the bus station and were on their way. I then came back tot he hostel and just laid low and read, but then I went walking around the city and took some pics (below). Oh yeah - also got my laundry done for about $10 - always nice to have clean gear. There is a funny little gondola in town that takes you up this mountain with nice views, so I took that and it was pretty anticlimactic. Oh well - was still nice to just take it easy today and not worry about traveling or having to figure it out. My hostel is nice and spacious with outdoor space and so I'm comfortable here for now. This afternoon the guy who runs the hostel told me they are doing a BBQ with a sister-hostel down the street, so I bought a ticket for about $7 and will have all I can eat and drink - not a bad deal. I'm about to head out to that now, but wanted to at least write about how nice it's been to have some down time here. Tomorrow I think I'll figure out a bus to head south to either Cordoba or Buenos Aires…

Hope everyone back home is having a good night.