I’ve been in Salta for a day now and have:

1] Taken a run for the first time after the big one. It went well.

2] Gone to see some naturally preserved mummies in space-age cryogenic capsules.

3] Taken a tram up to the top of a nearby (stubby) mountain and walked around the mini-garden at the top.

4] Signed up for a trip to Las Nubes (not the tren as it’s a bit pricey) on Wednesday (they only run Wednesday and Saturday) and one to Cachi tomorrow.

5] Met a nice Dutch young woman named Astrid with whom I’m going to travel to Iguazu on Thursday; I seem to have missed it somehow. I’ll be foregoing Mendoza for this, as I’ve heard Mendoza is more of a “couples” destination, and frankly, I’m not that into wine. I’m more into waterfalls, giant ones. I’ll then be heading directly to Bariloche. This is a change of plans, and if you look at a map of Argentina, you’ll see it’s a goofy one, involving a lot of bus travel.

5] Bought a camera. I’ll soon be losing/breaking it. Whatevs.

Luego!

Appendage:

I wasn’t able to go on the much-celebrated Salta rafting trip on Tuesday, as the company that was coordinating the outing called the night before and told me that there was a “weather advisory,” so I went back the next day and got my money back. I’m not sure what the weather advisory was, though, seeing as the next day was sunny and about 80 degrees. I was, however, able to do both the Cachi tour and the Tren de Las Nubes (in a microbus instead of the train), and they were both fun and made me excited to hang out with some nature pretty soon.

Goofy Salt Flat pictures from Las Nubes:

My trip to super Salta was happily concluded with a trip to the (one) nightclub where we drank “toothpastes,” which seem to be the national drink of Young Argentina, Fernet Blanco and Coca-Cola. Fernet Blanco used to be sold as a medicinal herb concoction and was co-opted by the youth to be used for recreational purposes. So, fun, but disgusting. Eduardo the quiet Brazilian* showed us all a thing or two about dancing, and it helped me to better understand the South American dance club experience.

Left: After a Couple Toothpastes; Right: Eduardo & Mierna

Chau for Ahora.

*Eduardo was the sweetest man, a nurse who also worked at his family’s funeral home back in Salvatore. He was a big guy, very quiet and self-conscious about his English (as he obviously spoke Portuguese, no one was able to understand his native language), but once he had a glass or two of wine or toothpaste in him, he could speak volumes about literature or politics or Carnivale in Rio, or show the ladies we were with how it felt to dance with a man full of amor.