I was really looking forward to the long -distance Argentinean bus ride, but.... it was not all that great this time... The seats were not the comfortable, the food that they served was uneatable. I had 6 croissants that day... because I kept buying them on every stop, to kill the hunger. And... I was sitting next to the big Argentinean men, former marine, who wore very short shorts,had a very short hair cut and kept looking after me and talking to me.... for 20 plus hours... Usually, for me, buses are great places to enjoy your own company, be alone and do whatever I want. Not this time around... the men would just not leave me alone and always had something to say... every 5 min... To top it off, when we arrived and it was time to get my bag, my bag was absolutely wet, every single piece of clothes and all the books were wet! Well,, you cant take the American out of me, so of course, I filed a report and wrote a huge complain.... in Spanish...:(.. The guys who worked there thought I was an idiot, and probably threw it away... :). But ... as of right now, I am still kinda angry and am thinking of perusing my complain all the way... I have a copy and names of people in charge :). Who knows, I might forget about it tomorrow. Now I am in Salta city, in the Northeast of Argentina. The landscape had changed from the Patagonian glaciers, mountains and lakes, waterfalls to surreal canyons and desert like scenery. Salta is such a beautiful town... Its very confusing because it does not feel like you are still in Argentina. It feels like I am getting closer to Bolivia and Peru!!! Yeah!!! People have indigenous look and very kind, its cheaper, the cars are older, the bread is different and they serve humitas and tamales here...not so much steak, but still lots of good and cheap wine!!!! But I would not really know about steaks...because I am only going to eat salads here... after all of those croissants...! I am staying in the bed and breakfast kind of hostel.. a nice breath of air for me... nice to finally get some privacy! And I can finally spend as much time as I want with my new little computer notebook and Google whatever the hell I want ::)) !!! But, I miss traveling with Marina (you, loca!! :). There is so much to do around here!!! First I want to explore the Valley of Calchaquies, along the Ruta 40!!!! Once again, the mystical Ruta 40!!!! The problem is that the roads are dirt and pebble roads, and there is no public transportation there between the villages. The thing is that the best way to see the surrounding villages is by renting a car... (But I don't drive and have nobody around in my hostel to try to convince to rent one...) There is also a tour (which I hate to do, because, its an all-day tour on the bus, where the driver will let you out to take pictures and eat lunch and many-many hours on the road from point to point). After 2 days of indecisiveness, I decided, that I will go for it... and try to do it on my own. I will take a 7 am bus tomorrow morning to Cachi, one of the villages that is served by public transport, and will try to hitchhike for several days from one village to another to see all of that beautiful landscape and get off the gringo trail for a minute!!!! And will report how it went in the following post!!!