Visa & Salta, Argentina

Awhile back, I had to go to the Bolivian consulate in Salta, Argentina, to apply for an extension of my visa, since my work permit application is still being processed in La Paz, and my current tourist visa was expiring. 

There is a shuttle service from Tarija to Salta, that leaves at 4 am every morning. The morning I left it was freezing (-8°C) and got was it cold in the shuttle bus. I was sitting at the site of the door and immediately regarded not bringing blanket or extra jacket. After an hour, I was lucky that the lady next to me gave me her extra blanket, as she shared the other one with her daughter.

The drive to Salta was nice. Right after the border with Bolivia, you have much better farmland, and right away I understood why Argentina conquered this large valley during the Gran Chaco War (1932-1935). (Actually, Bolivia lost a lot of its territory during the last 200 years to all its neighboring countries Peru, Chili, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay)

When I arrived in Salta, it was snowing and it remained cold, gray and snowing for 4 days!! During the day it remained around zero and at night around minus ten Celsius! And I thought I went to the tropics ;-) It actually happened to turn out to be one of the coldest winters in Argentina and Bolivia since decades.

As I caught a cold, I didn’t see much of Salta. I did of course apply for my visa, which took 3 days to process (what else is new).

Besides visiting a mall, a movie theater, I visited some museums and bumped into Luis (Merieke’s husband, who both live in Tarija as well and are my friends). I was walking down the shopping street in the evening, when I heard someone call what I thought was my name. Since I didn’t know anyone in Salta, I thought I heard wrong, till I heard my name again. Surprised I looked over my shoulder, only to see Luis. He was only in town that evening to pick up Merieke from the airport (vacation in Holland), but her flight got canceled due to the bad weather and snow. Talk about a coincidence!! That we just happen to bump into each other that night. However, it was a great surprise and we both went out for a big famous Argentinian steak!!! The best steak ever!!! Big and juicy, just like butter!!

The other days I did a bit of shopping, however, I was a bit disappointed with the city and it’s facilities. People always say that Chili and Argentina are more developed and more modern than the surrounding countries, but frankly, Salta is not. Later I was told that the north of Argentina is a bit subordinated in comparison to the rest of the country, and as such, the infrastructure, etc. is lacking behind that of the rest of the country.

But it was good to get out of Tarija for a few days and see a bit of Argentina. I enjoyed the shopping mall, the big movie theater, the Carefour supermarket (although not to be compared to Europe, the selection was much smaller) the nice coffee bars with WIFI :-)

Here are some of the photos I took (click to enlarge them)

Photo from my hotel room, 4 days of overcast and snow

Salta sky line

Salta sky line

Hotel swimming pool on the roof (indoor)

Hotel swimming pool on the roof (outdoor), unfortunately too cold to use

Salta sky line

Salta sky line

Shopping street, felt a bit like Europe!!

Of course I had a coffee in the Van Gogh Cafe!!!

After the snow melted, an unique photo, a snowman at a plaza with palm trees

A very old hacienda, now turned into a museum

Lots of nice colonial architecture......

...... with here and there the need of some maintenance

Famous Argentine steak.... delicious!!!