Day 12 - Horseback riding in Salta

I am currently in Salta. Salta is a beautiful city. So far it is my favorite city. It is not too big, but still big enough to be lively and have a lot of character. The buildings are beautiful. The architecture is very unique. Some of the buildings are off white and when the sun hits them they turn pink. There are some very nice parks here too. Today I went to the market as well. I loved the market. There were all kinds of cool things there. I don´t want to disclose what they were because I may have purchased a few gifts for a few individuals. :) As for myself I bought two new braclets. I really like them. The police here also regulate the traffic. It is kind of fun watching them run around blowing their whistle at folks when traffic gets heavy. (I watched one cop while I was eating my lunch and taking a break from my market experience.)

Salta has it´s own style. I think that is why I like it so much. You have the cafe´s like you do in Buenos Aires, you have the unique architecture like you do in Corrientes, and you have that exposure to the wilderness like you do in Iguazu. And on top of it all you have a completely different atmosphere then any of those cities. Salta is very western. I like that.

My favorite part about Salta is the bakery though. They have this AMAZING bakery. I have had four pastries today. They were so good. I am going to stock up before I leave tomorrow. They are two for a peco. A deadly mix I know.

I went out on a horseback riding excursion today. It was just me and my guide. He was really nice. He didn´t speak good english and I didn´t speak good spanish but we managed and we had a great time. He even gave me a little card with Mary on it to protect me during my travels since I was traveling solo.

I road on Pink Floyd and he road on Osama Bin Ladin (I don´t know how to spell his name, but you know who I am talking about). They named my horse Pink Floyd because he is kind of brown and tan with a light color to him that resembles pink. They named the other one Osama Bin Ladin because he is black and white. I know that doesn´t make any sense, but oh well.

We road for about three hours through the valley just outside the Andes mountains. It was absolutly stunning. The hills seemed to go forever. There were wild horses and wild cattle roaming the hills. The sun was beating down on us. We were close to the city, but yet so far away. I even got sunburnt. How exciting! Wait until you see my pictures. They are really beautiful.

After I went horseback riding I took a little venture through the city. Salta is a lot like Corrientes in the sense that the city shuts down for a couple hours during the day. In the morning is when I went to the market and ate all of the baked goods. After my horseback riding, around 6:30pm, is when I went out exploring. The city was so lively with people in the streets, music playing, and people sitting at cafes. I really loved it.

Salta is beautiful. If I were to come again this would be the place I would try and spend the majority of my time. You can take your time in the city, but escaping the city is only about 20 minutes away. I love it.