The bus was very busy, but I managed to sleep in fits and starts. At about 8 in the morning, the countryside around Salta rolled into view, with green hills and huge cloud formations carrying more rain.

I settled into the Hotel Petit, which has a lovely patio and the teleferico zooming overhead, and set out for the city centre.

Can I just say that Argentina, in my opinion, is the most dangerous country I've been to so far? Not because of crime, no, but because of Argentinian drivers. They are absolutely nuts and crossing a big road like the one outside my hotel is absolute horror!

Luckily I had the leafy Parque San Martin to walk through to calm down, even though there is a main road going straight through it... Salta looked sunkissed, lined with palm trees, full of fountains and statues of people no one's ever heard of.

I went into a few agencies to plan a day trip to the surrounding countryside, and decided upon Cafayate. It's hard to say what makes you choose one agency over another, as they are all very similar in route and price. I suppose in this case, it was the colour of the brochure (red) and the fact that the lady at the agency was called Natalia. Vey informed decision, so.

I had a great lunch at the New Time café, outside (salad with chicken, lettuce, raisins and apple). There are lots of shoeshine boys around, and people selling everything from razors to tacky souvernirs to cherries, but they seem to be part of the scenery and the Argentinians always acknowledge them and talk to them.

From one to four, Salta closes down, so I watched the world go by in the park until everything opened again. I went into the Museo Historico del Norte, again being the only person there, and had a quick look at the hodge podge collection, but I really wanted to see the building, the 18th century Cabildo (I'm copying LP here) as it has lovely views over the plaza and great cobblestone patio's.

I walked passed the Cathedral, which looked like a wedding cake in pink and yellow. It 'flaunts the flag of the gaucho's' (LP again) which is bright red and clashes horribly, colour scheme wise. Not to be outdone, the Iglesia San Francisco is even more horrendously flashy, giddy like a Christmas tree in dark reds and gold. Ugh.

The Convento de San Bernardo is a bit more modest, but you can't visit it as the nuns want to be left in peace, and who can blame them?

I had lunch at El Palacio del Pizza, and at about nine in the evening I was the only person there, except for two English people who obviously have the LP too. I was wondering what that sauce was on my pizza tropical, when I realised it was from where the Del Monte pieces of fruit (no fresh pineapple here!) had soaked their juice into the mozzarella. It wasn't even that bad!

Getting back to the hotel, I saw there was mass in the square. Tomorrow is a holiday here, the day of the Immaculate Conception. Does that mean Maria was only pregnant for a good two weeks?