Salta

Our first experience of an Argentinian town was Salta, 7 hours south of the Bolivian border. And what a lovely town it turned out to be. While Bolivia is far removed from European culture, Salta could easily be a popular Mediterranean tourist town, with beautiful squares and parks and a vibrant cafe culture.  We settled right in with some great steak and a bottle of Malbec, followed by some champagne, courtesy of a traveller friend (more affluent than ourselves). 
Salta's cathedral in the main plaza in Salta, considered to be the most beautiful in ArgentinaNoone in the coffee shops whihc line the plaza during the afternoon siesta time, but by early evening, they are full
It's lovely to see great big trees again. They have been very scarce over the last few months in the high Andes. 
Every good tourist town needs a cable car. This one, built by Swiss engineers in 1983, took us to the top of a big hill overlooking the city, complete with artificial waterfalls.
The view over Salta from the ascending cable car.

Having spent a day and a half happily relaxing into the Argentinian way of life, we went for a lovely walk in the surrounding countryside before catching a nightbus south to Mendoza.