Trapped in LOKI…again
Being on the road for the past seven months has meant that lately, as I come close to the end of my travels, I’ve become slightly lazy with my travel style. I guess it would also be true to say that, although I love moving on and visiting new places, I’m starting to find it a lot easier to settle in each place that I spend over a couple of days, and am enjoying it too, enjoying the relaxed nature of doing very little, and enjoying making myself at home in a hostel with new found friends.
So in Salta, northern Argentina, that’s exactly what I did.
For eight days.
It wasn’t intended that way but as I had been without my two travelling companions for the past three days, we immediately had a lot to catch up on. And just arriving in the hostel, set 40 minutes out of the city, in the stunning green Argentinian countryside, surrounded by farms, and the sounds of crickets, and the huge snow capped Andes as a backdrop, I quickly fell in love with the place.
Oh and did I mention accommodation was free?
The setting was picturesque, and for the first time on my travels I met more British travellers than ever before, and we quite simply had a great time together, relaxing in the sun by the pool, devouring the most delicious nightly parillas (Argentinas version of a BBQ, only better, much muchhh better, with the juiciest Argentinean steak and ribs and sausages being passed along the table until you literally can’t eat anymore!) and only actually leaving the hostel to venture into the city twice, once being on our final day to catch a bus to our next stop!
Paddy’s day was the most fun of all, and the main reason why I stayed an extra three days in the hostel, as the boys got to show off their talents at body painting and many fun activities were held, including the ‘Rainbow Race’ (which involved getting in a huge empty water tank in pairs and racing across the grass, ending up with huge cuts and bruises and dust covered bodies, but best of all aching bellies from laughing so hard!)
Although there were plenty of nearby places to explore, I don’t for one minute regret the time I spent lazing about the hostel as I know I will be back to Argentina sometime soon to see all the gems I missed this trip, but more importantly, because I enjoyed so much my time with my friends in the countryside, so much that I even shed a little tear on the day I finally decided to leave for BA.
