Salta...First stop in the Northwest

This first bus ride was the worst of the trip. It was the longest, about 24 hours, and we also had to get the lowest class tickets. The heat was broken, so it was either boiling hot or freezing cold. The food was horrible as were the movies they showed. But, we made it to Tucumán alive.
When we got off the bus in Tucumán, at about 7 pm, we went to go pick up our rental car, only to find out that the road we were planning to take to Cafayate was closed to do snow and ice, which changed our plans completely. We had dinner at an amazing empanada place as we figured out a new plan of attack. We decided to find a hostal in Salta and head there that night, to at least get some driving out of the way. One thing we learned, quickly, is that it takes about an hour or more longer to drive anywhere than what any local person tells you! We arrived in Salta at about 2 am, and checked into the worst hostal of the trip, Corre Caminos. The hostal was freezing, had no heat, and did not meet our cleanliness standards. In the morning, there wasn’t enough hot water for all of us to shower, so I got an ice cold rinse. We were so glad to leave that place!We spent the afternoon walking around Salta, checking out some gorgeous cathedrals and colonial architecture. We went to a very interesting museum where we saw some of the best-preserved mummies in the world. The mummies were children that the Inca people sacrificed. They still had their hair, clothes, everything intact.