An odd thing started to happen as we drove south from Tilcara to Salta. The dusty roads gave way to tarmac, which later gave way to multi-lane motorways. The landscape, brown for so long, became greener, and suddenly, we spotted trees. As we got closer to the city, petrol stations and advertising billboards appeared. It seemed we were re-entering civilisation!

This was confirmed later that day, as we found ourselves sitting in a cafe overlooking Salta's Plaza de Mayo, sipping ice-cold Quilmes and enjoying the last of the day's sunshine. Bolivia felt a very long way away already....

Salta is the 4th largest city in Argentina, and the biggest city in the Andean northwest. It was originally founded by the Spaniards in 1582 to grow crops which simply refused to prosper in the harsher Bolivian climes – essentially, it was the bread basket for the rich silver mine owners. More recently, it's become a magnet for poor Bolivian and rural Argentinian families, seeking their fortune in the big city. As a result, it's a bit of a melting pot, which we caught a glimpse of from the variety of faces we saw whilst people-watching in the square: Argentinians have a more diverse heritage than most of their South American neighbours, as a result of immigration from across Europe in the last few centuries.

One of the things we were most excited about on arriving in Argentina proper was the food, especially after 2 weeks of Bolivian 'cuisine,' and it didn't disappoint. Salta is famous for its empañadas, which are scoffed in large quantities for lunch, for dinner, and at any time inbetween. We ate as many as we could get our hands on – I fear I may have a new addiction. We had both been dreaming about a proper steak for weeks and although the beef is allegedly best further south, we couldn't stop ourselves indulging in some red meat at the appropriately named Bifé del Rey, or King of Beef. Or at least, we tried to. The menu was divided according to cuts of meat, which was a little beyond our Spanish skills. Instead we opted for the 'point and guess' approach. This worked well for me, but James was less successful – he ended up with a chicken leg. I gave him half of mine out of pity.

Salta is described by the Lonely Planet as “smoothing ruffled psyches” and this was definitely true for us – we focused on eating, drinking, sleeping and enjoying the relative normalcy of our surroundings. But we did make time for a bit of sightseeing. Starved of modern art in recent weeks, we made a beeline for the small but delightful Modern Art Museum, currently showcasing giant inflatable bats, flowers and plasticine monsters. It was pretty surreal.

I also visited the High Altitude Archeology Museum, better known as the house of frozen mummies, like the one we saw in Arequipa. James decided one mummy museum was enough for him, and opted out. Salta's 3 mummies, a teenage girl and two six year olds (one male, one female) were found at the peak of Mount Llullaillaco, some 480km from Salta, during a 1999 expedition of the 6739m mountain. Of all the mummies discovered from the Incan era to date, they are by far the best preserved, kept in near-perfect condition as a result of the freezing temperatures, low pressure and lack of oxygen. The museum was a lot slicker than the one in Arequipa – though I almost missed the creepy guide leading us around. The mummies are displayed on rotation, again effectively in a large freezer. On the day I visited it was The Girl Struck by Lightning, kept in a quiet room under the watchful gaze of a guard. She still looked so perfect, I got freaked out she was going to open her eyes if I got too close. Eerie stuff.