The city of Salta is located in northern Argentina. It has a population of 700,000 people and is the gateway to exploring the beautiful provinces of JuJuy and Salta. Salta is known for its empanadas, beautiful mountains, and rich history as the southern part of the Incan empire. It also has an affordable cost of living. These are the prices we've been seeing during our time here.

Let's start with grocery prices. Shopping at the local Carrefour, we found bananas for 90 cents a pound (US Dollars), eggs for $1.60 a dozen, and a loaf of bread for $2.80.

In all, we were able to do groceries here for about $50 a week, though we ate out a few times too.

Restaurants are well priced. The famous Salta empanadas are about 50 cents each. And we also had a delicious poncho, or foot-long hot dog, on super fresh bread for about a dollar. If you're eating street food, the 9th of July Plaza in the center of town is a great place to take your food and people watch.

Or you can eat at a nicer sit-down restaurants for about $10 per person. Of course you can spend a lot more too!

And there is always an option to get your food delivered using the PedidosYa app. A couple of pizzas cost us about $15 including delivery fees.

Now let's talk about accommodations. We rented a one-bedroom apartment near the center of the city, with a comfy sofa, modern bathroom, and well-equiped kitchen for what ended up working out to less than $20/night or $600 for a month. And we're paying full tourist rates for that!

Higher-quality clothing and shoes are a little pricier here, like they can be in many part of Argentina. We found this out when I tried to replace a pair of lounge pants that have developed a hole. If you go to the mall, you can expect to pay at least $50 for a pair of shoes. And name brand running shoes can be well over $100.

When shopping you might see the "0 interest" signs in front of the shops. If you pay by credit card, you can break up the payments with no interest. A few locals have told us this is the way they like to make purchases because of the high inflation in Argentina.

For some items you can get much better deals at the markets, though you may not be getting the same quality.

In the self-care category, a monthly gym membership costs about $20, and getting my nails done was just $5.

For transportation, we haven't used the local bus service because this city is so walkable. We did take a taxi from the airport to our accommodation. The 20 minute ride cost us less than $5.

Salta is surrounded by hills. You can get your workout in climbing the stone steps up to the San Bernadino lookout. Or you have the option of taking the gondola for few dollars if you want to enjoy the view without the sweat.

There is also the San Miguel Market, where you can buy so much stuff like food, spices, souvenirs, and sunglasses. Though watch out for their hours. Like many things in Salta, they close for a few hours in the afternoon.

Salta is a great place to spend some time. I really loved both spending time in this affordable city and using it as a base to explore the surrounding area.

Our early retirement slow travel adventures have brought us to northern Argentina. We're on a 7 day road trip to explore the provinces of Salta and JuJuy. We hiked through the quebradas near Cafayate and Cachi, visited the multi-colours mountains around Purmamarca and Humahuaca, walked on the Salinas Grandes salt flats, saw 500 year old incan sites at Barrancas, drove, and got stuck on, on the famous Ruta 40, and surrounded ourselves in fields of cacti and amazing rock formations. But driving a car in a new country takes some getting used to. Here's what it was like to take a road trip in northern Argentina.

Our 7 day road trip through northern Argentina starts in the city of Salta. We drive south to Cafayate, north to Cachi, over to Purmamarca, up to Humahuaca and back to Purmamarca, across the Salinas Grandes Salt Flats to Susques, south to San Antonio de los Cobres, and back to Salta.

Day 1: Salta to Cafayate, 197km
Hotel: El Hospedaje

Driving a rental car means we don't have our usual supplies and emergency kits that we're used to having when we're taking a road trip in our Honda Pilot. So our first stop was picking up water and other supplies to have as we drive through remote parts of Argentina. And after that, we quickly found ourselves among some stunning sites.

This area is located just north of the town of Cafayate and is famous for its red rock formations. It has the famous Devil's Throat, the Quebrada de las Conchas, and the Amphitheatre. It's a beautiful area, but it is also HOT! We ended up hiking in temperatures above 33 deg. C.

Being among these rocks, I really would have loved to spend the night here. It's too bad we don't have our Honda Pilot here with us, but driving a bit farther, we found a cool hostel in Cafayate for $20 for the night.

Day 2: Cafayate to Cachi, 160km
Hotel: La Morada del Valle

More amazing spots along this route, including the Quebrada de las Flechas.

Our drive is going well until we notice the storm system in front of us. We decide to keep going and hopefully make it to Cachi before there are any washouts.

A few nerve-wracking hours later we finally made it into Cachi and found this cute little guest house. We were starving and glad the village had a sandwich place that was willing to make us some food. Otherwise it would have been more peanut butter sandwiches from our emergency supply.

Day 3: Cachi to Purmamarca, 337km
Hotel: Terrazas de la Posta

The next day we were back to full sunshine for our drive from Cachi to Purmamarca through Salta. This was a beautiful drive but also a very long day on the road.

This drive took us from lower elevations all the way up to 2324 meters (7625 ft).

We splurged on a more luxury accommodation here with comfortable sitting areas and lovely views of the mountains, including the famous 7-coloured mountain.

Day 4: Purmamarca to Humahuaca and back to Purmamarca
Hotel: Terrazas de la Posta

Day 4 took us on some nail-bitter roads.

But then we saw El Hornocal and it made it all worth it.

On the way back, we saw a sign for a town down another dirt road. We weren't sure what we were getting into, but we decided to go for it. It ended up being a pretty sketchy road that didn't lead anywhere particularly interesting. I don't know why we do this to ourselves sometimes.

Time get back on the main highway and to more well known landmarks, like the tropic of Capricorn.

Actually, scratch that, let's go up another dicey road with the promise of some views at the end.

Here we visited our third Devil's Throat in Argentina (after Iguazu and the one near Cafayate) and checked out a small waterfall.

Day 5: Purmamarca to Susques, 134km
Hotel: El Kactus

The next day took us to the completely different views and the Salinas Grandes Salt Flats. These salt flats cover an area of over 82 sq miles (212 sq km) and are at an altitude of 3450m (11,320 ft)

After the Salinas Grandes salt flats, we weren't quite sure what to do or where to go. Then we saw a sign advertising Incan ruins in Barrancas, so we decided to head there. Time for another dirt road....

In Barrancas, we were able to see pictographs and rock art made by in the Incans, remnants of their homes, and perhaps the most significant find of the area, the Piedra Mapa or Stone Map of the area.

Day 6: Susques to San Antonio de los Cobres, 127km
Hotel: Hotel de los Cobres

Day 6 took us down the sketchiest part of road so far, the 127km stretch of Ruta 40 between Susques and San Antonio de los Cobres.

The road changed a lot and we had some pretty muddy sections as we went through. It was nerve racking knowing we only had 2WD and we hadn't really seen any other cars going by. Plus we didn't have cell coverage. We probably weren't making the smartest choices here. Then this happened.

I was so nervous I couldn't even film. We spent a long time trying to dig ourselves out and figure out what to do. We hadn't seen any other cars along the road. Then finally, we saw a car coming towards us. The couple looked at our car and said they could get us out. After figuring a few things out, we made our first attempt. It moved the car, but we were still stuck. So then the second attempt. It was successful! We were out!

The next few kilometers were pretty rough. It took us a long time as we kept having to build up road using rocks. Then we finally made it to the viaduct.

After a very stressful day, we found a nice hotel and ended up going out for dinner with the couple that rescued us.

Day 7: San Antonio de los Cobres to Salta, 170km

The next day we headed back to Salta without any incidents.

We were so lucky to be in a place with amazing people that are willing to help when something goes wrong. Salta and JuJuy provinces are stunning, but the roads are rugged and I would definitely take even more precautions and pay the extra money for a 4 wheel drive vehicle if I were to do it again.