We made it to the beautiful province of Salta in Argentina during week two on crutches. The area is famous for its stunning scenery and high-altitude wineries. Most people recommend road tripping around the province to be able to spend time in all the unique little towns and stop to admire, hike, and photograph the diverse landscapes at your own pace. However, after a car breakdown in Spain and hiking through the national parks not an option due to crutches, we decided for the first time in our 16-month adventure to go the easy and cheap tourist option, the dreaded bus tour. Luckily, we found a great tour company, Nordic Travels, which has interesting, fun tour guides and keeps the groups relatively small (15-20 vs 60 in the double-decker buses that we saw). We were absolutely blown away by the array of colors and textures in this high-altitude, arid landscape and were pleasantly surprised by how much we could see within the constraints of crutches and a bus tour.
CACHI
Our first day trip from Salta city was to a sleepy town called Cachi; however, the journey was truly the destination. We went through places with cool names like Escoipe Gorge and the Enchanted Valley and zigzagged up La Cuesta del Obispo (Bishop’s Slope) to the peak at 11,102 feet.
We then drove through the Cardones National Park on a straight, flat road that was once part of the ancient Incan trail. The park gets its name thanks to a sea of cardon grande cactuses stretching as far as the eye can see.
At the edge of the national park, the mountain range was striped with various shades of pink, orange, cream, and yellow.
As for the last stretch of road into town, I don’t remember any fancy names, but the views just kept on coming.
Once in Cachi, lunchtime was upon us, and we got to try some of the local cuisine. The specialty dish in this region is a vegetable quinoa with cheese.
However, we were most impressed with the tasty, and extremely unique, desserts. One was made out of a local vegetable similar to the spaghetti squash and flavored with honey, lemon zest, walnuts, and whiskey. The other was a quite simple sweet and salty combo that was surprisingly delicious. Just a slice of cheese topped with a sweet potato. But, I honestly have no idea what they did to the sweet potato to make it taste like candy on top of the cheese.
After lunch, we wandered around the town square and were serenaded by a local woman whose poetic songs made all the local tourists crack up. I wish I knew what she was singing about.
Back on the bus for the long ride back to Salta, our tour guide told us that the woman once made up an impromptu song making fun of him when he lost some tourists and was trying to find them. She really will sing about anything!
CAFAYATE
Cafayate boasts the highest commercial vineyard in the world and is the home of one of our favorite wine varietals, Torrontès, an aromatic white wine. To be honest, the high-altitude vineyards and Torrontès, in particular, were the main reasons for choosing to visit Salta over the more popular tourist region, Mendoza. The breathtaking, unique landscapes of Salta province were an added bonus. Where else in the world can you see cactuses cheering on the grapevines?
The last 30 miles or so on the drive from Salta city to Cafayate had quite possibly our favorite scenery of all of Salta province. Here, we found the Quebrada de los Conchas (Gorge of the Shells) where the land is a deep, rust color and the mountains and rocks take on unique formations.
The area reminded us a lot of the southwest United States, and our tour guide even said that one area was used in Argentinian commercials as a stand-in for the Grand Canyon. Many of the formations are given fun names to describe their unusual shape, and the pictures below show some of our favorites.
Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat)
The Titanic
La Ventana (The Window)
Melting Mountains
The Amphitheater
The Amphitheater formation is said to have 80% of the acoustics of the opera house Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and concerts are often given here. We were fortunate to have a traveling minstrel serenade us while we were there.
In Cafayate, we were given free time for lunch and wandering the city. Of course, we headed straight to one of the famous vineyards a couple blocks from the center of town. At Bodega Nanni, we got a tour of the lovely grounds, learned more about high-altitude wineries, and tasted some fantastic wines. Their Torrontès was one of the best we have had with a bold, fruity nose of peach and apricot that surprisingly finishes crisp and dry on the palate.
We decided to stay for lunch and paired a glass of the Torrontès with the local specialty, goat. Of course, the winery added extra flare to the local dish by making a delicious sauce from their Torrontès wine.
Back on the bus tour, we rounded out the day with another winery visit and a few more scenic stops on the way back to Salta. While at Bodega Nanni, we met a fun couple from Finland who were backpacking through South America for six months. Fortuitously, they were headed to Salta city that evening, so we got to enjoy a night out on the town with them. We went to one of the most traditional peñas, a restaurant/bar with folk concerts, called La Casona del Molino. Here, impromptu jam sessions break out with locals playing their guitars and drums and singing songs that celebrate their cultural heritage and national folklore.
In addition to the great music, we got to sample more of the delicious, local cuisine, like the humita, a traditional steamed corn cake from pre-Hispanic times, and the matambre a la pizza. As Argentinians are known for their steaks, they even use thinly sliced cuts of flank steak called matambre as the crust for pizza. Traditionally, matambre is rolled-up with vegetables and spices, but this spin on the tradition tops the flank steak (or pork) with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.
Not only did we enjoy the food and music, but swapping travel woes and funny stories with our new friends was a nice change of pace. After 16 months living, traveling, and working in close proximity, Jimmy and I are running out of things to talk about. What a fantastic evening to end one of our favorite days in Salta!
SALINAS GRANDES
After our altitude sickness in Peru, we were a bit nervous to head to Salinas Grandes, which includes roads through the highest passes in the area. We heard that this was where tourists tend to get sick but that it is also a not-to-be-missed sight. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a salt flat and hoped that our week living at a ‘moderate’ high-altitude would help us conquer the altitude with no issues. The drive from Salta city to Salinas Grandes is long, but just like the other days, totally worth the effort. The highlight during the drive was definitely Cerro de los Siete Colores, the Hill of Seven Colors, that beautifully frames the small town of Purmamarca. The vibrant splash of colors greatly contrasts its rocky, treeless surroundings and the dull mountains behind it.
Each layer was formed during a different time period millions of years ago. We can thank marine sediment, river movements and plate tectonics for creating this otherworldly hill with a painter’s palette of colors. Pinks from red clay and sand, white from limestone, purples from lead and calcium bicarbonate, red from iron, green from fossilized algae with traces of copper, yellow from sulfur, and finally brown from, well, dirt is brown, right?
As we wound up the Andes Mountains through dramatic mountain passes like Cuesta del Lipan, we were rewarded with unique geological formations, a few herds of wild vicuñas, and panoramic views.
We made it to the highest point at 4170 meters (13,681 feet) and were still feeling good as we marveled at the mountain vistas.
After coming down a little bit on the other side of the pass, the gleaming white Salinas Grandes sprawled out ahead of us. We were given 45 minutes to frolic on the salt flats but were warned by our tour guide to be careful because high-altitude, salt, and intense sun can wreak havoc on your body quickly.
Although I thought I was holding up to the altitude okay and felt fine, the addition of salt and intense sun did end up having a strange effect on me.
Or perhaps Jimmy was getting tired of dealing with me on crutches and cast a spell so he could just carry me around in his pocket. Or maybe after 16 months, he was bored of me and ready to get rid of me after all.
Regardless of the reason for my mini-me status, we made it back to Purmamarca to explore the city and enjoy lunch. As with the previous tours, our tour guide recommended that we eat the specialty of the local area – llama. Jimmy had the llama stew, and I had the llama kebabs.
In Peru, llama was the last meal that I ate before I was swiftly struck down by altitude sickness. However, I am happy to report that this time the llama helped reverse the high-altitude, salt flat curse to bring me back to full size.
The locals refer to their capital city as Salta La Linda, or Salta the Beautiful, thanks to its gorgeous colonial architecture.
We completely agree that Salta city, and even more so Salta province, is an awe-inspiring place. After three weeks in Argentina, I truly can say that it should really be Argentina La Linda, although that doesn’t have as nice of a sound. The range and beauty of the landscapes and climates in Argentina is unbelievable from the arid mountain ranges of Salta to the rainforest and waterfalls in Iguazu to the open plains of the Pampas to finally (the place we missed and hope to come back to soon) the glaciers and blue lakes of Patagonia.
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