Cachi and the Valles Calchaquies

Shocked and stunned
Having had such a great day trip to Cafayate, to the south of Salta, we did not believe that our trip to Cachi could be anything other than a disappointment by comparison. How wrong we were. Today threw up simply awesome scenery which was ever changing throughout our journey to the town of Cachi. For anyone in this area, a trip to Cachi should be a priority.

Words won´t do it justice
Departing at 7am, we clambered onto the small tour bus bleary eyed and in no mood to converse in Spanish with our fellow passengers. We had travelled the first hour of the road on the way to Cafayate already, so this proved a good chance to slowly wake up and ask inquisitive questions etc. of the area. After an hour more we turned off the main road and started to climb through the Valles Calchaquies on route to Cachi. The road traversed up "Bishops slope" to a height of 3,348 metres. Looking back down at the winding road we'd just climbed was quite breathtaking and all around were beautiful green covered hills and a few cacti.

From there we entered Parque Nacional Los Cardones (The Cactus plant national park) which was the absolute highlight of the trip and indeed one of the most impressive things we have seen in South America so far (as good as some parts of Torres del Paine even). The hills were a whole array of colours and in the foreground were simply thousands of cacti. Quite a sight to behold.

After that we drove through a small town where we saw the locals drying huge fields of red peppers in the baking sun. The next and final stop was in Cachi itself - a tiny little town with a church, museum and small square at its centre. The town has a government preservation order so it's beautifully maintained in the old colonial style. The streets and buildings were very picturesque, even the sign posts have to be made in the old style out of cactus wood. We had a good look round and soaked up the ambiance on a streetside cafe by the main plaza eating a cracking lunch of barbequed goat - a local delicacy.

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