Blogs from Cachi, Salta, Argentina, South America
April 24th 2012
There is a term used often in South America, describing the route that most westerners take as ‘The Gringo Trail’. This is an apt name and not wholly used with derision, as the places visited are, in most cases, definitely worth setting foot in. However, due to following the advice of locals and hostel owners, over the past few weeks I have often felt that I am well and truly off the trail, for I have not seen another westerner and the only English spoken is none. This was not intentional on my behalf, yet my Spanish has improved markedly over the past few weeks and I have seen and experienced some truly majestic things. Recently, I took a bus to the village of Cachi, located in the mountains of north-west Argentina. The words used to ... read more
July 8th 2011
Salta was an exciting town, tourists flock here for rafting, repelling, bungee jumping and horseriding. Me and James attempted to make a booking for white water rafting and zip lining (the highest farthest in the world supposedly) but they werent opening for the next day. We ended up booking a horse riding tour (i still dont know why i agreed... something to do), it was supposed to be regional wine and BBQ as well as some amazing views. I was feeling a little better, agreed to go out with two friends for steak and wine (argentina is supposed to have the best steak). The steak was 70 pesos (wowsas) for just the steak, mind you it was the size of a frisbee but thick. I managed to eat 3´/4 of it as i hadnt eaten ... read more
July 5th 2011
Another day trip from Salta.... we made our way to Cachi! On the way we enountered a beautiful stretch of the Andes Mountains. The route was quite interesting, including many hairpin turns winding up the mountains as we made our way up to over 11,500 feet. Stopping along the way for the goats and cows to cross the road and praying we wouldn't meet a bus that we had to pass as the road was not that wide! Luckily our bus driver wasn't the traditional crazy driver and took care as he drove us up. At the top there was a National Park with cacti which had over 250 different types of cacti. We stopped many times along the way to take in the breathtaking views from within the Andes Mountains. Even though it has been ... read more
January 21st 2010
Nous sommes partis de Mendoza il y a quelques jours . Nous avons fait un arret a San Lorenzo(Salta) dans le but de visiter des reserves naturelles. Il s' agit bel et bien de la jungle et la végétation en témoigne bien. J'avais espoir de voir beaucoup d'oiseaux mais malheureusement ils n'étaient pas aussi nombreux que je le croyais. Par contre la randonnée avec le guide argentin fut très intéressante.Nos h0tes au B&B étaient exceptionnels (Casa Hernandez). Le jour même ou nous y étions ils recevaient une distinction comme étant un des dix meilleurs en Amérique du Sud.(et ce malgré le fait que la chambre coûtait 45$ canadien la nuitée!!).Hier nous avons pris le volant pour prendre la route 33,sinueuse à souhait qui mène de Salta à Cachi. Les paysages à couper le souffle se succèdent ... read more
ROAD TRIP II: QUEBRADAS DE MULTICOLORES
Published: June 4th 2009South America » Argentina » Salta » Cachi
May 26th 2009
Big lasagna dinner by Andy a few more wine then off to a bar recommended by Daniel, the guy that works in the hostel, there was a young band playing, these kids are probably 18 years old, the sound system is crap but the band itself is good except for the vocals we enjoyed watching them show off their skills, we got bored pretty quickly though and we left at half time.The next morning having slept in we all got ready to do the Quebrada de Cafayate or Concha as others would call it, supposed to be gorgeous colors of the canyon and valleys around. Georigina got instructions on where to go from Daniel. We went to La Casa Empanada for lunch, this place is famous for their empanadas and for a reason, they have different ... read more
March 20th 2009
Yesterday we split the group with Gerardo, Leo and David riding directly to Salta, while the rest of us rode via Cachi, which took us up a very fertile valley and over the Cresta del Obispo mountain pass at 3,800m. I am in a bit of a rush to get this blog up, as today we head onto the dark side of the moon and will be out of contact with the rest of the world for three days, while in Bolivia. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you will see Ripper hitching a ride on the back of the chase truck....Turns out his genuine BMW battery collapsed internaly and could not supply enough power to run his moto. They have now fitted a new battery here in Salta, so maybe he can ... read more
Truth Being Stranger Than Fiction...
Published: February 18th 2009South America » Argentina » Salta » Cachi
February 18th 2009
It´s hard to decide where to begin in telling about our adventures yesterday... 1. With the amazing geography we saw? The winding, dusty, and spectacular mountain road we took? 2. With our.... interesting, tour guide? 3. With the great young Argentinian/Norwegian couple who shared the day with us? They were great fun to talk to and introduced us to mate, the national drink. We left at 7:30 am for an all day, two couple, guided tour to Cachi (a small mountain town), with a drive through the mountains to the highest point around, and back down to Cachi. We were lucky to have Silvina and Enders with us...Silvina is Argentinian/Italian and works with the UN on industry development, and Enders is from Norway and has been traveling for a year or so. They live in BA. ... read more
January 5th 2009
Oh how plans change! I discovered that to get across to the northern side of Chile to go to the desert it will be a 2 week wait for a bus! I am already behind schedule so have decided that I will go straight to Bolivia once I have finished my exploration of this part of Argentina. We had another big BBQ here at the hostel on Saturday night and I met this German girl who had hired a car and offered to take me and the english guy (I had prev met in Mendoza) on an overnight trip to Cachi and back. Cachi is just a small town about 4 hours drive from here but it is the drive that is the best part. I can only describe it as a geologist´s wet dream! It ... read more
December 10th 2008
hola juste des photos en vrac pour le plaisir. Cachi est une petite ville adorable ou nous avons passe du bon temps a flaner ci et la. A l eglise, au cimetiere.... Joyeux non? Mais bon c etait joli!!! Sur les photos il y a Vincent, Gaelle et Martin a vous de deviner qui est qui!!!! mille bisous... read more
October 24th 2008
So today which was just a beautiful chilled out day. We were up at 6.30, collected by our bus at 7 and set out for Cachi, cachi is a small town west of Salta ( salta is the town we are staying in for the last 4 days, north west Argentina), The drive was amasing, we drove through valleys and gorges reaching 3500ft, these mountains are part of the Andes. There is one part that just takes your breath away, Its called the mountains of colour, it literally is full of colours, vivid reds, cobalt blues, mossy green, burnt oranges. There are several different minerals within in the mountain face, red is iron, blue is silver, green is cooper and yellow is sulpher, It was a really sunny bright day today so the mountains were alive ... read more
