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Published: March 5th 2007
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Salta to Cachi
The road from to Salta to Cachi starts out going through the lush Lerma Valley. Things quickly changed from the green to the colorful rocks of the Quebrada de Escoipe. This was the first place in South America where we saw cactus. This mostly gravel, winding road climbs to over 10,000 ft. You may have heard of the famous Train to the Clouds, but we felt like we were in the Rental Car to the clouds as we drove higher and higher. The clouds really came down all around us at one point and we could barely see anything. Fortuntately the burros along the road were wise enough to stay out of our way!
As we descended, we drove through Parque Nacional Los Cardones named for the cardone (or candelabra) cactus that grow everywhere. Never thought we´d see cactus at 10,000 ft, but we did. These cactus were the only source of wood in the area for the pre-Columbian people, and the Spainards also used it as we saw in the church in Cachi.
We reached Cachi just as it was getting dark and started to look for the Municipal Campground we had read about in
our guide book. We must have been distracted during our first cruise through town by the hoardes of people and ear-drum-popping music because we couldn´t find it. But on second pass, we discovered that the campground was directly behind the hoardes of people and ear-drum-poppin´music. Hooray for us!
Actually, it turned out that night, the fine folks of Cachi (pop´n 2235) were celebrating Carnival that night with a traditional dance in their town´s public stadium. At first we thought we were in for a rough night, but in true lemons to lemonade style, we actually went to the dance. We tried to be wallflowers at first, sitting in the corner with our Salta beer, but the silly string, the painted faces, and the local people actually asking us to dance won us over in no time. Soon, we were dancing away on the dance floor with everyone else. Once I heard the band (there were several over the course of the night) play a Merengue tune, I was hooked. The only thing that was really odd for us, was that no one in the audience, dancers and spectactors alike, would clap after any song. A band would finish their
set and after that...nothing (insert Dave´s cricket sound effect here). But regardless, we had a great time.
Tired from our day of mini-missions and driving, we hit the tent around 1am. The super loud music continued until 4am, but somehow we managed to sleep even though the campground was more or less ¨backstage¨.
Cachi to Cafayate
We were up and out of Cachi relatively early the next day. A quick visit to the town square for some photos and to get the deposit back from the previous night´s beer, and we were outta there. The road from there to Cafayate was extremely dusty and rough and it took a LONG time. There were some really beautiful sights along the way however.
Cafayate is another of Argentina´s major wine producing regions. It mostly specializes in the fruity white Torrontes. It is a varietal of grape that came originally from Spain, but isn´t grown there any longer. Apparently, it does better in the climate of Cafayate (mild, dry and high altitude...about 1660 above sea level). We finally arrived in the afternoon...siesta time. We found some wonderful cheese empanadas and sat for a bit before heading back to the car
to find our camping spot for the night. There were LOTS of campgrounds in this town...all FULL of Argentine families and travellers. They weren´t particulary nice, but we found a spot to call home for the night. We set up our tent and then headed back to the town as it was coming to life after the afternoon siesta.
As part of this town´s Carnaval celebrations, they were having a folk singing festival, so in between dinner in the central plaza, shopping, and general people watching, we took in a few performances as well. It´s so fun to be outside in the evening watching neighbors and families out enjoying themselves. It doesn´t seem to matter if it´s midnight, kids are still out riding their bikes around the square, grandmothers are chatting on park benches....beats driving the big rig into the McMansion, door shutting behind you and gooíng out all night in front of the TV.
There are SO, SO many photos we want to share from this part of the trip, I´m going to have to break this entry into two parts. So, come back soon to read and see all about the wineries of Cafayate, as well as see why Dave took so many photos of rocks!!! Thanks for reading! - KJ
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