Relaxation and wine

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- FOOD: Banana licuado (had forgotten about this Argentinian joy), food loaded with salt (had forgotten about this Argentinian obsession), lovely wine and cheese, more lovely wine, wine flavoured ice cream (that I didn't get to try)

- AREA: Nice, small little town with hardly anyone around - just what I like; nicer than HI hostal with rooms around an orange tree courtyard; relaxing long walk to the Finca Las Nubes bodega (one of many)

- PEOPLE: Crazy hostal woman obsessed with showers

- WEATHER: More sun


Thurs 2nd: I escaped the hell hole as soon as poss and recovered in the plaza, soaking up the sun. I decided at this point not to do the Inca trail or the East coast of Oz as both will be packed with people I´d rather avoid and I get the impression as amazing as they are, they are a tad hyped. I know thousands will disagree with me but there are other Inca trails to do, Machu Picchu can be reached at sunrise by train and I have very limited time in Oz.

I caught a bus to a small village 6 hours from Salta, Cafayate - the relief of being back in a tiny town where there's only a handful of people wandering around.
I avoided the HI woman successfully and instead found a nice little hospedaje where I had my own room and bathroom which faced a nice little sunny courtyard with orange trees for the same price.

The town is cute and small but has everything in it, including a poker joint! I ate chicken lasagne which was SO well presented by very polite staff but just too big.

I was just appreciating my lovely room with it's dark wood and red stone floor when a knock at my door revealed a woman from Malory Towers with bouffant hair pinned up, big old fashioned glasses, thin features, a wool suit with a silk scarf, thick beige tights and shoes with huge buckles. She spoke to me VERY LOUDLY and s-l-o-w-l-y so I would understand her and informed me she was a Spanish teacher (she communicated this with many hand gestures).
She was very interested to know what time I´d be having a shower, how many nights I was staying and gave me her room number and told me to knock on the door - whatthe....??! I had a giggling fit when she left.


Fri 3rd: I local man Pedro decided to help me get to know the town. I was immediately suspicious and looked for an HI badge on him. But he seemed nice and just genuinely friendly.

I´d forgotten about banana licuado´s and had a big one for lunch... along with food LOADED with salt. Everywhere I go I seem to attract the local dogs (animals that is) - I think they suss my soft spot. How can you refuse to feed them when they look at you with those big eyes? I know it´s bad to encourage their begging but hey...

I went on a nice 5k walk to Finca Las Nubes which is one of the many bodegas in the area. It was a very relaxing walk, with only about 3 other people passing me, through fields covered in grape vines with mountains as a backdrop.
The bodega is run by a family and after a very small talk about the wine (they only export to Brazil unfortunately but plan to get bigger in time), I tried a white and a red.
They were very different tasting and I liked a lot so sat on the terrace, overlooking the vines, with a big glass of the red (mixture of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon) and a plate of cheese. What a perfect way to spend an afternoon!

Because of my lack of alcohol consumption recently, I actually felt a bit drunk so sauntered back slowly, deciding I couldn't be bothered to go to the wine museum or any other bodegas and would rather go and sample wine flavoured ice cream!
But the heladaria was closed so instead I went for dinner and had more wine. What was I thinking... wine flavoured ice cream when I can have the real thing! After half a bottle of lovely Michael Torino Cab Sav (this stuff is everywhere), I was tempted to accept the waiter's offer of going to the local disco but didn't.

That mad woman was hassling me about showers again when I got back which really amused me but the smile was wiped off my face when the cleaners had left my room unlocked and tidied everything away so thoroughly I thought my boots had been stolen. Everything was lined up and folded neatly - freaked out.

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