The Week of Steak

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So, we got back to San Pedro, and went looking for a bus to Salta. Only problem was that there weren't any until 2 January. Not wanting to stay in San Pedro for over a week, I had decided to either try and hitchhike, or go down to La Serena with Rob and Beth. I went to bed on Boxing Day pondering this decision.

About an hour later I got woken up by Mirte, who had come across 2 girls in the street that had a car going to Salta tomorrow, and needed 2 people to fill it up. After a small bit of negotiation over the price, it was all sorted, and I was going to Salta, Argentina. Steak Ahoy!

Steak 1

The actual day of travel wasn't much special. We met our driver Humberto, and took the 10 hour journey across the border. It involved a small bit of lying to Argentinian border officials, as private vehicles aren't meant to take paying passengers, but they bought it, and we were home and dry. First impressions of Salta were really good, as we drove past the teleferico (cable car) and a great park with lots of people mingling around (and more importantly for me, street food!)

But I'll cut to the chase. We found a hostel, then set out for steak. An Argentine pointed us towards what he said was the cheapest place to buy steak. The fact he was wearing a flash suit should probably have told us that his definition of cheap might not align with ours, and sure enough, we ended up in a pretty pricey area. We were hungry though, and it was my first night in Argentina, so we found somewhere and stayed put. After working out which item on the menu was steak (not the easiest task) all we had to do is wait. What came out were huge pieces of meat, all of which were sadly overcooked. Could do better.

Steak 2

So today we had a day to explore Salta properly. Which generally meant pottering around the streets with no particular direction. It was pretty nice though. In the afternoon, most of us eschewed the gondola to walk up to Cerro San Bernado, from where there were supposed to be lovely views. However, it was bucketing down with rain, so sadly the beautiful views weren't really apparent. Ah well. After last nights disaster, I'd learnt the word for rare, so tonights steak was cooked better. Still think I could do better though.

Steaks 3 & 4

Not much to report on day 3, it was rainy and miserable, so I'll cut to the steak. I put my theory into practise, and bought steaks from the supermarket to cook up. And sure enough, they were cooked much better than the restaurants so far.

The day after I took a bus to Cachi, which is a small village near Salta. The main reason I did this is that the journey is supposed to be one of the most spectacular in Argentina. So I was more than a little annoyed at myself when I woke up in Cachi having slept through the entire trip. Bugger. To make up for this, I found out there were some ruins about 16km away. I fancied a bit of hiking, so ignored the lady at the tourist office who told me to take a taxi, and set off on Shanks' Pony. The walk there was really pleasant, wandering past huge cacti, with superb views of the Nevada de Cachi. However, when I reached where the ruins were supposed to be I ran into problems... I couldn't find them. This time, not having a guide proved to be my downfall. With a storm approaching, I turned on my heels and headed for home.

I just about got back dry, although the site of a lone gringo wandering down country lanes in the rain seemed to be very amusing to the residents of the odd houses that were dotted around. Especially when said gringo has no water left and decided against taking a rain jacket. The last mile or so was absolute hell, as my legs had given up on me, I now know what marathon runners talk about when they say they hit "The Wall". Luckily, back in Cachi there was steak to cheer me up, and this one was very well cooked, and came with a fried egg.

Steak 5 (Last steak of 2008)

I managed to stay awake for the return journey to Salta, and I can report that it was indeed a spectactular journey, as we descended through green mountain valleys, crossing rivers, and on one occasion having to wait for a JCB to clear us a path on the road. In Salta, I headed back up Cerro San Bernardo as the weather was much better than last time, and watched the sun set on 2008. It's been a good year.

Then it was back to the hostel for the NYE party. There was a good mix of foreigners and Argentinians staying there, and it was a really fun night. Most importantly, the steak was cooked almost to perfection, which has been something of a rarity among the Argentians so far, so all credit to Diego for that. At midnight, we tried to get a good hearty Auld Lang Syne going, but the Argies weren't really buying it. Their loss I believe.

Steak 6 (First steak of 2009)

Ah, the day of steak. I woke up reasonably early, and found that there was still one guy still awake from last night. He gave me a bit of stick about how the English always go to bed early, and the Argies know how to party, but I was quite willing to take this, being as he then pulled out the unfinished steak from last night. Score! I should also point out that this guy then spent half of the day passed out on a table in the middle of the hostel, so more fool him!

National holidays are taken pretty seriously here, and on a walk round Salta, literally nothing was open. Even bars had shut their doors for the day. Therefore, there was no option but to return to the hostel, drink mate and eat steak. A tough job, but someones got to do it! Throughout the oourse of the day, the mate turned into fernet, a very popular and strong drink here, which I personally haven't quite taken to yet. But it meant another fun evening was in store, with the only alarm being when someone said my steak didn't count for the Week of Steak as it was the same batch as last night. I panicked and bought a steak sandwich from the street to make sure I was covered.

Steak 7

My last day in Salta, as I had a night bus to Mendoza to meet up with Rob and Beth (and Molly as it turned out, but I didn't know that at this point). Throughout the day, the folks that had been there for New Year all gradually left, and it turned out there would only be one person staying that night, so it was a good time to leave. I can't really think of anything exciting that happened, so once again, I'll cut to the steak.

And what a steak! To celebrate the end of the best week of food ever, I ordered the best cut from the butcher, and complimented it with black pudding and blue cheese. I cooked it to absolute perfection and it was incredible. I've now considered it fully, and this was the best steak I have ever eaten. And that award isn't given out lightly.

So, full of steak, and happy, I got the night bus to Mendoza, where more adventures... and steak... would surely await.

Stewart

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