Argentina, te amo, pero usted me hace gordo!

South America » Argentina » Salta
November 14th 2007

Published: November 15th 2007

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wayward woman

our view

Could you ask for a better view in the morning

Northwest Argentina is the land of food and wine. Well, okay... Argentina, the 8th largest country in the world, can be called the land of many things. But I choose to call it the land of wine and food and nice people, because that is what we have been enjoying most. Of course, I consider food and wine two of life's great pleasures, which some may find pathetic. But really, is being obsessed with food as bad as being obsessed with NASCAR or Star Trek or something? No. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. We have finally entered our last country. It was a bit of a pain to get here, but quite a relief to arrive.

Our first town was Tilcara, a small valley town in the very Northwest of Argentina. We noticed the difference in vibe right away. Things are much more tranquil here. One of the first things I noticed was how many gringos were wandering around. Then I realized that they were just Argentinian. Waves of immigrants from Europe have resulted in a society with a cosmopolitan flavor, unique among the countries in South America, and it is common to find people with light skin

enrique

Enrique cracks a joke with Matt

and blue eyes among the population. Any visitor accostumed to the other South American countries with instantly notice the more leisurely pace and the physical difference of the people. Another thing we noticed- we don't understand a damn thing these people say. Argentineans are often made fun of for their heavy accents and tendencies to make up words and phrases (and then use them frequently). So we had a bit of trouble at first. However, the people are so nice they usually don't hesitate to repeat things more slowly until we finally understand.

After a few hectic travel days in Bolivia, we settled into Tilcara, a town with nothing to do... and we did just that- nothing. We finally got our hands on some tasty wine, after 3 months in countries that don't produce any wine worth discussing. And of course, we dug into Argentina's famous steaks. The steaks here are said to be the best overall in the world due to the good health of the animals (more free range). More importantly, they are probably among the cheapest in the world. On night one in Argentina, I ordered the Bife de Chorizo- which is a filet mignon cut.

chaps

I strap on my chaps before a day of riding

Matt ordered a Bife de Lomo, similar to a sirloin steak. These perfectly cooked hunks of meat and a bottle of wine ran us about $27.00. The steaks were about $7 each. I know what you are thinking, sounds like heaven? If you are not a meat eater, I hope you like wine, because it is easy to get good cheap wine at a restaurant for around $5 per bottle.

The next stop on our journey southward was Salta. They call it Salta la Linda, or Salta the beautiful. It took us a while, but we did end up agreeing that the city was very nice. It still had the relaxing vibe that we were growing used to. The people are much more European than we are used to seeing. It is often said that Argentineans consider themselves more part of Europe than South America, and it is evident in most aspects of life. While we enjoyed eating more steak and drinking more wine in Salta, we were ready for an excursion. Lucky for us, our Aussie friend from the Bolivian jeep ride from hell had given us the name of a ranch that she had heard good things

Photo 1

about (she did not have time to visit). She gave us two words- Enrique and Sayta. After a little research we found the Sayta ranch, which was run by Enrique and located about 1 hour outside of the city. Little did we know at the time that our stay with Enrique would end up being the best 2 days of the entire trip.

"Hablas English?" I asked Enrique on the phone from our hostel in Salta. "My english is shit" he replied. "Mi español es mierda" (well, my spanish is shit) I replied. But I went on anyway and explained that we wanted to visit and he agreed that a cab would pick us up in the morning. The next morning, about halfway to Enrique's we were already in awe at the beauty and peace of the country. It reminded me of Kansas meets California. The plains in the valley were home to golden wheat and rows of tabacco, and in the background, green mountains rose towards the sky. We rolled up onto Enriques farm and saw several people relaxing around breakfast. The white country house was beautiful and there were chickens, dogs, horses and llamas running about. Enrique

Sebastian

They don't share a language, but they definitely shared some wine.

greeted us warmly, as if he had know us for a long time, and led us to the breakfast table. After a quick breakfast we were ready to mount our horses.

We met our horse guide who met me with a kiss and Matt with a hug. His name was Rafuchio, but we would end up calling him Che due to the striking resemblance to Che Guevara (hat and all). Out we went through the country road with our guide and two new friends from Paris- Cecile and Sebastian. After about 3 hours of riding, we returned for lunch. But this was not any ordinary lunch- this was an Argentinian asado (see food reference guide below). Enrique was comandeering the grill with a smile. As soon as he saw us, he gave us wine. We discovered our wine glasses would never go empty here. Our lunch was absolutely enourmous, and incredibly relaxing. There was chicken, steak, ribs, and 2 different kinds of sausage. It is hard to put into words the wonderful vibe that this place had. After more wine than I needed at 3 pm, we went back out on our horses. We practiced galloping a bit, which

wall

wall decorations at Sayta

is a bit scary. I have a hard time letting go of the saddle and trusting that I am not going to get thrown off the horse (which did nearly happen a couple times). Horseback riding is a bit different here than the states. Here we learned to gallop, take the horse through a slolom type course of trees and they even tried to teach us how to mount a horse bareback! The riding was great, but with about one half an hour left, all of our bodies were ready to get down! The next day we would be very sore in the legs and the backs. Of course, again we were greeted by Enrique and his arsenal of endless wine. We sat with him, his girlfriend and 2 of his friends from Argentina and Spain. We would remain here the rest of the night, eating talking and drinking wine. We felt like we were long lost friends of Enrique. He made sure at every second that we felt completely at home.

It is hard to describe how special this whole experience was. But imagine how comfortable we felt considering that 4 people spoke native spanish, and we only

soccer

Matt and some of the workers kick around the futbol

speak a little spanish. Furthermore, neither of our new french friends spoke Spanish, and only Cecile spoke english. So there was quite a bit of translation going on. After about 8 bottles of wine, we hit they hay at about 2 am. The next day would be quite the same, sans Parisians. Every person on the farm was so warm and friendly and Matt and I, usual introverts, felt incredibly comfortable and happy. A gaucho (cowboy) friend of Enrique's came by one day 2 and treated us to some gaucho horse tricks. He showed us how he could make his blind horse laydown by talking to it. He demontrated how during the war they would have the horses lay down, then use them as a shield for bullets! He was very nice and like everyone, patient with our spanish. It was nice that Enrique, Pietro and Marta encouraged us to speak spanish and insisted that we speak very well. On the second day, a family of locals from Salta visited and we visited with them for hours. Did I mention that the wine loosens the tongue a little bit? At one point I snuck off and filled my glass with

barrels

San Pedro bodega

water. About 2 minutes later, Enrique noticed the water and threw it out on the ground, refilling the glass with more wine. He told me I can drink water later, but now I drink wine. After another night of late drinking and talking, we went to bed knowing that we would have to leave the next day. It was so fun getting to know the Argentineans and we laughed at how much fun we were having together even thought we had just met and spoke different languages. The next day, the actual leaving was very hard and I realized how attached I had become to the place and the people. The 2 days we were there were perfect and I felt like our travelers karma was finally paying us back for being concientious travellers. I could have stayed for weeks with Enrique, but I knew that it was time to move on. I think the best piece of advice I could give to another traveller is to go to Sayta ranch, and stay as long as possible. Some poeple come for only 1/2 a day, but they are missing out on so much of the warmth of the place. The

shadowfax

Matt enjoys his new horse

ranch is by far the most welcoming and hospitable place I have ever been. Of course, it helps to speak a little spanish!

Next stop- Cafayate. This area produces about 6% of Argentina's wine. It is home to Argentina's high altitude vineyards. It is possible to visit the town and walk to several decent wineries in town. But getting to the really good stuff would take a little more effort. We had our sights set on a bodega 7 km outside of town, called San Pedro de Acochuya. Real wine dorks know that this winery is the collaboration of the Echart family (who have been growing here since 1950) and frenchman Michel Rolland, who is considered one of the best oenologists in the world (this first vintage of Malbec he made here in 1999 is worth $600.00!!!!). We consulted with the tourist office, and they insisted that we did not need a tasting reservation. They also insisted we would need to take a taxi. We are cheap, so we rented bikes instead. After half biking and half walking 7 km uphill on a dirt road, we got to the winery redfaced and tired. The bodega (winery) was absolutely beautiful,

night

The Americans and Parisians pause for a photo

and no one was there. We were greeted by a girl around our age, who unsurprisingly informed us that a reservation is required for the lunch and wine tasting. But she was more than happy to give us a tour. We took a quick tour and she calmly repeated things in spanish multiple times when we did not understand (Hey, I hardly understand the technical process of winemaking when it is in English!). She was incredibly nice and totally unpretentious. We learned that she is studying english and we even ended up helping her finish her homework. The winery only produces 3 wines, and we were sad not to try them, but it did not stop us from taking a couple with us. The hour we spent at the winery was worth the uphill hike!

We visited 4 wineries in Cafayate, and I have to say it was a little disappointing compared to Napa tasting. Here, the tastings are free, but they pour ust enough to get a quick sip. More disappointing is the fact that they usually only allow for a tasting of their basic wines- the cheap stuff. These wines are usually just okay. I would prefer

view

view from the bodega's porch

to pay for a tasting and get to sip on some of the higher quality productions! We will see if Mendoza (producing 80% of Argentinia' wine) is any different.

After the winery, we were ready to eat some food, of course. We headed to a local goat cheese farm. We were treated to a tour of the farm, where we saw all the goats and the cheese making machines. I have a whole new respect for cheese making and how delicate of a process it i. It is very similar to wine, where the slightest variation can produce a wholly different product. For example, if the goats are fed green grass more than once a day when they are less than 3 months, then their cheese will taste too sour. If they are not fed enough protien or get the wrong amount of exercize, the cheese will not have the right flavor. They make their cheese right though, it was delicious! And again, like every person we have met in Argentina, the lady who showed us the farm was incredibly friendly. All we needed to round out the day was a little desert. Lucky for us and the Argentinians,

gaucho

che and the gaucho chat

the European influence carries over to ice cream too! The gelato-like ice cream here is as good as anywhere in Italy! We tried the torrontes (famous regional white wine) and the malbec (regional red wine) flavors. They really tastes like frozen wine, and I think they had a bit of an alcohol kick too!

Now we are ready to head to Cordoba, in Central Argentina. Later it will be more wine when we head to Mendoza before our last destination of Buenos Aires.

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Here is a quick guide to regional food:

ASADO- A bbq party- usually including massive amounts of meat cooked slowly on the grill. This is an Argentinian tradition and is usually prepared for lunch. There tends to be a lot of wine as well. This is not a place for a vegetarian, since there is usually enough meat to make a person slip into a coma.

LOCRO- a cornmeal based stew made of meat, potatoes, corn and sundry other vegetables.

EMPANADAS- Originally empanadas were small fried meat ball pies, now they are also filled with chicken or cheese (mixed with spices, hard boiled eggs and potatoes). They are usually fried

asado!

Asado time!

or baked. I could really eat about 20 of these day, they are my weakness.

HUMITAS- a sort of sweet corn purée, often including local cheese, wrapped with corn leaves

TAMALES- a sort of sweet corn purée and diced meat wrapped with corn leaves and baked. Our favorite had dried llama meat. Llama is really delicious, especially the llama salame.

LOMITO- a steak sandwich- often with a fried egg.
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Ways that Argentina is different than other countries we have visited-
-We don't always have to pay for the bathroom.
-We can drink the water- I think
-They have real coffee here.
-Kids seem to go to school more here. At least the video arcades are less crowded at 10 am on a weekday.
-Safer streets.
-Cabbies use meters.
-expensive hotels are easy to find
-the bus bag boys always ask for a tip.
-transportation is more expensive

Ways that Argentina is the same as other countries we have visited-
-no toilet paper in the bathrooms
-toilet paper goes in the trash, not the toilet... We are used to the wipe and fold method.
-kids are still out of school at about 12:30.
-shoe shine

lunch

big lunch!

boys still hassle us.
-futbol is popular here like everywhere, only the Argentineans are actually good.
-stray dogs everywhere
-occasional mules wander through the towns
-food is still cheap
-good crafts
-There is a "gringo trail"- We have run into our belgian friends (Hola Hans y Ingir) in 4 or 5 different places in Bolivia and Argentina!

NOTE- This blog was originally supposed to be AFTER Matt's blog for Southern bolivia. So sorry, but they are going to be out of order. It is because Matt is slow. And if you haven´t been reading his always entertaining blogs, you should start--- CLICK HERE

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