Final Leg of the Road Trip and More Scary Roads
Friday May 4, 2012
Somewhere Over Argentina
Warm, Clean LAN Plane
Hard to believe we are heading back to Buenos Aires already. We are going to miss Salta and the people we met!
Yesterday, we woke up rather late for us, 730am or so . We stayed in a very basic hotel where the rooms were clean but the beds were rather uncomfortable. It was very quiet though as Molinos is a very laid back town.
Instead of going to the Hacienda de Molinos for breakfast, we decided to just head out of town to our next destination Cachi. But again, we made a mistake and instead of getting back on Route 40, we ended up on a very rough country road. In hindsight, we should have gone back to where we came from and look for signs. And on Route 40, there were always KM marks so we should have known better that we were on the wrong road. After 40 minutes of tough driving (Sandra was driving and doing a fabulous job) including a dry river crossing, cows and deep sand, we ran into a very nice man who said we were going the wrong way. So we turned around and headed back to Molinos. We also had to be very careful as the road split at a couple of places, but we were able to get back to Molinos. By now, Sandra was an expert in rough terrain driving in a VW Gol. Once we got to Molinos, we traced our way back until we saw a sign, and this time followed the sign that said Cachi. And surprise, surprise, the road was a gravel road but again the Autobahn compared to what we were on. But, what was pretty amazing, is that my mobile phone (ATT Wireless) that rarely works in Malibu had full bars through the whole ride on the scary country road.
By now, we were on a mission to get to Cachi for a café con leche and breakfast. What normally takes about 2 hours, we got there in about one hour and 10 minutes. Amazingly, we saw almost no cars. Once in Cachi, we easily found the square, parked and went to Olivers (recommended by Connie) for a delicious and satisfying breakfast. We then walked around the town, which was very clean and laid back. It’s nestled in the Andes with spectacular views of the mountains. After taking a few photos, it was time to continue our road trip back to Salta.
Drying Chiles outside Cachi
Town of Cachi
About 20 minutes or so into our trip, we saw a sign for a botega called Payogasta in the town of Payogasta. We stopped to check it out. It turned out to be a real family owned boutique winery which is also organic. The owner, Alex, who was my guapo, took us around the winery. His background is in agricultural engineering and he has owned acres of the beautiful land for years. As his children are all grown up, his house is now a hotel and there is also a gourmet restaurant and gift shop. He built a smaller house for himself and wife down the road.
Alex patiently explained to us the process of his winemaking. What was most interesting is that his wines are produced at about 2500 meters, it takes longer for the grapes to be ready to be processed. The temperature in the area rarely goes above 31 C, which is “cool” for wine producing. Because the grapes take longer to mature, the skins are thicker and the wine is stronger (15% alcohol or so). Quite interesting. We bought a bottle of his wine with his signature and were really glad we stopped at this botega.
Paved Road!
Payogosta
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We continued our journey on the road which by now was paved! And we were in for another feast for the eyes. We entered the Parque National Los Cardones where magnificent native Cactus dotted the landscape. It was quite amazing. We learned these cacti are only about 5cm tall the first 5 years or so of their life and it is the most vulnerable time of their life as it is difficult to collect water. Again, I’ve never seen a landscape like this before.
Once we left the Parque Nacional Los Cardones, we started climbing high until we reached 3457 meters. We got off to take photos where we got a peak of what the road looks like going downhill.
As we started the decent, the road was paved and then quickly became a gravel road again with hairpin turns on steep cliffs. Again, Sandra was amazing driving down the gravel road. It was pretty scary for me as I do not like heights so tried very hard not looking down the cliff which at times was right next to me.
Landslide
We made it down the windy road where it became paved again. And now we were in a Switzerland like environment, which was green but with red rocks and sand. We also noticed, as the road got narrow, the road became gravel again. We surmised it was done on purpose so people will slow down. And about 3 hours since we left Cachi, we were now back on rt 68 which would take us back to Salta.
Gettting showered in corn husks while heading back to Salta
We had a fabulous time in Salta, not only because of the stunning scenery but also because of the people we met. We were very fortunate to have met Connie, we helped us with the itinerary and made all the reservations for the B&Bs. The only regret we had was not exploring the art scene, but we simply ran out of time. I hope to return someday, just to do the art scene and perhaps even explore Tucumun which is further south of Salta.