Salta Argentina

Kristi and I had planned to take my parents to Salta during their visit in our car, but circumstances conspired against us and we traveled with them in Paraguay instead.  After they departed we left for Salta by bus.  We were still able to take advantage of a fairly posh Air B&B reservation my parents had made. Our hosts generously moved our reservation dates and upon our arrival even invited us into their home to watch Brazil play the Netherlands.

The city of Salta itself was perfectly pleasant. Similar in many respects to other Argentinian cities the central area featured: plazas, old churches, parks, street vendors, a mediocre lager style beer named after the city and all manner of shopping.  Salta also has a very impressive anthropological museum featuring Andean mummies, artifacts, and really good interpretative info in both Spanish and English.

The Northern provinces do feature some things not found in other areas of Argentina.  The municipal market had a few things we were not used to seeing like these amazing potatoes and coca leaf.  Some people suggested the area was in some ways more similar to Bolivia than other parts of Argentina and when we left the city this seemed especially true.

The most exciting difference we encountered were these tamales which we ate on a daily basis and we found to be as enjoyable as any Mexican or Central American Tamales we could remember eating.  Another regional dish we sampled was called locro and featured corn, squash, beans, and a variety of savory meat pieces.  Both dishes were a pleasant departure from the Argentinean pizza, sandwiches, and pastas that are frequently disappointing.  

We spent our first couple days doing stuff around Salta including including watching the World Cup final.  We were excited to be in Argentina for the final but not especially sure how the people would react to a possible loss.  The people we were with cheered for their team all game and after the match stood, applauded and said
"second place is good."

We then took a very long day trip to visit two mountain towns called Purmamarca and Tilcara,

and a famous salt flat.  The day began by driving steep forested hillside as the sun was rising.  Highway 9 going North out of Salta is the narrowest two lane road I have ever seen and full of hairpin turns.

We left the forest and emerged into an otherworldly landscape of multi-colored rock formations and very little vegetation. Our pictures do not convey the stark beauty.  We have never been to Moab but have read that this part of Argentina looks similar.

The towns we passed were tucked beautifully into the hillsides.  Many of the buildings were simple adobe structures in various states of disrepair.  

It is the middle of winter, but the intense high elevation sun, thin air, wind, and freezing evening temperatures made the places we visited feel barely hospitable.

Cemetery near Tilcara

From Purmamarca we drove up a pass to about 13,000 feet and then down towards the Salinas Grandes salt flat.  Along the way we saw these vicunas as well as a couple of alpacas, two of the area's native camelid species.

We spent a couple hours at the salt flat and then made the long drive back to Salta.

We left Salta and drove South towards the town of Cafayate.  Once again we were in a high desert like environment surrounded by incredible multi-colored rock formations. Undoubtedly the best part of this trip was the scenery we experienced driving from place to place.

If scenery was the best part of our travels, drinking some great wine was easily second best.  A few bodegas we stopped at were large establishments like you might find in Mendoza.  Others were tiny family run operations hidden down long dirt roads. 

The most common grapes grown in the Cafeyate region were: Cab, Malbec, Tannet, and Torrontes.  We usually gravitate towards Cab but the great thing about going to wine country is you try things you otherwise wouldn't.  We found one tannet that we loved, as well as some Torrontes that was great during the heat of the day.

From Cafeyate we drove to the small mountain town of Cachi.  Soon after leaving Cafeyate the road turned to dirt and we had another four hours of breathtaking views.

Parrots posing roadside in route to Cachi

Remnants of an old church in route to Cachi

We had a quiet night in Cachi and then got up early to make the most of one last amazing drive back to Salta.  The first leg took us through an extensive cactus forest and a number of low lying fog banks.  The temperature outside, according to our car thermometer, was right around freezing.

We ascended one last pass which took us to about 11,000 feet.  This little chapel was perched near the top. From there it was about two hours back to the city.  We returned our rental car and boarded a bus for Clorinda (our least favorite border town directly across the river from Asuncion.)