2008 August 03 « a+b ramblings

One day and one month has passed since we touched down in the costal city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, and we now find ourselves some thousands of miles from the northeast coast of Brazil and precisely 2,280 meters above the sea in a small Andean puebla in northwest Argentina called Cachi. We spent the trip´s one-month anniversary driving from Salta to Cachi through spectacular and humbling landscapes that morphed before our eyes from verdant rolling hills to cactus-studded rioja quebradas (or red canyons). While we were told that the road from Salta to Cachi was ¨mostly¨ paved, in fact we spent the lion´s share of our journey traversing a steep, winding dirt road in this-aint-your-grandmother´s-pea-soup fog (i.e. 40 kilometers at 20 kilometers per hour!).

Thanks to Barron´s expert navigation we arrived safely at what has become one of our favorite accommodations of the entire trip….a very small hotel in a converted adobe colonial house with a cozy and beautifully-appointed main room, gorgeous terra-cotta-floored rooms, and the most delightful staff. We have also made fast friends with a couple from Buenos Aires, Gerardo and Lucilia, who are travelling in the area with their fantastic sons, Antonio and Julian.

Cachi is a white-washed colonial puebla that sits in a stunning high-desert valley, whose precolonial history is both little-known and incredibly rich. After a deliciously leisurely day of strolling through town, browsing artesenal stalls on the plaza, eating locro stew and pollo con arroz, sipping Torrontes in the sunshine, and reading in our hotel….we set out in the afternoon with a guide named Santiago to hike. Santiago drove us 16 km up the valley to the road´s end, where the base of the area´s highest mountain (a 6,300 meter peak) begins. In addition to a fantastic hike, we were treated to a tour through the ruins of a 12,000-year old indigenous community that predated the Incas and whose sophistication allowed them to maintain an independent culture when the Incas migrated into northern Argentina. We walked through fields of cacti called cordons in gorgeous late-afternoon light as Santiago told us the story of this community and showed us the remains of ceramic pottery, cooking implements, homes, neighborhoods, agricultural systems, and aquaducts that still flow with water. It was, to say the least, a very special hike.

But now, I must sign off…as my co-author beckons me to dinner. We are returning to the same restaurant where we ate last night — a wonderful artesanal restaurant in a cave-like adobe house with 6 tables and the best hand-cut pasta this side of the equator.

Tomorrow we move on to the wine country of Cafayate…about a four-hour drive (if only 165 kilometer journey) from Cachi.

a + b

Braving the Overnight Busride from San Juan to Salta