Into the Mountains we Go

I remembered today how much I dislike waking up early. This morning, we had to be on the road by 7:30, which means that I had to wake up at 6:30, which means that we probably shouldn’t have gone to a karaoke bar and stayed out until 3:00 a.m. Oh well. You live and learn, right?

After boarding the bus, Christian informed us that we would be taking a three- to four-hour trip to the valley town of Cafayete. And to get there, we got to take a scenic route through the mountains. Driving to the mountains, we saw chickens, goats, and dogs wandering the roads. We stopped at a small farm (complete with goats and llamas) and restaurant about an hour outside of Salta. I had a submarino, which is essentially a hot chocolate, but they give you a chocolate bar that you stir into the warm milk, and an alfajor, which is a cookie that can be covered in chocolate or, often times, dulce de leche.

We then continued our journey to Cafayete. One turn later and we found ourselves on a windy but low mountainous road in the Sub-Andean Hills. It felt exactly like the American southwest. Cacti littered the mountainsides, and the rocks were a brick red color. We made a couple of stops along the road to visit what was called The Devil’s Throat, which was a mountain crevice, and The Amphitheater, which was an area surrounded by rocks, but with an open top. The landforms were cool, but to be honest, my favorite part was the merchants who set up their booths along the entrances to The Devil’s Throat and Amphitheater to sell handmade jewelry, instruments, and carvings.

After stopping for a few more photos ops, we arrived in Cafayete, which was an idyllic town. I know I’ve said this about 50 times, but this scenery looked straight out of a movie. There was a quaint town square surrounded by shops, restaurants, and the mountains. While there, we decided to try a local specialty – wine ice cream. It was more like sorbet, but it tasted exactly like a glass of wine on an ice cream cone. I’m still trying to decide whether or not I liked it.

We then visited a local winery, which had some of the most gorgeous views I had ever seen. We tasted four different types of wine, and one - Torrontés Tordio - was exceptional. It was a white wine that was extremely sweet. We learned that the grapes were picked late harvest, which means that the final product would be sweetened by the grapes’ natural sugar. What I wouldn’t give to be 21 so I could bring a bottle back to the United States with me…

Three hours later, we returned to Salta and had a quiet evening (which I was VERY grateful for), although Kara and I did have a bit of a problem while trying to find an ATM that would accept our card. Luckily, the locals were very friendly and more than willing to point us in the right direction. The town square was insane, because not only was it the country’s Flag Day, but Salta’s soccer team had advanced in ranking, which meant that the locals were celebrating like crazy. There were musicians performing, cars driving by with team flags flying from the windows, and a palpable sense of pride.

As I said, I’m grateful that we had a relatively calm evening tonight, because tomorrow, we have an even longer drive and we have to be on the bus at 7 a.m. to go even farther into the mountains. Here’s hoping I get more sleep tonight!