From Mendoza we flew north to Salta where we rented a car for the first time on this trip to explore the countryside a bit. Our destination was Cachi, a little adobe pueblo a few hours west of Salta. We picked up the car and I was tasked with being the driver because Alex didn’t bring his driver’s license. So I got behind the wheel and prepared myself to drive a manual transmission for the first time in several years!
The only thing we really knew about the drive was that we were going to be driving through a big national park of cacti. So off we went! As we rumbled along, the road started to get a bit rougher as we began ascending through some mountains. Before we knew it, we were in the clouds driving on a muddy road winding around tight curves on a narrow mountain road. I was actually glad it was cloudy, I didn’t really want to see how far of a drop the cliffs were. It may have been an hour, but it really felt like it was a never-ending, treacherous climb. And what a crash course in driving stick!
Eventually we started descending again and the road became paved as we rolled into the beautiful landscape of Parque Nacional los Cordones. I was blown away, it was not what I was expecting at all! The cacti went on for miles and the colors were fabulous. We both got strong southwest US vibes.
We finally rolled into Cachi and I was excited to release my white knuckles from the steering wheel. It was a tense drive, but I didn’t stall once! We arrived at our bed and breakfast, an adorable adobe building right in town. The room we had was very cool and the hosts had a fragrant little weed garden just outside our door. There was also a sweet little kitty who would visit us every morning to eat our yogurt and I totally fell in love with him. We named him Cachi!
Cachi was a quiet little town with adobe buildings and cobbled streets. Tons of character! We spent our first day there wandering the streets and popping in and out of stores and restaurants. For dinner, we stumbled upon a really nice grill with a super impressive musician who serenaded us with “Provence of Salta style” music. We loved it so much we dined there twice!
The next day, we thought we would make use of our wheels and explore some more of the area. We drove down route 40 (the famous road that ends at the tip of Argentina) and found ourselves in a little village called Seclantás. It was a Friday, late morning, and the streets were essentially empty. We explored a cemetery on the edge of town for a little bit then ventured back to the center on the hunt for a cup of coffee. The town was dead and I was starting to give up hope until we came upon an open restaurant at the end of a street. We were served delicious coffee by the owner, a friendly and chatty older gentleman who was especially proud of his old Ford that was parked in front of our table. He made sure to start it up, rev the engine, and show it off to us a bit. He also served us the best tamale I’ve ever had in my entire life.
We explored a little further after lunch, stopping along the way to admire the scenery or check out some local textile stores before heading back to Cachi.
After two nights in Cachi, it was time to head back to Salta. The drive back was just as tense as the way there, maybe more! The road was muddier, the fog was denser, and there was way more traffic coming towards us. But the clouds must have been sitting a bit higher this time because we were rewarded with some really nice views of the valley. We also spotted some guanacos in the wild – llama like creatures that live in the area.
Alex took a nice time lapse video from a section of our drive.
Back in Salta, we had a couple of nights to explore. We wandered around the city, went to the history museum, and had some of what must have been unmemorable meals because I can’t recall them and we didn’t take any photos. I do remember being on the hunt for a good cup of coffee and never really finding one. Coffee is just not a staple here like it is in Europe or the US! Alex and I miss our espresso machine 🙂
Wandering Between Meals 
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