World Argentina Salta Cachí

The Bohns are doing the holidays in Argentina!

Off-road in the Northwest Province of Salta with the Bohns Dec 29, 2008

When last we left off, our adventures in Argentina were headed back to Buenos Aires for one night after spending five nights in Patagonia. We arrived in Buenos Aires the afternoon of December 26th and headed to our hotel, Esplendor Palermo, a very small boutique hotel in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires. (NOTE: Lodging in BA is a fortune; we tried to find some good value hotels for our one night stays. We'd recommend this one simply as a place to drop your bags and head out on the town). After depositing our luggage at the hotel, we set off to explore the immediate area. Palermo is a barrio that was founded shortly after Buenos Aires in 1580. It is the largest of the neighborhoods contained within Buenos Aires. On this day, we were to explore an area of Palermo known as "Palermo Soho". This part of the barrio is renowned for its shopping, nightclubs, and restaurants. The old buildings of the neighborhoods have been converted to chic independent boutiques and storefronts for renowned designers. The Plaza Serrano serves as the hub for this hip area, with the store lined streets like spokes away from it. Kristen and I strolled through the shopping district, only going into a few boutiques as we were more concerned with familiarizing ourselves with the area (and our luggage couldn't take any more additions). Kristen did buy a new pair of sandals to help her ailing feet. We managed to find a place to rest on Plaza Serrano, stopping for a couple of cervezas and to take in the scenery.

Kristen had done a lot of homework on our flight from Patagonia as to what we needed to do in Palermo that evening - with eating and drinking ranking at the top of the list. High on our list was taking in some Patagonian oysters in honor of Jeff Biggers and believe it or not we were unable to find them while down south. Kristen had read that a must to do was visiting "Crizia", a well known restaurant for their raw bar. We sat at the bar, ordered a dozen of the shellfish, and decided to wash it down with a bottle of rose bubbly. The oysters were phenomenal; the sparkling wine the perfect accompaniment. We made friends with the sommelier and bartender and inquired about our visit to the Salta region and the wines we should try and bodegas we should visit. We left Crizia out $40 - food and wine are an amazing value here in Argentina. From Crizia, we were off to "878" (Ocho Siete Ocho), which was about a 15 minute walk. 878 is known as the "best drink in Buenos Aires". It's a very non-descript place, almost like a speakeasy (you have to knock on the door) - you'd never know it was there if not for the address being 878. We pulled up a chair at the bar and ordered a couple of martinis from a robust and creative menu. No lie... these drinks were great. We left prior to the late arriving, hip crowd. BA is known for its parties winding down as the sun is coming up. We were out of there by 12:30 in the morning and were off to our next stop, Kentucky Pizza, for some late night pie. At Kentucky, we soon found out that we were trying to pass off a counterfeit 100 peso bill to pay for our pizza. When at 878, we learned from the Aussie gentleman we were siting next to that he had received some counterfeits from an ATM visit; it appeared we did as well!

We arose the next morning and headed to the Aeroparque to catch our flight to Salta, in northwest Argentina and the capital of the Salta Province. We spent a good portion of that day trying to pass off our fake 100 peso bill with no luck. We didn't know if we should keep and take it up with our bank upon our return to the States or put it back into the economy. So, we decided to see if a merchant would take it (FYI, the exchange rate is about 3.5 pesos to the $, so we're talking about $30 - not much). It became quite the challenge for us to find someone who would take it. After arriving in Salta, we picked up our 4-wheel drive Ford Ranger from Avis. We were told that we would need a 4x4 for the drive to Colome, our final destination in the northwest. But first, we were headed to Cachi to spend the next two nights. Prior to heading out, we decided to drive into Salta to make sure we weren't missing anything. I am so glad we did. The drive into the city was stressful. Our truck is a manual transmission diesel with a VERY touchy clutch. Needless to say stop and go traffic with a lot of pedestrians and bicyclists is a hell of a way to test your threshold for anxiety. Kristen said the streets called to mind what streets in a crowded street in India might be like with all of the activity and the cheaply made advertisement signage everywhere (even though she has never been there).

Eventually we made it into the city "centro" unscathed. We parked the car on a city side street, paid a woman a peso to park (with all of our belongings in the backseat of our extended cab truck), and decided to make this a quick walk through the centro. The city was founded in 1582 with the intent as being an outpost between Lima and Buenos Aires. As we walked the streets, it was amazing to notice the differences in the people from what we had seen in southern Argentina. The Saltan people are darker, with rich facial features; those in the south and Buenos Aires are generally more European looking. The old part of the city is gorgeous. An 18th century cathedral sits on the main plaza in town. It's pastel pink in color and is surrounded by cafes and government buildings. As we walked through the plaza, we noticed a military ceremony on the far end. As we approached, a large marching band struck up their instruments and began their procession through town; gauchos riding horseback followed. It was quite an experience to take in, although we aren't sure what they were celebrating. 200 yards from the plaza, a beautiful tower dominates the area. It's the tower connected to the La Iglesia de San Francisco. This might be one of the most beautiful churches I have seen. Its neoclassical style was designed by an Italian architect and the tower was added over one hundred years later. This was the highlight of our visit. We finished off the day by finally passing off our counterfeit bill to a restaurant in town - I think Kristen and I are both starting to feel guilty about doing so.

We headed off for our drive to Cachi what we had heard might be a treacherous and stressful trip. The landscape changed dramatically in a very short amount of time. We soon found ourselves in the Andean foothills surrounding Salta that were covered in dense jungle. They reminded Kristen of the mountains in Costa Rica. We crossed rivers that spilled across the road. We crossed bridges that were one lane and stressed only one vehicle at a time. We encountered switchback turns on the mountainside and were forced to back up to allow other cars to pass. Did I mention that 90% of this drive was on dirt or gravel roads? It was making itself out to be all the drive we had heard. Soon we stopped climbing and started to descend into a valley where dense jungle gave way to desert. Large cacti, like the Saguaro of Arizona, dotted the desert landscape. A sea of green trees had been transformed into a beautiful red desert. I can't imagine another transformation in topography quite like this one that happens so incredibly quickly. Soon, we were climbing again and the red desert gave way to high desert. At one point, we had climbed to over 12,000 feet (Salta sits at 3.500), over the course of two hours. The road became a single lane most of this climb. When you did encounter a car, you prayed that you would be able to find a place to pull far enough over to allow for passage. We climbed into the clouds, from extreme heat to frigid temperatures. Soon our view was obstructed by their fog. Finally we began our descent into the valley where our destination, Cachi, resides.

Cachi is a small town that has survived through time on its farming. The white washed adobe homes that surround the plaza of town are timeless. They have been there for roughly 300 years. Single lane stretches through town on cobblestone streets call to mind a small European town. Soon these cobblestone streets gave way again to gravel and we arrived at our hotel that would house us the next two nights, La Merced del Alto (http://www.lamerceddelalto.com/). The hotel sits above town about 2 km away. It's whitewashed walls set against the red mountains provide quite the contrast. The terrain reminded us of Tuscany. We grabbed our camera and our books and headed off to the back patio to look over the valley. With the exception of the occasional donkey "hee-hawing" and rooster crowing, it was incredibly peaceful. We were one couple of a VERY few that were on the property at that time. It was as if we had our own personal estancia and staff, except for the two wild hares that tried to attack Kristen while she strolled around the grounds. The experience and the property were more than we could have asked for.

We enjoyed getting to know the hotel staff. It was really quite an intimate experience as there was one other couple and one family there. Gabriela, our dinner waitress, became a quick friend. Her warm smile and desire to learn English was intoxicating to us. We encouraged her to visit us in the United States. On our first night she served us our dinner, including a new protein I can add to my diet: llama loin. Our friends, the Hortons and Biggers, would be proud of our ever-expanding "meat list" that we started with them in Australia/New Zealand. The llama was accompanied by papitas (potatoes) that will stay with us forever - quickly boiled, placed in the oven, then drizzled with an oil and heavy cream sauce. We started our second day with massages at the hotel spa, which helped relieve some of the stress from the previous day's drive. Our highlights from our stay in Cachi included walking into town through farmlands to visit and dine on the plaza and taking in the local artisan shops. We trekked back to La Merced and stopped at the cemetery along the way. The cemetery was built on a hill overlooking the town and the amazing vistas. Mausoleums housed families dating back to the 1800s. Flowers adorned every monument : from mausoleum to headstone to wooden cross. Upon our return to La Merced, we arranged for a private jacuzzi at the spa overlooking the valley below - the only visitor we had was the property's horse that was stalled about 20 yards away and was eager to peer in on us. After freshening up, the hotel's bar manager arranged for a lavish wine tasting of the best of the wine regions surrounding Cachi. We tried several of the local bodega's wines including chardonnay, torrontes, and malbec. The wines were paired with the local cheeses, meats, and breads. We were the first couple that the property had arranged this type of wine tasting for in its private cellar - a memorable experience. We finished off the evening with empanadas (the best we have had on the trip yet), a local Cachi wine, tenderloin (of cow), and the papitas.

Our time at La Merced concluded today and we were off for the second stage of our Saltan adventure at Colome. Colome is a 75 km drive from Cachi, but it's again on single lane dirt "highway" stretches , so the 45 mile stretch took us roughly 1.5 hours. It had rained the entire evening before so much of the drive was covered in water and mud. The four wheel drive was a great idea. I am quite confident we wouldn't have made it without it. We finally arrived at our destination after a quick lunch in Molinos. Colome is a bodega founded in the mid-19th century. It's vines are considered the oldest in Argentina and some of the oldest in the world, as most major wine producing countries have been hit with phylloxera (a grapevine pest) that has eradicated a large percentage of the oldest wine producing vines on earth. Colome was purchased a few years ago by Hess and has been transformed. Today, the estate produces malbec, torrontes, and cabernet, however they are in the process of adding several new wines as plantings of new vines have occurred within the last five years. Colome touts itself as being the highest vineyard producing wine on earth, with some vines up over 9,000 feet, however we have heard that there is one higher that is only a short distance from here that I think we will visit tomorrow.

We spent our afternoon today familiarizing ourselves with this beautiful property. There are just eight rooms on the vineyard, each is very impressive. I think we have definitely reached the luxury leg of our trip (http://www.bodegacolome.com/). After getting situated, we grabbed a couple of mountain bikes and headed off for a self-led tour of the vines, taking in the majestic views. We have never seen cacti amongst vines, but at Colome it happens. After a one hour ride around the periphery of the estate, we found ourselves in battle at ping-pong and have since retired to our room awaiting dinner. Kristen's inside reading around the fire, while I gaze out upon the vines and mountains from the back patio of our room (sipping on some malbec for good measure). We'll check in again when we return to Buenos Aires for the final three days of our trip, prior to heading home on January 3. Happy New Year to all!