A Hobble Around Argentina's Vineyards

The vineyards surrounding Cafayate

Seconds after Chile had scored a controversial last minute penalty to win their derby against Bolivia our train pulled into Uyuni station and we were able to scramble on board, narrowly escaping the baying mob of disgruntled locals as we fled towards Argentina.  Despite the best efforts of the company to make their carriages comfy the train clunked along the old rails jolting us awake with unfortunate timing just as we were drifting off to sleep.  We eventually arrived at the border although queuing in the freezing cold for our exit stamps did little to brighten up our morning.  Having eventually reached Argentina we decided we could face no more travel and checked into a hostel for the night.  Despite the typically dishevelled border town living up to our low expectations when hot water flowed out of the bathroom taps of our hostel it felt like we had arrived at the pinnacle of human existence after three months of cold water!  Unfortunately this was the high point of our stay as I soon discovered that all the shops shut at midday. With restaurants a wishful dream we ended up eating scrambled eggs, potato and tomato for the day but at least we were clean!

Panoramic from Cerro San Bernando

Despite the best attempts of the ticket touts at the station we managed to board a bus the following morning for the correct price and set off to the city of Salta, some 6 hours south of the border.  The road wound past incredible red mountains as we gradually descended to below 2000m for the first time in six weeks.  Founded in 1582 Salta is famous for its colonial architecture and beautiful surroundings but unfortunately with Hannah still incapacitated and taking lessons from the ministry of funny walks our options were slightly limited.  With this in mind it seemed the best course of action was to savour the amazing food and wine from the region and I set out to consume as much vino tinto as possible whilst still managing to maintain the allure of a connoisseur rather than a typical British tourist.  This proved increasingly difficult when I discovered that I could get four Salteñas (delicious meat pasties) and a huge cup of local red wine for less than £2!  It was nice to be able to save some money and cook again in our hostel as well as sampling the local food although much to my amusement Hannah tried to 'borrow' some cooking oil from the staff cupboard setting off a deafening alarm.  When the owner appeared  Hannah sheepishly gave a priceless excuse by claiming that it was a natural instinct to open cupboards in kitchens in her broken Spanglish.

We failed to eat it in one sitting

Salta itself was a sprawling town of low rise colonial buildings with a beautiful central plaza lined with restaurants, crusty hippies selling junk (including chopped off dreadlocks) & small orange trees.  Continuing with our culinary themed visit I gratefully stumbled upon a number of small street stalls barbequing every cut of meat imaginable.  In a fit of excitement I ran the kilometre back to the hostel, dragged Hannah out and we embarked on what turned out to be an endurance test trying to consume the weight of food that was placed in front of us – it was epic!  Needing to burn off some meat I walked through town and climbed Cerro San Bernando (a hill) that overlooks the town and which offered panoramic views of the city and mountains beyond.  The rest of our time in Salta was spent roaming the small town centre and trying to get Hannah walking without throwing her left arm out at other pedestrians in an attempt to speed up her hobble.   Delaying our onwards journey I also managed to watch the England v Wales match with another Englishman, Paul before we set off into the surrounding countryside.

The gardens of Bodega Nanni, Cafayate

Cafayate

With my birthday fast approaching and the red wine flowing the decision was taken to celebrate in the small village of Cafayate, Argentina’s second biggest wine producing region.  The quaint village lies four hours south of Salta down Ruta 68 which provided one of the most beautiful journeys of our trip through Valles Calchaquies.  The road crisscrossed over a river that ran between towering red mountains that had been eroded into weird shapes.  As we left the valley behind beautiful vineyards surrounded us on both sides glinting red and brown in the bright winter sun as huge flocks of parakeets circled overhead.  Cafayate itself is a tiny picturesque village of single story colonial buildings set around a beautiful central plaza.  The tree lined dusty tracks around the village pass through vineyards and walking through them felt like taking a step back in time to the Roman Empire.  Our accommodation was within hobbling distance (three blocks) of five different bodegas selling produce from their own vineyards setting the scene for an epic cultural vineyard crawl.  

Birthday celebrations

FOOOOOD!!!

To make our stay less of an alcohol fuelled adventure and more of an educational journey we started my birthday celebrations with a trip to the wine museum to understand the local vineyards.  The vineyards are some of the highest in the world and with the dry climate, rocky soil and extreme temperature fluctuations at night the area is famous for producing very strong aromatic wines.  Armed with our new found knowledge we set off to do some scientific testing. With copious amounts of red wine, steak, pasties and a fantastic cured meats and cheese stall we discovered on an intoxicated stumbling it is safe to say that I was like a pig in shit.  The wine also had a healing effect on Hannah’s ankle and we discovered a positive correlation between how far she could walk and the volume of red wine we tasted.  After a successful few days however we decided that for our health we should probably move on and so with our bottles of wine we set off on the arduous journey to Buenos Aires.   Deciding to do it in two legs we spent a quiet day relaxing in a huge park in the city of Tucuman before our overnight bus to Argentina’s capital.