Date of Entry: January 6th 2016
Date of Writing: January 19th 2016, San Rafael Argentina.
We do our best to wake up early in Cachi to maximize our limited time with the freedom of our own car, plus, today figures to be a long day, we originally hoped to make it all the way to Purmamarca, though plans quickly change thanks to the amount of stops we feel forced to make throughout the day. But that’s okay, anyway, we succeed, even having time for a quick breakfast for Yann and Marie who unfortunately didn’t sleep that well thanks to lots of Argentineans who spent the whole night chatting in the courtyard just outside our room, luckily two plus years of sleeping in dorms has left me pretty skilled at filtering out the noise.
Breakfast for the other two over with we quickly climb into the car and head back out the way we’ve come, sadly since we could not afford a 4 wheel drive vehicle we have to backtrack to el Carril in order to head to Salinas Grande and Purmamarca where my tour took me a few days ago. Luckily the drive yesterday was so beautiful we have absolutely no issue doing most of it again, and today there is less fog in the upper passes and the sun in the morning provides a different light on the multi coloured mountains making the retread seem like a whole new journey.
As we crest the highest point on the road this time we find the fog dissipated enough to make it worth stopping, when just the day before we barely even noticed there might be a viewpoint, complete with a small chapel. A few other cars stop so we snap another picture together too before climbing back in the car and starting a slow descent out of the mountains, the driving less stressful this time around for Yann since he can see more than a few meters in front of the car.
The next stop comes unexpectedly out of the need for a bathroom stop, but yields a surprise bonus in the form of a tiny road stall stand selling homemade cheeses (cow and goat) and Salami’s as well (llama and pig) We decide it will make a perfect picnic lunch for later on and buy everything we might need from the friendly man who even has a few baguettes to complete our purchases. Not too long after we come out of the clouds below them and stop at another small memorial site at the side of the road with stunning views of the incredibly verdant valley below.
Eventually we climb back into the car and finish the descent into the valley where once again the sun is shining and were able to see the countless impressive mountains all around us, more strange colours in the rock still taking my attention more than anything else does.
As we approach the main road back to Salta the butterflies strike again, fluttering through the air like thick snowflakes peppering the air and sadly dotting our windshield as well. There’s no way to avoid them. By the time we get to El Carril we’re all ravenous so we find the old train station and have a nice picnic in the pleasant park joined by a dog who strangely has no interest in food, only appearing to want some company. the cheese, Salami and bread is delicious and surprisingly flavourful. I wish I had some beside me now as I write this.
After lunch we head through El Carril and take another turn onto a small highway leading through a few towns. It’s the path to San Antonio de Los Cobres but in the first few towns it’s easy to lose yourself, luckily people are awesome and I speak enough Spanish to get out and ask them for directions and each time we lose the path we’re easily guided back to it, eventually starting an ascent back up into the mountains following the same path my tour took, though this time I’m much more awake and we have the power to stop wherever we want to marvel at the sheer beauty of the Andes.
The drive this time is endlessly more pleasant and certainly takes us a lot longer as again we ascend through stunning valleys up higher and higher into the Andes stopping frequently for what seems like endless photo opportunities. The further we go the more dried up cactuses surround us, though some seem to have found enough water to keep struggling through. Rugged plant’s cactuses.
Eventually we come through some more tiny towns and pass by two things which are vital in Argentina. Animal Farmers, and Futbol players. Like in most of South America Futbol is damn near a religion here, and it was nice to see that just past the boys in the photo all the girls we’re playing too. In small towns you never know how much equality has spread but we’re glad to see it.
We go up one final stretch rising up out of the canyon to the highest altitude of the day. By now we’re realizing we’re not going to make it to Purmamarca or Salinas today, they will have to wait for the next day, luckily we realized this was a possibility and we won’t need to cut anything off our plan, just switch the travel loads around. The winding yet mostly well paved road on the way up have to make for exhausting driving so as we reach the highest point we make a stop, Yann and I climbing out and heading up the hills for a better view while Mari wakes up from a nap and works out a system to connect her MP3 player to the car stereo, which is awesome.
The views from the top are impressive and the weathered rocks eroded and made jagged by the rough winds up this high make for easy if high risk climbing. Just a small fall would leave you cut up pretty badly, but there’s plenty of traction as we head up to the highest point we can realistically reach, taking lots of photos as we go.
Eventually we get back in the car and start our descent towards San Antonio De Los Cobres rocking out to a mix of Metallica and a cool Georgian folk group who writes songs in Georgian and in French, definitely a cool mix to finish up the driving for today, though we do make another stop when we catch a group of Lamas crossing the road and heading down to join hundreds more of them who are but white specks on the distant horizon dotting the endless Argentinean Altiplano.
Eventually the mining town of San Antonio De Cobres comes into view below us and I manage to get a picture of one of the best Coca cola advertisements I’ve seen as we pull into town, me guiding us to a hostel I remember walking by on Manuel Belgrano street while the rest of tour ate lunch. There we find a room for 450 Pesos for the three of us including breakfast and wifi which the friendly owner warns us, doesn’t really work. Still the room is cozy and clean and even comes with private parking. San Antonio is not much of a tourist town, and so it’s much cheaper than Cachi, Purmamarca or Humahuaca.
We head out to find dinner at Quinoa Real restaurant just a few doors down from our hotel but are told by the friendly ladies cutting up whole goats and sheep in the kitchen that they won’t open until 8:30 so instead we amble out to the edge of town and head to the artisan market a collection of stalls, more and more of which open as we look through them, the owners evidently having seen us walk in. It’s a great place to shop for stuff as most of it is handmade and at least a little different from the typical fare found in the more touristy visits, plus the people selling are lovely. Unfortunately I can’t really buy anything, travelling long term as I am, but Yann and Mari buy some hats, and gifts for younger family members back home. We eventually head out from the indoor market and find the sky painted a brilliant mosaic of fire based colours, lightening brewing on the horizon. We find a teenagers bike leaning on a worn down fence and I decide to try to take some artsy shots.
As we wander back towards town waiting for the time the restaurant opens to feed us more lightning starts falling from the sky near a marketplace and I decide to test out the continuous shooting mode on my new Canon Camera. It’s impressive taking about 150 photos before needing a moment break and the following is the few shots out of more than 1000 that captured any lightning, none are spectacular, but still worth sharing.
As we eventually head back to town the clouds in the sky with the sun setting behind the mountains take on an even more brilliant orange hue, the light making the sky look different than anything I’ve ever seen. We end up back at the same restaurant which proves a good choice serving up delicious soup, Llama meat, and my order, roasted lamb which is tender and delicious, if somewhat on the small side. We head to bed early knowing that tomorrow is going to be a long and exciting day.
