Southern Exposure

Thursday, February 26

We reluctantly checked out of the hostel and got on the road. The doctor had warned me that the muscle relaxers might make me drowsy, but I figured I would at least try it for one morning to see if it would be doable. Unlike many cities, Salta was very easy to get out of and we were soon on the road south.

After some miles in the suburbs, we found ourselves following a river through increasingly beautiful mountains. The underlying rocks were a rich brown and pink sandstone, sparsely covered in low, green shrubs. The river ran thick and muddy, matching the bright color of the rock.

We descended into a valley where the rock had eroded into many fantastic formations, sometimes forming arches and natural windows in the stones. At one photo stop, a yellow BMW F650 pulled up next to me and said hello. I asked him where he was from, and to my surprise he said we’d already met! With his helmet on and my brain clouded by muscle relaxers, I hadn’t recognized Stefano from the hotel in San Antonio de los Cobres. We caught up and decided to continue riding south together.

The canyon landscape continued to impress as three of us continued south. We passed through Cafayate, one of the northern wine growing regions of Argentina. We took a few pictures, filled up for gas, and rolled on through.

We had thought of stopping at the ruins of Quilmes, but didn’t feel in the mood, and Stefano said he had not been terribly impressed by them. Our next step was in Amaicha del Valle, to visit the Pachamama Museum. Both of us had had this recommended to us by others so we figured it must be worth a stop.

The museum exceeded our expectations. A local artist who worked in stone, oils, and tapestry had built this museum in this remote location. The museum itself was a piece of art. All of the stonework in the walls were composed of pictures of whimsical symbols and crazy creatures. The grounds were alive with large stone sculptures laid out amidst flowering cactus. Even the stone paths were pieces of art. If I ever lay out a patio in a future home, I will incorporate some of these ideas.

We toured the grounds, which even included a small museum on the regional geology and mining. Aside from the grounds themselves, the tapestries were particularly impressive. If only we could afford one. We ate our sandwiches from the leftover parradilla in a small cafe on the grounds, enjoying the scenery and catching up with Stefano on what he’d been doing since we had first met days before.

Once we were back in the saddle, we continued south on RN-307 to head to Tafí del Valle. Martin and Lauren had recommended it to us, and Stefano had also heard good things about the town. After riding through more fantastic cactus fields, the road climbed up. The higher and twistier the road got, the worse the pavement became. We weren’t complaining, pavement was pavement. Rain threatened to the east, and the road was wet, but we stayed dry.

We finally reached the summit overlooking Tafí del Valle and the lake to the south of it. It was an easy descent and we were soon in town. After some searching around, we settled on our first choice of hotels. It was an old rustic ranch house with llamas grazing in the front yard.

Our room was authentically antique and the entire house had a wonderful smell of wood to match the rustic vibe. Inna was in heaven, and the house even came with a cute cat to go with the llamas. We freshened up as the sun set over the town, and then went into the center to find ourselves some dinner.

After some misdirection from the bizarrely attired local tourist helpers, we settled on an traditional Argentinean style food restaurant on the main street. Inna discovered her favorite fish of the trip, dorado, while Stefano picked us an excellent wine. He was great company and the bottle of wine went by quickly.

Back at the hotel, we relaxed while enjoying the feel of our ranch house room. Even the wiring of the room was antique, with a pair of positive and negative wires running across the rafters, feeding pairs of wires that ran down the walls to outlets and light switches. It was a nice transport back in time and we fell asleep to the sound of wind amidst the pleasant smell of wood.