Sounds Good on Paper

Category: Salta

  • Putting the salt into our stay in Salta

    We just got back from a road trip to see this giant salt flat.  You might think, “Well of course you’re living in the city of Salta.” But, this giant field of salt is not in the city of Salta, or even the province of Salta. It’s in a province called Jujuy.   I’m not sure what Salta is named after, but I don’t think it’s this.

    It’s always surreal the first time you see someone from home in a foreign country.   Our Seattle friend Dean is in town and when I met up with Jeff and Dean after my Spanish class, they were in the main square eating empanadas and drinking malbac as if it was the most normal thing in the world to meet for dinner in Salta Argentina.

    When Dean suggested a road trip through the mountains north of Salta, we jumped at the chance to join him.

    We started in Salta, drove up to Purmamarca, continued on to Humahuaca, circled back, slept in Tilcara, then drove to the Salinas Grandes the following day.

    To say the mountains and canyon were breathtaking  sounds cliche, but I really don’t know how else to describe it.    We went through lush green valleys, dry cactus studded canyons, a torrential downpour, dry bare mountains and ended in a blinding white field of salt. And, in between we stopped in some incredible small mountain towns.


    The town of Purmamarca was the most striking with multi colored mountains behind adobe  buildings on dusty streets.


    In Humahuaca the city was truly nestled in the mountains with lots of craft stalls and indigenous women and children selling blankets.

    We spent the night in Tilcara, a town we’ve been to before.   It was fun to be able to walk the streets at night, hear some late night music, and walk around as the town came to life in the morning.

    I was thrilled to come upon these hamburger patties in a store in Tilcara.

    Who wants a barfy?

    The next day we drove through part of the Andes.  They weren’t the snow covered peaks you think of when you think Andes, but we did get up to 14,000 feet.  I do not have that many photos from this part of the trip because most of it was spent in the backseat with my hands over my eyes. Dean drove these the mountains really well, but I don’t do that well with heights.

    Can you tell I'm on a the verge of a panic attack?

    Once we were through this mountain pass we came to the salt plains.  It was unlike anything I’ve seen before, just a giant field of salt for as far as you could see.   It looked like you were walking on a giant cloud or snow field. But, it was hot and the salt crunched underfoot. We of course had to try it and…it tasted like salt.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Cafayate wine tasting score: Zeunerts 1-siesta 5- bus 1

    I’d love to say that we just came upon this llama out grazing or perhaps carrying a load of goods for a it’s owner.  But, in reality this was a photo op with a tourist llama. We paid fifty cents to get our photo taken with him.

    We hadn’t planned a day of tourist llamas, the day was supposed to be spent wine tasting.   Cafayate is the center of high altitude Argentinian wine production.  We’ve been drinking some excellent wine from the region and wanted to taste it at the actual wineries.

    There are several ways to wine taste in Cafayate. You can rent a car, go by bus, stay several nights, or go on a one day tourist excursion.  We opted for the excursion.  The tour was to stop at several sites along the way, the we’d have from 12:00 to 3:00 in the town of Cafayate.  There are about five wineries in town.   Jeff and I are experienced high speed wine tasters.  Smell, swirl, sip, run like hell to the next winery has always been our method of tasting wine.  We were confident that we could hit five wineries in three hours no problem.

    The ride to Cafayate was stunning. We went through a gorge and canyon stopping along the way for photos.   The multi colored rocks, and formations like Devil’s Throat alone were worth the trip.

    Devil's throat

    The bus got to Cafayate around noon and stopped at winery number 1, Nanni.   We had a great tasting there.

    The other two couples on the tour weren’t interested in tasting wine. You can see them in the background in the photo.   We left them to have lunch while we quickly scarfed down some empanadas and coffee.  We couldn’t wait to taste more wine.  We walked quickly to winery number two.

    Winery #2 – closed for sietsta

    Wintery #3 – closed for siesta

    Winery #4 – closed for siesta

    Winery #5 – closed maybe forever

    You would think after almost three months in Argentina, we’d realize that businesses close from 1:00 to 4:00. Honestly, it never crossed our minds before doing this tour.  Finally we accepted the fact that we weren’t going to get into any wineries.

    We raced to a wine bar.   We asked to see a wine menu. They didn’t know what we meant. We asked if we could do a tasting.  The waiter didn’t understand. Maybe several half glasses?  Still didn’t get it. How about just a glass of wine? No, they didn’t offer glasses of wine, only bottles.

    not exactly Purple or Poco (2 Seattle wine bars)

    We wandered around town, circled back and retried several wineries. Finally with only fifteen minutes before the bus left, we ran to a restaurant and ordered any two random glasses of wine. We chugged them and got back on the bus.

    On the way back to Salta we stopped at a winery…just to take photos. We weren’t actually allowed into the winery.  We did stop and see more really beautiful scenery.

    But the tourist llama really was really the best part of the trip.

     

  • Salta market – this sure ain’t Pike Place Market

    **Vegetarian warning – this post contains some super gross looking cow parts about half way down the page.**

    **Don’t read this if you are eating or planning on eating in the next 12 hours.**

    The Salta market started out innocently enough. As with all markets, this one had the usual interesting and photogenic items for sale. Cheese, spices, veggies, Jesus.

    It even sells cocoa leaves which are chewed or brewed in tea to alleviate altitude sickness and as a mild stimulant. They are illegal in some countries and some parts of Argentina.

    As in most markets, this one also  has a gross meat section.

     

    Hooves aren't edible are they?

    When I go to a market, I’m always prepared for the gross stuff. It’s almost like a horror movie, getting scared is half the fun.   I walk around sort of shielding my eyes, preparing myself for some gross thing.

    This stack of hooves (cow maybe?) seemed to do it. It was a nice “OMG that’s so gross,” moment.

    I wasn’t however, prepared for this next site.

    holy crap, what is this?

    I mean really, what is that?  And, why is it hanging like that?  And, what is this white stuff?

    don't know what this is either, but I know it's gross.

    The sheer largeness and casual way it was displayed added to the horror.  Look closely below. There is an advertisement for a religious festival, then to the right of the photo is a hanging bit of grossness, and then standing between the two hanging…what to call them….animal parts(?)  is a woman at the counter.  One move left or right and that white hanging thing will swing into her arm or head.

    Religious advertisement, hanging meat, and a woman

    I’m not sure how they decide what to put behind glass and what to leave hanging in the below photo.  Seems like it would be better all behind glass.

    I’m going to be taking a short break from my cow eating (tonight I had pork for dinner.)  I need some time to erase these images from my brain.    I know that all meat comes from animals, and no matter how clean and neat it looks cooked on a plate, it all starts off like this.  But come on, it was like entire cows hanging by their large intestines.   That’s enough to gross anyone out, even a entire cow eater like myself.

  • Salta’s cathedral, the holy water comes with a warning

    Salta’s cathedral is absolutely beautiful.  During the day it’s cotton candy pink.   At night it’s lit up in a golden yellow.

    The inside of the church is just as beautiful with an amazing altar and statues.   But, my favorite part of the cathedral is this sign over the holy water.

    Translation:

    The blessed water is a sacred thing.

    Do not put it on the floor.

    Do not use it as a remedy.

    Do not use it for bad things such as quackery or witchcraft.

    This does not please God.

  • Giving Salta our 2 weeks notice

    At the beginning of all our trips, we have visions of going to one town and settling down.  The plan is always to “move” to one city or town for six months.

    But, then wander lust sets in.  How can we stay in just one town when there are so many other towns/cities/countries nearby.

    We pull out maps and decide to travel around the entire continent.   We can do it if we do one town a day for the next four months.   Then we remember, we have 5 pieces of luggage, a bicycle and Jeff has a business to run.   We can’t just backpack around Boliva.   But, we can go to Chile. We can take a side trip to Boliva. We could move to Uruguay. We can take a side trip to Peru.  We can move to Ecuador. We can take a side trip to Columbia. Or, we can go south and see more of Argentina.  Or we can stay in Salta longer.

    The possibilities are endless which  can be paralyzing.      I can only sit in front of a Lonely Planet guide, Expedia, Trip Advisor and 1,00o travel blogs for so long. At some point we have to just do it, pick a place and buy the tickets.

    We’re decided to leave for Chile in 2 weeks. We’re really excited, but now I’m starting to look at Salta through new eyes. Things that I see every day are taking on that new meaning now that I know know my  time with them is limited.

    We’ve never ever regretted leaving one place in order to go to another one.    The only thing that happens is our list of places to return to one day grows longer.

    The camera, which I haven’t pulled out for awhile is now back in my hands. The “Top 10 things to see in Salta” is back on my computer screen.   We’ve only done 5 of the ten.   The road trips we’ve been thinking about are actually being planned, the museum’s we’ve never gone to are on tomorrow’s itinerary.

    I’m assuming they still have beef in Chile, so I’m not going to cram the rest of eating the cow in.  Besides, we’ll be back in Argentina at the end of the trip.

    I am going to be spending a LOT of time with dulce de leche.  They might have it in Chile, but I don’t to risk not eating it if they don’t.