Salta

We’re still reeling. The change from the dirty bombed-out (seemingly anyway) streets of Bolivia to modern-day Argentina is staggering. Dropping a couple thousands meters in elevation has also brought us from down jacket weather to shorts and flip flops in a couple days. One day we’re side-stepping dog poo and muck looking for anything to eat in a cold wind, the next we’re strolling the plaza-side cafes looking for the patio with the best shade umbrellas and who has the coldest beer. The weirdest thing to consider is that the border is only a few hours away (by vehicle). It’s one of those unique spots on earth where two worlds collide.

So Salta, population 500K, elevation 1187 m. It’s a chic medium-sized city, with a smallish feel. Being 3 blocks off the main downtown plaza, we’re right in the middle of the action and enjoying the patios and street cafes. As with all Spanish colonial towns, the main plaza is the heart of the city and where everything starts and finishes. It’s a fantastic concept, and is definitely our favourite thing about towns and cities in this part of the world. Big or small, upon entering a town or city, simply make your way to “el centro” and you are guaranteed to be where you can get accommodation, something to eat, something to drink, and just hang out and enjoy. Don’t know where it is? Just ask anyone “donde esta el centro?” Everyone knows and points. It works every time.

The ride over the hump from Jujuy to Salta was fantastic. It could be the best single day of riding we have had yet. The road winds itself up, through, and over a series of lush hills connected by a single-lane paved road shaded by overhanging branches and other foliage. No industrial traffic permitted, just families and couples out for an afternoon drive. It must be some kind of regional park. For those from Ontario-Quebec, it could have been a ride through the hills of Gatineau Park. For the first time on the entire trip, we had a very civilized picnic lunch en route, complete with a concrete picnic table in the shade – the pâté was excellent. Good roads, bike lanes, people out for a drive in the country, pull-outs with picnic tables...we’re still getting reacquainted with the luxuries of the developed world that we had all but forgotten about.

Speaking of luxuries, last evening we decided to go out for some pasta, which along with steak and wine, Argentines are famous for. Funny though, we got stuck in the Argentine time-warp. As mentioned previous post, Argentines are night owls. Being newbies, and silly gringo tourists, we were naively walking the streets at 7 pm looking for a pasta restaurant. We found several...that were all closed. They don’t even open before 9 pm! At one place the door was unlocked so we walked in. The guy who was prepping tables looked at us like we were insane, and simply told us to come back later. Who goes to a restaurant at 7 pm? Silly gringos.

We’re not sure what we’re going to do about this time warp situation. If we want to partake in Argentine culture we are going to have to somehow put in the late-night shift. As far as they’re concerned, the only people who are in bed at 9 pm are those in comas, or those under the age of 1. Oh well, we enjoyed our plate of pasta amongst all the coffee-drinkers at the cafe we found. I suppose we could try the double espressos with 3 packs of sugar too. Could be their secret...

So onwards and southwards again. Tomorrow we ride south towards the small town of Cafayate (prounouced “cafashataye” in Argentine), and into wine country. While wine is abundant, cheap, and good everywhere, they actually grow it in Cafashataye. The plan is to take a few days to get there then hunker down and enjoy some wine country atmosphere – and perhaps try a bit of the wine too. J Adios.