The day started bright and early, as I had to jump in a collectivo to head south to Cafayate. I wound up deciding to tag along with a tour to see Cafayate and all of the rock formations along the way, since I had one day left and so much to do. I thought about taking the bus down and trying to do it on my own, but there were no guarantees that I would see the rocks, which was the whole point. So I played stereotypical tourist for a day and I was reminded how much I hate tours. But no matter, I did get to see some absolutely unbelievable stuff.
The people were nice enough, and the tour guide seemed knowledgeable, but it all seemed a little fake. Maybe the fact that there were more cracks in the windshield than in a shattered plate didn't help so much. But anyhow, of we went. We stopped for coffee about an hour in, during which time I was pacing the coffee shop calling on Yoda to use the force and make everyone spill their coffee so we could get out of there. Eventually we made it to our first stop, the ghost town of Alemania. We didn't actually get to walk around at all, which was too bad, but even so it was pretty neat. It's nestled into this little mountain valley with a river running through it. The entire place was blanketed with snow, which only added to the beauty. What was pretty neat was seeing cacti everywhere covered with snow. Not the usual combination!
Stop number two was our first venture into the rock formations of the Quebrada las Conchas. You thought Yosemite Valley was breathtaking, you should come to the Quebrada Las Conchas. Think of Yosemite Valley mixed with Bryce Canyon, and you’re starting to get the picture. This would be a great spot to say, ‘see attached,’ but my photos don’t do the area justice. We drove mile after mile through layered red rock covered with snow with the andes towering over them, like the Great Wall of China on some massive steroids. We found our way to La Garganta del Diablo, or 'The Devil's Throat'. It's a extremely deep canyon winding its way back up into the mountainside. It is probably about 15-20 feet across and 4-500 feet high. Really neat stuff. I walked back there as far as I could before it was time to go; this is one spot I'd definitely like to come back to and really see what's back up in there. The tonsils, maybe?
Just down the road is El Amfiteatro, or the 'Ampitheater'. This was either my favorite or second favorite on the day. You walk through another little canyon like La Garganta but this time for only about 100 feet before you come into this cylinder-like area. It's as if someone took a drill and drilled a couple hundred feet into the rock. A guitarist and musician playing the recorder were sharing some tunes inside- the way the sound bounced off the walls was awesome. Better than any concert hall.
We made our way to Cafayate from there. Just before pulling into town we rolled slowly by 'The Titanic'. We got an earful of 'My Heart Will Go On' as we were getting close, so we were all warned. Cafayate is a little mountain town set into a valley after the end of Quebrada las Conchas and before the real Andes start. It felt like Fairplay (CO) in a way, just this town was a little bigger. You still had the same amazing mountain vistas everywhere you looked, however. Cafayate's claim to fame is its wine (and of course being so close to Quebrada las Conchas). We visited two vineyards, and got to try wine at both. It wasn't too bad! The local specialty is a torrentes , which is a white wine. It's good. As soon as lunch hit us though, I bolted. I wolfed down some gnocchi and found a spot to rent a bike. I got one that was probably about 4 sizes too small and reminded me of my first bike with gears. But, the wheels turned, the brakes worked and the gears changed if you asked nicely. I cruised around town for an hour, successfully freezing my fingers off and almost being attacked by a couple stray dogs. I asked one if it wanted to race, but I could an earful of bark instead. Biking is by far the best way to see a town. I cycled past some vineyards, around some local neighborhoods (and had some people staring at me from their windows), and really got a feel for the town. It's pretty much all dirt roads that each look like they go straight to the base of some several-thousand foot mountain.
On the way back to Salta we stopped at a few more spots in Quebrada las Conchas, the first of which was Los Castillos, or 'The Castles.' As you can imagine, this is a formation that looks like a couple castles arranged next to each other. They gave new meaning to the word 'magnificent'. I noticed before that JP posted a quote from Grant who said that 'water is the best artist,' and I couldn't agree more. Water did just about all of this (minor a few formations caused by the wind), and it's just astounding. Los Castillos was followed by a stop at Los Tres Cruces, (The Three Crosses) which is a spot with three crosses on a hill that mark the high point of the valley. The view from here is unbelievable - I would almost go as far as to say that it trumps Yosemite Valley. Down the valley you have the view in the last picture above, and up the valley you have the river, some of the red rock and then some Andes peaks towering above those. I couldn't get enough of it.
I made it back to the hostel (although we did actually hit a guy on the way back - I assume he's alright because the driver hopped out and 2 minutes later he was back and we were driving away. I was dozing off at the time, and the loud bang made me think the world was ending) and went out for dinner to the same spot as last night, just at a different stall this time. The food was good and the atmosphere great. There was a guitarist playing for change to a crowd that seemed to be full of tourists from Buenos Aires. No matter - it became loud fast. Later on I got to talking to a recent grad from Columbia, who just happened to know who Dexter TP is. Small world, huh? After a couple hours I convinced her that early nights were for suckers and we headed uptown with one of the guys I met last night and hit up a bar with some live local music - good times.
Today was a travel day- I decided to fly back to make my stay in Salta as long as possible. Flying is supposed to be easy, right? Well, after being delayed for over 3 hours I finally got in the air in an airplane that won't leave my memory anytime soon. The space between the seats was so small that so much blood was cut off from my feet that I probably have permanent brain damage. Add that to what looked like duct tape holding one of the cockpit windows on, and you've got a memorable flight. I also happened to be sitting next to a recent Stanford grad on her way back to Uruguay where she's working for a not-for-profit to help small business owners. It's interesting - all the people that I've met who have studied abroad or are going to are all from 'upper-tier' schools- Stanford, Columbia, Amherst, Barnard, Pomona. Where's everyone else? I'll meet them tomorrow I bet.
It's too bad I actually have to go to the orientation meeting tomorrow. Who needs class? Maybe I'll go wander back up and raise my flag above Los Castillos , call it Minas Tirith and defend it from all of the tours.
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