Purmamarca - Salta - Cachi - Cafayate - Troy

I have been camping a lot since my last updates, and haven't had much time for internet, so will take up where I left off, though I'll condense it as much as possible...

After our luxury hotel in purmamarca (I have updated that blog with photos now), Tutu and I rode down to Salta, which is a big city and was quite nice to arrive in after lots of small towns. We met a few friends of hers and ate out at some amazing restaurants, it was here that I decided that Argentinian steaks are the best in the world.

I gave the Dingo an oil change, and we left most of our gear at the hostel, then we headed south to Cachi, which is a very relaxed and picturesque little town. We stayed there one night and had dinner and then breakfast in the beautiful town square.

The next day we did the dirt road on our way to cafayate, through Valle de Calchaquies which was a magical ride through, once again, an amazing landscape, with lots of little "artesan' villages along the way, (which are famous for their crafts and especially poncho's (which Tutu is mad for)).

Eventually we reached an area that had the most incredible slanted hills. It was getting late so we decided to pull off to a little canyon to camp the night. It was one of the nicest nights imaginable, we pitched the tent, cooked up a feed, went for a hike, then built a fire and sat by it reading our books and watching the stars. It was a perfect camp spot...

The next day we continued riding into Cafayate, which is a town famous for its wines. Needless to say I was excited about trying some out, so we stopped in the main square, and went to the tourist info to find a hotel. They were all quite expensive, and just as we were about to ride off to check them out, we were approached by a young guy on a BMX who showed us a flyer for a new hotel. We decided to check it out, and it turned out to be a really nice place, with a kitchen, and best of all a really nice couple who had just started it up, and had a really cute baby.

Tutu and I ended up becoming good friends with them and so we stayed 2 days. We went to a couple of wine tastings, got a couple of bowls of red wine icecream from a famous ice-creamery and just relaxed about the town. I cooked Tutu a selection of steaks and roasted vegies and topped it off with my famous gravy, which being French, she was a little suspicious about. In the end it was really hard for us to leave, though Tutu had to be back in Salta to catch her plane home.

Once again the ride back to Salta was a mind blowing experience, the landscape seemed to have no end of different forms and amazing colours. We ended up stopping at least 20 times to takes photos before we had got anywhere near half way back.

We eventually arrived back in Salta, where our gear was ready in our original private room, and sadly Tutu packed her incredibly overstuffed backpack, and flew home the next day (not before buying a tub of Dulce de Leche a kind of chocolate spread only available in Argentina that she is addicted to).

I was a bit sad after that cos now I was alone and had got used to having Tim and/or Tutu around, so I got a service on my bike, then ended up spending over a week in Salta, trying to work out what I was gonna do.

Eventually I realised that I had to keep rolling so I decided to hit Ruta 40 and head south to Mendoza. And then ??????