Salta

Buen dia from Salta (again).

Here are a couple of pictures from Salta. An elaborate colonial church - one of the more elaborate we`ve seen (the curtains in the doorways are plaster):



And a carved wooden door on the convent, dating from 1760:



From Salta, we rented a car and drove into the Valle Calchaquí to the city of Cafayate. This is a very diverse area in terms of landscapes. At first you drive through fertile farmland, then you cross the moisture line into arid sandstone mountains that reminded us of Utah or Arizona:



After passing through these formations, you reach Cafayate, which is in the middle of the wine producing area of northern Argentina. We stayed for two nights here and, of course, sampled the local products - not just wine, some goat cheese, as well. in Cafayate, we continued our tradition of attracting all the local dogs. They must be able to tell we are dog people.

From Cafayate, it is a short drive to Quilmes, some of the largest ruins in Argentina:



The ruins are not as impressive when viewed from ground level, but when you climb the hill, the intricacy of the city is apparent.

From Cafayate, we headed along a dirt road through sandstone razorbacks and small indigenous settlements to Cachi - one of the larger of these settlements in the valley. We thought this town was one of our better stops in northern Argentina - the people are extremely friendly and the scenery was spectacular. We got the feeling that the people want to preserve their culture while allowing tourists to see it - a very hard thing to do.

The main agrigultural crop in the area is peppers, which are dried on the sides of hills all throughout the valley:



And there are ruins from the local pre-hispanic population:



Los Cardones - cacti that are similar to the saguaro are abundant:



There are even some foxes left:



The route back to Salta took us over a pass through the Parque Nacional de los Cardones and back onto the wet side of the mountains. The scenery would have been spectacular . . . but being on the wet side also means fog and lots of it. Oh, well, we`ll get pictures next time.