The Salta Region
The second-to-last province I’m riding through in NW-Argentina is Salta. The capital Salta, a city of about 500.000 people, has a lot to offer and hence attracts a lot of tourists. During the approach from the South, after the town of Cafayate, I already experienced some great landscape at the Quebrada de Las Conchas.
After 11 days of nonstop riding from Mendoza I decided to spend the weekend resting in Salta. Arriving in the province brought the first cloudy and cool weather since I left Bariloche in late February some 2 months ago. A change in weather had dropped the temperatures in Salta by 15C and signalled the arrival of fall.
After a rest-day on Saturday spent with logistics I decided to undertake a day-trip on Sunday by bus to Cachi. The very scenic road climbs 2000m over a 3400m high pass, literally above the clouds.
Once over the top the landscape and the microclimate change dramatically. Arid plains and plenty of candelabra cacti present themselves in the National Park “Los Cardones”. The view opens up of the valley with the nice little town of Cachi and the huge Nevado de Cachi (6720m) towering behind.
Back after a very long day I got to enjoy Salta by night, with sights like the splendidly illuminated Cathedral on the central Plaza 9 de Julio.
I spent an extra rest and logistics day on Monday. In the late afternoon I walked 1072 stone steps up to the Cerro San Bernardo, from where you have a great view of the city. In the fading light I took this picture of Salta:
The next day I continued North towards the province of Jujuy. I stopped for brunch in the idyllic little town of La Caldera. A stop at the beautiful Hosteria La Caldera is a must for every cyclist (or other tourist for that matter).
The road (Ruta 9) then climbs over a 1600m high saddle and descends into a lush cloud forest towards the reservoirs created by the Dique de Cienaga. This was one of the finest roads I have cycled in Argentina – no, make that “I have ever cycled on”! Just fabulous, smooth paved road, slight downhill, no traffic, extremely winding road, and lush rainforest all around!
I’m greatly enjoying this much green prior to heading up to the Altiplano and Bolivia in the next couple of days…
2 comments April 27th, 2010