Torrontes for two

Valles Calchaquíes
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As a side trip on our way to Salta, we decided to head to Cafayate, famed for its high altitude wines and great scenery...

After traveling first class to Tucuman, the bus to Cafayate was somewhat different! At least the journey was only 6.5 hours. Bearable. I thought of it as preparing us for Bolivian buses!

It was certainly one of the most rewarding bike rides we have ever done

After checking into our hostel and sorting out some bikes for the following day, we headed out for food. We really liked Cafayate. It had a small country town feel, but had, from what we could see, many nice restaurants serving up tasty local fodder. I tried a couple of stews while we were there.

Silly!
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We had come to Cafayate as it is supposed to be a good place to wine, and also because of the spectacular views of Valles Calchaquíes. We caught a bus at 5 in the morning to Km 48, where we had to wait for 45 minutes or so for the sun to show us the road. The stars and the moon were out in force and it was relaxing just star gazing while we waited.

At Km 48 there is a big rugged gorge that we think you can explore further, however it was due to be a hot day and we did not fancy cycling in the midday heat so we pressed on after taking some photos of the sunrise. There were many bright green macaws sitting in the bushes eating the seeds. Pretty noisy birds!

Valles Calchaquíes at sunrise
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The road winds its way back to Cafayate through amazing scenery, made even more striking by the early morning sun casting long shadows and turning the already orange rocks even more orange. It was certainly one of the most rewarding bike rides we have ever done, and pretty easy too (compared to Circuito Chico in Bariloche). After passing a wide variety of different coloured and strangely shaped rocks, cacti and macaw nests (in clay banks) we made it back for a siesta. Feeling refreshed we headed out to some vineyards, again on our bikes.

Valles Calchaquíes 2
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There are many to visit, too many to list here, however we enjoyed immensely the Bogedas of Nanni, Etchart and Domingo, where we indulged in Torrentes among other wines.

We are very fond of Torrentes - a great hot day white if you know what I mean. Very refreshing!

We were sad to leave Cafayate, but onwards and upwards. We need to get to Bolivia, where the food is spicy we hear - we are missing our curries a little!