Humahuaca and Cafayate 30 April to 5 May

Humahuaca and Cafayate 30 April - 5 May

30 April 2023    Arrive in Humahuaca early evening and follow instructions to find our apartment on the edge of the town.

 Apartment has a big bedroom, a bathroom and half a kitchen ie it has a fridge, toaster and kettle, but no cooking facilities (as we had been advised).   The makings of breakfast - bread and jam - are in the fridge and there's tea and coffee.  We picnic on bread, cheese, salami, tomatoes etc that we've brought and a bottle of vino.

Monday 1 May    have breakfast from the supplies in the fridge and go for a walk into town - pretty, if a bit dusty.  There's a huge 'Monumento a los Héroes de la Independencia', 

a market that's just getting under way, and an attractive church (apparently a cathedral) 

and a town hall. Check out a well reviewed restaurant, Las Gloria's,  to make sure it will be open this evening - we're pretty sure he says dinner will be from 7.00 pm.

In the afternoon we drive from Humahuaca to view the 14 Colour Hills - it's a 24 km drive, all on fairly rough white road (gravel road) and takes about 50 minutes with the car gasping a bit as we climb in altitude. Pay a small fee at the entrance to the Mirador / lookout and drive to the car park at 4350 metres altitude (Humahuaca is at 3012 metres).   WHAT a view!!  

The hills are like zig zag multi coloured humbugs (candy) and look unreal.  Spectacular.  We spend a bit of time looking at the hills, share a delicious flat bread thing cooked on a charcoal griddle, and then retreat to the car. It's not that warm despite the sun.

Drive back down the gravel road stopping a couple of times for photos and once because we have a puncture….. thankfully John is able to do battle with the jack, the damaged tyre and the spare. 

the road down

tyre wrangler 

The spare is definitely just that and has a sticker on it to say drive at maximum speed 80 kph when it's in use - so tomorrow's drive will be a slow one.

In the evening we walk into the town to Las Glorias and get there, hungry, about 7.00 pm. Unfortunately we misheard (or were misinformed) the opening time and dinner orders are not being taken until 7.30 pm.   Have a set menu for Arg pesos 1950 (about £7) which is an empanada starter, pasta (me) and a Llama Milanese (John) main and a pancake for pudding.  Waddle back to base after all those carbs.

Tuesday 2 May    up early to pack and are in the car just before 8.00 am trying to defrost the windscreen - yes, it's getting colder.   On the road, remembering that, with the spare tyre, we can't safely go much above 80 kph (50 mph).  We have quite a long drive today of 440 Kms/ 274 miles, with a stop at the car rental office at Salta airport to get either a new tyre  or a different car.  

After 4 1/2 hours, back through some lovely country side, going from barren and hilly to green and flat, we get to the airport.  The guys at the Fit rental office seem underwhelmed by our request for a new tyre or new car, and mutter about us having to pay for a replacement tyre (we've got insurance….) but after a bit we are given to a different car, a small Toyota, into which we load our luggage and prepare to leave.   Significant 'problem with the engine' signs on the dashboard so John takes a photo of this and heads back to the office.  He's assured that there's no problem (thankfully they were right) so we set off, southward

Stop for lunch at a roadside café with yummy empanadas, 

and travel on south.

Road becomes increasingly winding through the Quebrada de Cafayate a brick/ chocolate/ pink/ orange/ sand coloured landscape but the views are ever more special and the colours of the rocks and hills more varied.

Reach our destination, Cafayate, which is set in a broad valley, and find our hostel. Very attractive white painted building with swimming pool (but it's definitely not warm enough to swim).  Lovely rustic bedroom with en suite.   

Receive a WhatsApp from Fit, 'fessing up that they forgot to provide us with the paperwork for the car that we are supposed to have.  Not a problem unless we're stopped by a police roadside check.  So far all the checkpoints we have seen have been staffed by people glued to their mobile phones.

Get unpacked and walk into town to explore.  Cafayate definitely seems wealthier than Humahuaca - it's wine country which probably makes the difference.  Nice plaza in centre with a number of restaurants around it - we're too early for the one we've chosen so have to take a couple of turns round the square and into the evening service in the church to kill time.   We are allowed to be seated at Pusk 'no Bistro at 8.00 pm.  Worth the wait!  I have a delicious mushroom risotto and we share an excellent bottle of organic Cab Sav. wine from Stutz.

Wednesday 3 May.  Have breakfast of several sorts of bread plus coffee and juice.

Do some planning in the morning and then walk to Bodega Vasija Secreta on the edge of the town - there's an apparent lack of interest in our being there, and when we gate crash a tour it is in Spanish that's too rapid for us, so we buy a bottle of our new favourite white wine (Torrontes) and mosey back to town.  This evening's meal is at another restaurant on the plaza that looks better than it delivered.  

Thursday 4 May.  today we go to the Quilmes ruins about 50 Kms south of Cafayate; we're at a village about half way there when we are stopped at a police check point - John does his best 'wide eyed /innocent /I don't speak Spanish /Kiwi abroad' and hands over his passport, while I pick out a wodge of paperwork from the glove compartment just in case.  The sheer number of stamps in John's (Kiwi) passport convinces our copper to wave us through. Phew.

The Quilmes city was built over many decades by the Quilmes people from around 850 AD.  The site was the largest pre-Columbian settlement in Argentina, occupying about 30 hectares.   It's believed that about 5,000 people lived here at its peak.   When the Spanish arrived in the C16th they held out for 130 to 160 years before finally being defeated and captured. 

We go to the museum, watch a video and look at the artifacts on display, then go out for nearly two hours to look round the site, which is fascinating in terms of the technology but not a lot is known about how the people actually lived or their social organisation.

Back to Cafayate, share a red and white wine Ice cream (white wine best for sure)

and out for dinner to the main square (again) and have a better meal than last night.

Friday 5 May. Pack up, have breakfast and we're on the road north, heading to Salta, at 8.30 am.   A few stops for photo opportunities including at the Devil's Throat (a canyon)… where, unexpectedly, we meet a nice cat.   

Reach Salta Airport about 12.30 and hand back the car - the chap asks if we had any problems not having the paperwork and we tell him we were stopped by the police. But we are able to laugh about it all.    

Check in and drop off our luggage then get the flight to Buenos Aires;  when we arrive we have to go through a bit of a process on an app to get a taxi.  The taxi driver fancies himself as a speed merchant and I have my eyes tight shut at several points.   But we reach our hostel, Viajero, in San Telmo in one piece and head in, unfortunately leaving John's "Terry Pratchett" hat in the cab.   But, a warm welcome at reception, nice big en suite room and a funky environment.