A Day in Cachi (Day 46)

Today I spent the day discovering the small (pop. 1800) mountain town of Cachi. I actually arrived here last night. When I went to the bus terminal to pick up my ticket, I found out there was an evening bus that I could take instead. Getting to the bus was a bit of a gong show- the bus was supposed to leave at 20:00 and I was waiting faithfully at the platform. Then the ticket agent came out and told the 4 of us girls waiting that we'd have to meet the bus at the gas station across the street. Wierd. Only problem being there were three gas stations across the street with buses at all of them. We finally found the bus (of course the last set that we checked) and got on. Seeing as it was Easter Sunday, I treated myself to a little festive treat. I can't say my supper was quite the turkey feast I was missing out on at home, but with the crooning Argentine tunes blasting from the bus radio as we bumped along the road past churches bursting with holiday worshipers, I feel like my Easter supper definitely had a solidly memorable Argentine flair!

(Note: This is a Milenasia sandwich- fried egg, ham, cheese, breaded beef cutlet, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard and dash of salt....bring on the heart attack!)

Unfortunately, I wouldn't get to see much of the scenery on the ride up- the main reason I was making this trip. I had it on good authority that the drive up to Cachi was worth the bumpy 4.5hr ride. But, the sky was clear and the moon still bright, so I managed to make out quite a bit just by the light of the moon (which is a great way to see anything). From what I could see, we were travelling through this immense valley, switching back along the ridges and climbing, climbing, climbing up to the top where it suddenly levels out. If the shadows gave any indication of how deep this valley was, I would be in for a treat when I could see it in daylight.

I was lucky to get a bed in a private house, arranged for me by one of the men on the bus. The older Senora who runs the house is a very sweet lady. The bed was comfy, warm (now colder that I'm at 2200m) and I slept like a log. I woke up this morning and went over to the little park to make my breakfast. I definitely got some odd looks for the people walking around the plaza- me with my camp stove blazing, mate and my oatmeal :) This park is really cute: it's got more lush green grass than I've seen anywhere else in Argentina, it's spotlessly clean and manicured and decorated with all these great pottery ornaments.

And despite being a small town, there are some very impressive estates and building here too that mirror the architectural flair in Salta.

Since the plaza is the hub of the town and today was Holiday Monday (for Argentina's Memoria (Remembrance) Day), there were also a handful of artesenal tables, with many wares similar in style to what I'd seen in Salta yesterday. Lots of silver, wood carvings, leatherworks and yummy alfajores (traditional sweet cookies).

After a quick stop into the tourist office to find out where to hike for the day, I headed off to the west lookout in the mountains. The surrounding peaks aren't that big out here (relatively speaking), but they are a continuous chain of rugged peaks and the greenest valleys below where the town lies, nestled between two rivers.

There is a really big peak off in the distance- which one I'm not sure but it's gorgeous.

As I was making my way up the ridge, I spotted some sheep (Dan would love this) grazing their way up in my direction. I don't know what they can eat out here, but they seemed pretty happy.

It was quite and warm up at the top, so I sat for a while and just watched the town below. All of the houses are adobe (clay), similar to the ones I worked on in El Bolson. The landscape is also scattered with these huge cordòn cacti that look like a forest of fence posts.

I made my way back down and followed the river back to town. It was pretty warm, but the mountain breeze made the temperature just about perfect. I stopped at a nice rock, pulled my sweaty feet out of my boots and saoked them in the cool water. It felt awesome, but I'm sure the horse that I had disturbed to get to this spot was not impressed with my smelly feet!

By now, I had seen most of what there was to see in this town, as cute as it is. I went to the bus ticket office to see if I could catch the 13:00 bus back to Salta, but it was full. So, I got my ticket for tomorrow and then just wandered around. And wandered, and wandered. I wandered through the little flea market, I had a nap under a tree in the camping area and then I went back to the plaza and wandered a little more. Did I mention this is only an 1800-person town?

Motivated by boredom, I went into the local internet cafe (they're actually two of them) and caught up on a few things. By the time I got finished there, it was a reasonable hour to start supper. After a nice hot shower, I trudged my stove and pots down to a little nook beside a bank and made supper. I couldn't get my can of lentils open, despite having a few people try for me )note: need to get new can opener in city) so they'll wait for another night. My my pasta delight was still pretty yummy without them.

I went to the other internet cafe to see if I could upload some photos, but no luck. So, I made my way back to the rooming house and was treated to an early night curled up in a warm bed. I have a ticket for the 9am bus back to Salta tomorrow, so I hope the weather is as clear as it was today so I can see into that huge valley!