Cachi
After many months of living in Salta I finally made it to Cachi. Later I will post some pictures of my trip there, from Cafayate with some Belgians, but for now I will just post this much.
Cachi reminds me a lot of Bolivia or Peru, but a bit upscale like everything in Argentina. Probably the thing I liked most about it was that in the morning when you wake up all you hear are the birds. And when you look out, you see mountains all around you. It is a pretty long drive to get there from anywhere, but the drive itself is worth it from either Salta or Cafayate. Most of the trip from either place is gravel road by the way, with some very, very curvy sections which make some people sick - just to be forewarned.
If you don't want to go on an expensive tour or rent a cr to get to Cachi, there are other ways to get there. You can take the bus from the terminal in Salta. It costs about 25 pesos and takes about 4.5 hours. The only bus company going there is Rueda. Or you can take a taxi (remis).If you have the money, I would suggest you rent a car. That way you can stop along the way. There is a lot to take pictures of along the way and also the tour drivers, taxis and busses don't stop often enough for me. With all the curves I like to get out and stretch more often. Actually, the trip to and from Cachi is the main even, not getting there. It is a quaint little town, but not as nice as Cafayate.
Other notes
The people were friendly and helpful but didn't speak much English.
(this page is under construction)
You can get a shared taxi/remis to Cachi for around 23 pesos. The bus costs about the same, but the remis is probably more comfortable and definitely faster, by about an hour.
As of October 2006 there are three remis operators. They will come pick you up at your hostel or hotel in Salta so you don't have to go to the bus terminal. The numbers below which are 7 digit are Salta land/fixed or "fijo" phone numbers. So if you are calling from Salta it is a local call.
If you are in Cachi wanting to get back to Salta, it is easy to ask anyone where the remis operators are.
Remisses Cachi - 429-0405 (Mobile - 0387 154 185 748)
Remisses San Jose - 424- 8487
Remisses Valles Calchaquies - 422-7128
Here are two of the remises agencies.
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Louisa and her husband in the hostal where I stayed. It was clean, quiet and low priced. And Louisa was very helpful.
The back yard.
The kitchen where Lousia let me cook.
my unfinished story of my trip from Cachi to Salta
At 8:30 I was still waiting for the taxi to come to the office.
What I am planning on doing is getting off the remis at Marguerita because I will probably be curve-sick. Then I will wait for the bus which is supposed to come by 20 or thirty minutes later.
Now it is 13 till 9 and the guy is not here yet. The woman tells me that no, we don't leave at 8:30, we leave at 9. At 8:30 they start picking up the passengers.
At about ten till 9 I told her I felt a little frustrated because the guy had told me eith thirty the night before and I woke up early so I could get to the offixce at 8:30. Actually I also turned down some breakfast at Louisa's because I was afraid of being late.
(It all turned out ok, but I think 23 pesos to La Margerita was too high. It is only about half way to Salta. But I got some empanadas and had a few minutes extra to stretch before the bus came and took me the rest of the way.)
Parked outside the ticket window. A block from the main square. Anyone can tell you where it is. They don't have many busses to Salta though, so check the day before. I think it might be just one in the morning at 9 each day and one in the afternoon on Sundays.
Cachi was a neat town. Stuck out in the middle of desert, with
beautiful colonial buildings, reminiscent of Colonia del
Sacramento. We were running a bit behind, so we didn{t spent long
there. Just enough time to get some ice cream and take a few
pictures.
The next part of our trip would turn out to be the best in my
opinion. After Cachi, the road was paved for roughly the next
hour. Then it became gravel again. We passed through Parque
Nacional los Cardones, which is supposed to be a wildlife park,
but we didn{t manage to see anything more then a lot of cactus.
As we rose up into the mountains, the hills became greener and
the clouds became lower, until we rose right up into them.
On the other side of the Piedra del Molino, the road descended,
winding back and fourth, down the face of the mountain into the
Cuesta del Obispo. I think this was a taste of what we will
experience on the most dangerous road. Occasionally through the
fog would appear a mini-river running across the road and off the
edge of the mountain.
We finally descended out of the clouds into the most beautiful
and green, valley I have ever seen. Steep, lush, green mountain
sides ascended up either side and disappeared into the clouds.
The pictures I took do NOT capture the feeling in this valley. I
strongly suggest this trip to anyone coming to Argentina.
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