Salta province

After the tropical heat of the Iguazu area we travelled to the Salta province after yet another epic bus ride. Salta is the main city and it was our favorite so far. The usual city layout centered around a gorgeous plaza lined with cafes was visited more than once in Megan´s continuing and everlasting quest for the perfect cafe experience!!! The best thing about coffee in Argentina, other than the fact that it´s normally quite exceptional espresso, is the fact that it usually comes with a plate of little yummy pastries and mineral water. Very civilized. However, although we´ve experienced many lovely cafe locales, the best actual coffee that we´ve had has been in a gas station on the side of the highway. Even the gas stations here have high-quality espresso machines with baristas!!!!



Salta and the Northwest region is a very different Argentina, it´s proximity to Bolivia and Incan history makes it feel much more similar to Peru than to other parts of the country. The landscape reminded us of Red Rocks or Zion National park, with valley after valley of multicoloured sandstone. As well as lots of different shades of red rock, we saw a cloud forest and salt flats in a 4x4 tour north of Salta City.



After Salta City we visited Cafayate, a small town south of Salta which is also a wine growing area, and went for a memorable (and kind of long) bike ride through the valley. After 50km our bums hurt and going for wine tastings while so dehydrated wasn´t as much fun as we expected! So instead we went for ice cream. In fact, we have conducted a quite thorough tasting of high-quality ice cream throughout Argentina. Many towns claim to have the best ice cream in Argentina so we´re making it a goal to try all of them. So far it seems to be Buenos Aires or Cafayate, but the survey continues!

Next stop: Mendoza