14th February 2015 – Cachi to Salta

Today we drove approximately 160 kilometers from Cachi to Salta, on good sealed roads, except for 21 kilometers down a very steep windy dirt road that was built back in 1928, quite an engineering feat in its day and taking 3 years to complete.  We climbed to 3,457 meters from Cachi to Piedra del Molino which is the start of the 21 kilometer dirt road.  The view of the road that we are about to drive on down into the valley is spectacular.It is a slow drive down the mountain as the road has been washed away in places and we need to keep a watch for oncoming vehicles as it’s very narrow in places.  It is very picturesque and so green, with the low lying cloud adding to the atmosphere of the drive.  Once we are down in the valley the road follows the red muddy river along the side of the mountain.We arrived in Salta early in the afternoon, it is a lovey city, in Spanish they call it la Linda (the beautiful).  The buildings, paved streets, umbrellas, street lights and plazas are lovely.  Salta is home to local folk music and around the cafes in the main plaza buskers play and sing to the patrons.  Tonight we visited the area of town where the pena restaurants are located.  This is where the folk music is performed in the restaurants and bars.  We were treated to 3 different artists singing and playing and a couple of dancers performing a scarf dance.  It was a great night, the street and restaurants were full of people till very late into the evening.