I am giddy like a school girl. I have been wanting to visit this country famous for its abundance of steak and wine since as long as I can remember. We’re finally here. I can barely contain myself and Sam thinks I’ve gone slightly loco. He’s not wrong.
Our first stop is Humahuaca in the northwest region of Jujuy. It’s a beautiful little place with cobbled stones paving the streets, houses with wooden shutters and shops and restaurants with cute signs jutting out. It’s a beautiful picture really and i’m dying to sample what the local bodegas have to offer but we’re really feeling the pinch compared to Bolivia so resort to surviving on empanadas and calimuchos! We only stayed for a couple of days because as gorgeous as it is, there’s little to do there and we wanted the option of cheap eats that only a city can offer….We head south to the colonial city of Salta.
Salta was amazing and we welcomed an Argentinean city after two months of travelling, not only to top up on depleting toiletry supplies etc but also so Sam could go to the dentist to get his cracked tooth tended too! A temporary filling in place (a necessity when surrounded by such amazing food), we enjoyed our first amazing steak dinner courtesy of Mike & Kim (thanks for the early birthday present guys!) and befriended the locals including the little biagle, Luna, who we will both miss terribly.
We’re now in Cafayate and I never thought I would feel so in love with a place after Samaipata in Bolivia but I have to say, I am in love, maybe more so and I don’t want to leave – ever. It has bodegas (wine bars) everywhere, steak, empanadas, 28 degree weather (it’s their winter!!) and waterfalls. I have persuaded Sam to stay another night (like he needed much persuasion!) and tomorrow we hire bikes to sample yet more of the local tipple at the surrounding vineyards…