Friday, November 27, 2009

Quebrada Y Concha




Our Home for the night, Parador Posta de las Cabras(or Goat Farm Inn)
Llamas
Los Castillos (the Castles)


Friday, November 20, 2009
Hi, it is me again, Karen. It was ~30 degrees at 8:30 in the morning as we made our way around the town square and out of Cafayate on our way to La Vina (mid way to Salta). We don't know what is in La Vina but since it made it on our map, we assume that there has to be a few hotels there.

Leaving town on a loaded bike is always accelerating and Wow what a day! We feel the slight downhill as we spin along at ~25km creating a light breeze. We pass the wineries and vineyards and into open desert, the mountains are looming in the background on three sides; we take a few moments to stop and look back at the Cafayate and the sun on the mountains. We are in awe of the mountains as we approach and a little nervous knowing that we have to go through them along the Quebrada Y Conchas (canyon of the shells). At first the mountains are vegetated and in tones of grey and brown; but as the miles flow beneath us, the sun baked land is totally devoid of any vegetation other then some cacti and a few scrubby plants and the predominant colour is beige with tones of darker brown. The mountains are much more substantial now and structure and breath taking views make us call out to each other at every turn in the road - some rock formations are named, there is The Titanic (truly looks like a sinking ship), the Obelisk, the Amphitheatre and many treelike erosional features. Not to mention, the three donkeys we came across in the wild and the llamas beside a lone clay hut in the middle of the mountains.

Since we didn't know where lunch might be or if there would be a formal one (in a restaurant), the plan was to stop in the shade every 20km to rest, eat and drink. We were armed with bottles and bottles of water, oranges, bananas, apricots, crackers and cookies. As the day worn on and the temperature and the head wind rose to about the same level (40C & 40km) we took advantage of every clay cabin that had a Coke Cola sign out front to replace our hot water supply with cold. And the stops became every 10km, fatigue was setting in when finally at about 88km (5:30pm), we saw a restaurant (and rooms to let) and stopped to get some substantial food knowing we still had about 12km to go to La Vina. We started with cafe con leche (espresso with milk) and couldn't resist the counter full of pastries (backwards, I know but as they say 'Eat Dessert' first). Not knowing for sure, what, if anything, was in La Vina, we decided to spend the night at Parador Posta de las Cabras (with the goats) as the cabins were large and quite nice (we thought the fan in the corner would help but it turned out to be a space heater, so we had a sweltering night). Supper was a big disappointment but did the job. The owners big yellow lab befriended us but ended up being a pain, he came back a few times overnight to lick the remaining milk from our coffee cups on the front porch (where our bikes were stored - so of course we were wide awake with any sound near our bikes; mental note - always take your bike inside). The end to another day of breath-taking views and total exhaustion.


Cafayate to Talapampas,

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