Tafi del Valle, Cafayate and Salta, Northern Argentina

From Mendoza we hopped onto a northbound bus to Tucuman from where we hired a car for five days to explore the famed mountain valleys and vineyards of Northern Argentina.

Matt: The city of Tucuman is something of a caricature of one of South America's most common (and depressing) problems: litter. To a lesser or greater degree, nearly everywhere we've been so far has had a problem with rubbish lying on roadsides, in gutters and even in the most scenic of places, but Tucuman has the worst issues of all. Some of the locals we've met since arriving have commented that it's a matter of education, but the lessons can't be learnt fast enough! OK, rant over...

 After picking up our trusty hire car, we headed West into the mountains for our first destination: the jaw dropping 'cowboy' town of Tafi del Valle. After a winding two hour drive we arrived to this....

The next day we decided to do a hike around the surroundings mountains. It was tough but good fun. 

Sarah: This trek was definitely part of our Machu Picchu training. Anne and Matt were super quick but I liked setting the pace from the back!

Sarah: Taking a break as usual...

We met some locals on the way back. They were heading back up to their very isolated but beautiful home in the mountains. The strongest working horses we've seen so far. They were climbing up the rocky mountain paths carrying massive loads.

 The next day we drove to the next town along, Cafayate. 

We stopped off at Quilmes ruins along the way. Cactus plants as far as the eye could see.

Then for some vineyards in the most amazing scenery.....

Matt: This is the stunning view from the San Pedro de Yacochuya winery, surely one of the most beautiful vineyards I ever visited. More importantly, the wines were absolutely incredible and remain the best wines I've tried during the trip so far... Thanks to Marcos Etchart for a fantastic visit. Anyone who utters the phrase "You know what a winery looks like - let's go straight to the tasting" is ok in my book!

Sarah: And mine!

After sampling the delights of Yacochuya, we headed back to Cafayate for some kip in preparation for the next day's adventure: a return trip to Cachi on perhaps the most famous section of Ruta 40... 

Having filled up the Chevy we hit the road north into a spectacular wilderness. The road was challenging but the scenery was like nothing you've ever seen before. It begins with these rocky mountains...

We soon said goodbye to tarmac for the day, swapping it for gravel, sand and rock...

Our little car was getting scrapped from every angle.

The scenery then changed into something out of Mars....

We stopped a lot to admire the view as it was just so crazy to see.

After a couple of hours on the gravel road we decided to stop for lunch on the side of the road, and this happened...

Matt: When I got out of the car I heard a distinct hissing sound. I immediately though "Oh fuck! we are in the middle of nowhere." So I told the girls we should delay lunch and try and head back to the last house we saw as quickly as possible as the tyre was deflating at a rate of knots. We stopped off at a random guest house where we frantically asked a lady where we could get the tyre fixed. She just wanted to sell us some paintings but eventually told us if we went another couple of miles down the road we would find a tyre mechanic. We finally arrived with the tyre almost flat and the most amazing kid assessed the puncture and decided he could fix it rather than put on the spare wheel. He had all the machinery to do this in about 20 minutes. He then charged us just £4 for the whole service. He could have charged us £400 as we were in the middle of nowhere but this guy was as honest as they come. We hugged him (he obviously thought we were mental) and we trundled off back to the town. 

Back on the road...

After making it back in one piece we had a well deserved BBQ with our fellow travelers at the hostel. 

The final leg of the trip was yet another amazing road, this time to our final destination of Salta. We hit the road before sunrise and were treated to some amazing sights...

The famous 'Toad Rock'....

We then arrived in Salta and dropped the car off with a cool 15 mins to spare. We then stretched our legs around the beautiful city centre....

Cable car ride for some awesome views of the city...

We arrived on Salta's national anniversary and there just happened to be a Gaucho celebration!

In the evening, there was a free concert in the square...

And then we met Claire and Paddy... AGAIN!! There was just enough time to celebrate Claire's birthday before getting on a nightbus to Bolvia...

Matt said goodbye to the hostel beagle, 'Luna'...

...and we both said our goodbyes to Argentina. 

Things we loved about Argentina:

Matt: the incredible scenery; chimichurri sauce; the wine; the asados (BBQs); Raul!

Sarah: meeting the people in Northern Argentina (the friendliest we have met) and tango!

Things we could've done without:

Matt: charity scams at tourist spots; sticking used bog paper in a bin instead of flushing; air conditioning on overnight buses when it's below freezing outside

Sarah: having to pay tourist prices everywhere makes you feel like you are getting ripped off all the time.

Top sights/activities:

Matt: 4x4 trip with BBQ in Ushuaia; San Pedro de Yacochuya winery, Cafayate; walking in El Calafate/El Chalten

Sarah: witnessing the biggest and only growing glacier in the world; walking through the mountains to see the Fitz Roy peaks; the 'up close and personal' boat trip to see the amazing wildlife at the bottom of the continent.