The Northwest Territory

It´s difficult to imagine a more perfect day. I caught the 9am bus to Garganta del Diablo (Devil´s Throat), 50 kilometers north on the stunning road running through the Quebrada de las Conchas (Shell Canyon), so named because it contains scattered fossil remains of ancient marine life. Some 60 million years ago, before the Andes were born, this gorge was a seabed. It now contains gravity-defying rock formations, colorful mountain ranges, and narrow desert trails heading out into the middle of nowhere.

I wandered through Garganta del Diablo and the nearby Anfiteatro (Natural Ampitheatre), both impressive gorges. Anfiteatro has a lively artisan scene. I had a fresh quesadilla roasted on an oil-drum grill as a tasty morning snack, followed by a sampling of local goat cheese and llama salami (yes, you read that right; and it´s delicious). I then spent some time hanging out with a woodworker who makes beautiful jewelry and other souvenirs out of materials that he finds in the area. He gave me a demonstration of the traditional carving techniques of the region´s craftspeople, and I bought a pair of earrings from him made from a striking green wood called palo santo (check them out in the photo).

The Northwest Territory is truly a place where it´s not so much about the photo opps along the road as it is the journey to get there. Bearing that in mind, I had decided to walk the 5 kilometers along the desert highway to Tres Cruces, another beautiful viewpoint. After hanging out with some flute-makers to soak up the views and pick out a good ride back to Cafayate, I hitched along with a really nice Argentine family. They were traveling in two cars as they had relatives from out of town with them, and they stopped to see all the sites along the way back. We also made an impromptu visit to the Las Bandas winery and sampled a local cabernet and torrontes, the white wine varietal for which this region is best known. They dropped me off right in the plaza, where I had amazing empanadas for lunch, followed by a handmade flan con dulce de leche ice cream.

Lee and Aaron were back at the hostel with a bottle of rose, so I sat down and cut some chunks of llama salami for them to try--it was a hit! We met another fun British couple (Rachel and Andrew), and brought them along for delectable appetizers and a jug of local red at Casa de la Empanada -- yes, this is the same place I ate lunch, but why mess with a good thing? We then went to an unnamed grill that one of the hostel managers had told us about. As Aaron noted, it felt like being served a meal in someone´s garage. You sat down at the table to order your jug of wine, and then walked over to the grill to choose your own cuts of smoked meat. A group of well-fed stray dogs lay underfoot, waiting for the inevitable scrap. The steak and the chicken were both amazing, the conversation was entertaining, and we all went to bed sated from the food and red wine.