Desert town, wine heaven

Arriving to Cafayate felt like we had come home. Cafayate is a small town with a population around 12,000 and only 40 rainy days a year. It's surrounded by mountains, cactuses, desert and vineyards. It's a cute little place with just enough restaurants and shops to keep you entertained, but not too much to scare you away. There is plenty to do around Cafayate if you are into desert and nature sights. We were planning to stay in Cafayate for a few days, but ended up staying 8 nights and even then we felt like we could have stayed longer.

 

We decided to rent bikes to explore the surrounding area and do a hike up to a waterfall, which sounds very nice and easy until you realise that it's midday with 30 degrees and you're going uphill only. What was 5km on a bike felt like much more, but eventually we found the hiking trail to the waterfall. We were told by locals that the waterfall is impossible to find without a guide. We tried to follow the river anyway, but had to admit that they were right. We got very close to it, but the last climb up was too dangerous when you are just trying to guess the right way, so we gave up and instead just enjoyed the afternoon walk. And it wasn't a bad walk at all.

 

Next day we did a tour to Quebrada de Cafayate, which is a long valley following a river between colorful mountains. Amazing shapes, colors and views.

 

One day we spent tasting wines in the vineyards in town, and the next day was for recovering... Never tried wine in ice cream form before.

 

Before leaving we wanted to go to the ruins of Quilmes. It is an archaeological site, ruins of a 1000-year-old city that was inhabited by 5000 people. They are supposed to be the best preserved ruins in the country. A must see. They make tours from the town, but it was a bit pricy for us, so we decided to take the local bus instead. The only bus going early goes at 6 in the morning, next one is at 2 in the afternoon, so we decided to take the morning bus. It's an hour ride from Cafayate and after that it's a 5-kilometre walk in the dark before sunrise. Desert nights are freezing, but the sunrise over the cactuses and mountains was worth it all. We finally made it to the ruins in the early morning light. We were only expecting some ruins, but nobody told us that they were located partly on a mountain hill with a breathtaking view over the valley. So we climbed up the hill to have a breakfast with a view over the ruins while the sun was getting up. Not a bad start for a day.

We spent the day exploring the ruins and wondering the purposes of the buildings, chasing llamas and goats, trying to spot wild guinea pigs and birds and just enjoying it all. In the afternoon we caught a bus back to Cafayate.