The drive from Cafayate to Cachi was less than two hundred kilometers as measured by the odometer of our little rental car, but measured by the numbness of our lower bodies it was more like a couple of thousand kilometers.
The enjoyment of scenery pales after 4 hours of driving on washer-board dirt roads, no matter how many idyllic scenes one passes of families riding to town on a tractor or of pastors herding their sheep.
I admit that I became a tad cranky during our journey into probably the most remote corner of the Salta province.
Around 50 km north of Cafayate we entered the most dramatic section of the drive: La Quebrada de las Flechas (Ravine of the Arrows). The road drive right through the center of a dusty ravine that does bear semblance to 70 ft tall arrows pointed at the sky.
To paint the ravine you would need just three colors: pale grey for the rocks, pale green to dot cactuses among them, and a brilliant blue for the sky.
Equally impressive as the ravine were the adobe houses that we found tucked amidst the rocks, blending in perfectly with their surroundings. These houses are built out of nothing more than local dirt with cactus timber as support. Never fear, modernity, despite their rustic construction many were equipped with a DirecTV dish.
After the Quebrada de las Flechas we passed through a long series of hay-filled valleys and low rocky passes. We had lunch in an tiny town called Molinos that was founded in the 17th century and boasts street after street of adobe houses.
The only real sights to see in Molinos are the church (built in 1693) and the house of the last royalist governor.
The governor's house has been turned into a luxury hotel with a pool and a beautiful view of alfalfa fields. We checked; it was out of our price range. The church boasts that it houses the governor's mummy. Luckily the mummy is not on display (ew).
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