Salta, my love

During the last winter holidays I visited the gorgeous Salta. Never in my life would I have imagined what I was going to find. Salta is a place where everything is perfect: the places are all beautiful, all the food is delicious, the people –both the locals and the tourists- are incredibly nice and friendly, and the way in which the culture has been kept and is exhibited everywhere is enviable. I would like to go into detail as regards these aspects, because each one of them deserves a paragraph of its own.

As I was there for only four days I didn’t have the chance to visit many places, but the few I did see fascinated me. We went on three excursions: the first one took as to Jujuy, where we visited the amazing village called Purmamarca with its famous hill of seven colours, and, a bit further, the absolutely astonishing “Salinas” – mother nature: you’re a genius! The second one had Cafayate as its final destination, but the real attraction was to way there: the mountains, the colours, the rocks… everything was just breath taking. And the last one was to a small peaceful village called Cachi. The place is incredibly gorgeous and relaxing, and, on our way back we could even enjoy the snow!



As the saying goes “When in Rome, do as Romans do”, so I decided to eat Salta’s typical food, and I strongly recommend you that, if you ever go there, you give everything a try. You just can’t go wrong. Those flavored corn paste wrapped in corn leaves (called “humitas” in Spanish), tamales, desserts with goat cheese, and even those cute animals like lamas and little goats are really delicious, no matter in which way you eat them. And don’t get me started on the empanadas! (BTW, I found that they can be called “turnovers”) I tried one in each place I ate. They were all different and all unbelievably tasty. I don’t think I’ll ever it one at home again.

The inhabitants are as kind as anyone can be. No cab driver will secretly take you on a city tour so as to get more money from you, and no restaurant owner will overcharge you for food just because he has the only place to eat at the top of a hill. They are all eager to help and visibly happy to live in such a place. Tourists are warm and friendly people who make your excursions even better, and striking up a conversation with them is incredibly enriching.

I have to admit that before my trip I had never been much into our folk music, but as soon as I came back I started listening to lots of bands and singers of that genre because, in Salta, I fell in love with it. Everyone there has an amazing voice and sings those songs with such passion that is impossible not to like their performances. At “peñas”, young people ask for guitars and sing along with friends and whoever wants to join them. It is not possible to describe the brilliance of those spontaneous shows.

So, to sum up, my advice for you all is that you visit Salta whenever you have the chance. I know that we all can’t wait to go to Europe or all those places we have in mind, but sometimes visiting our country can also be an unforgettable experience.
I want to dedicate this post to two people I’ve met during my trip, who definitely put the cherry on my cake: Mariana and Ana.