Living the Gaucho Life...

...which basically consists of horses, wine, steak and music!

I was pretty tired from the 23 hour bus journey, so I spent my first couple of days in Salta mooching around and getting the cable car to the top of Cerro San Bernardo. I also found myself listening to a rather strange music concert in Parc San Martin.

On Monday morning a couple of people at the hostel mentioned that they were going horseriding for the afternoon. I bumped into Rachel, from Reto Cabalgatas, and Roeth before they left the hostel and was convinced that going along would be worthwhile - I'm usually convinced by talk of asado (Argentinian BBQ) and wine!

At 2pm we were picked up from the hostel and a taxi took us out to Chicoana - a small town about an hour south from Salta. Here we were introduced to our horses and given brief instructions on how to steer! I have to admit, I felt a little apprehensive when I first got on the horse soon, however, walking along at a gentle pace through the town and towards the mountains started to feel quite natural. Out on the open rode, the horses sped up to a trot, which took some getting used to. I was wondering just how sore my legs and bum were going to be the next day!

Esmerelda

Tono, our friendly Gaucho, then took us off the main path and uphill through the trees. When we came back into the open, there was a stunning view of the mountains and greenery. Obviously enjoying the view, the horses decided it was time for a canter which was scary, but quite exhilarating!

After cantering across the open space, and enjoying the view, we went on a different path downhill, past a farm area and gaucho hut and towards the stream where we met up with the late comers of our group. We headed along the stream, and a little way into the canyon. At one point my horse, Esmerelda (I know, it's a cow's name!), decided she didn't want to go over some rocks, and Tono had to come and pull her up. At the entrance to the canyon there were collections of flowers and effigies. Apparantly the locals thought that there were bad spirits in the canyon, so these were to help ward them off.

Following our little trip to the canyon, we headed back to the farm to light the fire for the BBQ, and crack open the wine. We all helped to prepare the food and were offered the local dish of Tamales as a starter. With the addition of a little chilli powder, these were really quite tasty. After gazing at the baby goats, and cuddling the tiny kittens, it began to get dark and the huge slabs of meat were put on the BBQ. Onions, aubergines and peppers were also added, along with a whole chicken. The taste of the meat, quite probably, beat the taste of the meat in Brazil, and there was plenty to go around.

Having had a few glasses of wine, riding the horses back to the town felt much easier - the trick is to relax! Horseriding by starlight was certainly pretty special, especially with very little light pollution.

Throughout the day, Roeth had been talking about the two day horseride into the mountains that she was going to do. The idea of riding a horse in the mountains, and sleeping in a gaucho hut overnight, sounded rather appealing (if a little cold!) so I decided to sign up to go the next day.

The next day, Roeth, Nathan and I set off with Tono and Rachel at about 10am from Chicoana. Rachel pointed out El Alto Chivilme, which was where we were headed, and I couldn't quite believe we would be climbing that high.

Our destination in the distance.

I had a different horse this time - Americo. It was a beautifully sunny day and we started off on the same route as before. After a brief stop at the farm to give my horse a new shoe, we headed towards the canyon but turned off and started going up into the mountains.

A little way up we came to a small clearing, where Rachel explained that it was traditional to make an offering to Mother Nature to ensure a safe journey. After moving the stones covering previous offerings, Tono dug a small hole and we placed in Coca leaves, bread, wine and tobacco. Having completed the ritual, Rachel told us that we couldn't possibly put the carton of wine back in the saddle bags, as it was already open, so we would have to drink it! It felt a little early, at 11.30 am, but needs must! We got back on the horses and continued to head up the mountain, occasionally passing the wine carton back and forth. We were also offered Coca leaves to chew. I gave them a try but, after a while, found the taste really quite bitter.

After going up a little further, glimpsing beautiful mountains through the trees, and listening to Tono playing on his flute or harmonica, we came out into the open to be greated by the most incredible view. There we were, high up in the mountains, with not a soul around. All around us was lush greenery and mountains, a huge lake, and, if we looked carefully, we could just about see the stream from where we started. I found it hard to believe we had come up so far. We moved into a shaded clearing for a lunch of cheese, salami and bread, all cut using Tono's gaucho knife, and his leather chaps as a table cloth.

After lunch, we continued up the mountain with the views getting more and more spectacular. I was really reminded of why I came away - just to get away from it all. It was wonderful to be able to appreciate the scenery, and enjoy the peace and quiet (at least whenever Nathan paused for breath!); we even saw some condors circling overhead. At one point we passed a memorial of crosses marking where a mail plane had crashed in a storm in 1997. When it happened, the Gauchos in Chicoana saw the plane come down and risked their lives riding up the mountain, through the storm, to look for survivors. Unfortunately, all eight passengers died, but the event is remembered every year and the crosses are repainted.

After reaching the summit of the mountain, we headed downhill for about an hour, before reaching what we had, jokingly, been referring to as the five star hotel! The Gaucho hut was certainly authentic, it had been in Tono's family for over 50 years. After unsaddling the horses we led them over the stream for a drink, then let them loose in the field to graze.

After chilling out in the field for a while, we collected firewood and Tono got the fire started and put the kettle on for a cup of tea (thankfully I'd brought my stash of Yorkshire Tea Bags). Rachel and Tono then used the saddles and padding to make up beds for us all in the cabin - much easier to do this in the light! After a cup of tea, it was time to break out the wine again. Having taught everyone Ailish's phrase of 'wine me', it was quickly adopted and used throughout the evening. Once again, we all helped to prepare the food for the asado. There was as much meat as there had been the night before for nine of us so the supply seemed never ending, added to that was BBQ'd garlic, whole onions that had been thrown on the fire, and crispy BBQ'd aubergine. None of us had plates or cutlery, it was all cut up on the chopping board, with the one knife, and we all ate from that using our hands... another amazing Argentinian asado.

The hut had various tools and other bits and bobs hanging from the roof, including some drying tobacco (Salta it the capital of tobbaco farming). We scrunched some of this up to make into a rolly, but it was a little strong to smoke.

After much wine, singing, music and chatting (as well as a few more layers of clothing) we were all ready for bed. I snuggled down into my sleeping bag and, despite the cold, quickly fell asleep (thanks to the wine). I woke up shortly afterwards as the others made themselves comfortable, only for Tono to enter the room with three cups of wine asking 'Wine you?'. It was really quite funny, and we felt it would be rude to decline, so we had a final glass of wine in bed. The singing continued for a little while longer, with the words of Father Jakob (in Dutch) being changed to 'Gaucho Tono'.

Rachel and Tono

The next morning we got up early and, although we didn't quite make the sunrise, the mists hanging over the mountains, and the colours of the early morning clouds were beautiful and breathtaking. As we huddled with our sleeping bags wrapped round us, the clouds came over the mountains behind us and the feeling was magical.

After a cup of tea and some bread and cheese for breakfast, we had a rather relaxed morning preparing the horses and using the leftover veg and meat to make a soup. Following an early lunch of the soup, we got back on our horses for our trek down the mountain. Because it was a different time of day, the views seemed completely different.

At one point, a large cloud covered the sun which made the fresh mountain air rather cold, so we all had to stop to add an extra layer. We paused for a while in the same place we had lunch the day before and some other gauchos were calling up to Tono. They wanted us to join them for an asado, but Tono didn't know the way and it wouldn't have been safe to guess and risk getting lost on the mountain. We stopped for long enough for a little nap on the side of the mountain in the sun! The journey home was much quicker, and we were soon down by the river and heading back into town.

I hadn't planned to go horse riding in the mountains, but I'm glad I did. I can honestly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life.