Just at 165 kilometers from Salta is this little town called Cafayate. With its 11.785 inhabitants it´s situated at 1683 meter height and surrounded by vineyards. We drove from Cachi to Cafayate in about 5 hours and this was an amazing trip. You see lama´s crossing the street, loads of peppers that have been put to dry in the sun and of course the most beautiful colored mountains. The feeling you get and the views cannot be described.

Cafayate itself is a great place to stay. For foreigners it´s most famous for its bodegas and torrontes wine, which won a lot of international awards, but in Argentina Cafayate is also well known for its folklore festival every February. We stayed in a very nice hotel called Vieja Posada, which was more like a big country house, rather than a hotel. At this moment they are renovating it at the outside, but inside it was beautiful, with a big patio and excellent rooms.

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From Salta we drove through the Calchaquies Valleys to Cachi. This is a beautiful little town with only 5254 inhabitants, situated on 2.280 meter height at the foot of the Andes Mountains. The town itself is lovely, but the most spectacular thing about it, is the trip to Cachi. It is breathtaking! The mountains are so beautiful with all their different colors and shapes. You feel like Lucky Luke, all alone on the prairie. For one moment you see cacti all around you and for the next there is only rocky landscape for as far as you can see. After about a 4 hour drive you arrive in cute little Cachi.

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DOS MANOS takes you to a unique folkloric festival, high up in the Andean Montains, in the small village of Paucartambo, in the south east of Peru.  Paucartambo means: flowered tavern.
During the month of July there are incredible sunrises in this area, well worth a visit.

But there is another reason to visit Paucartambo this month: on July 15th and 16th of July Paucartambo celebrates the festivities of La Virgen del Carmen, or  Mamacha Carmen. There is a great gathering which initiates this big festival on the plaza de Armas with music bands play and different choirs sing in Quechua. This way introducing beautiful choreographies which tell parts of Peru’s history.

On the main day of the celebration there is a big procession to bless all the participants and to scare away the demons. Special dancers called Saijras then show of by doing some acrobatic stunts on roof tops which date back from the Inca and colonial era.

Come  with us and visit these two wonders of the wonderful historic city of Paucartambo with us!! more…