Cachi

Hello everyone, my name is Jorge and this is my partner Emilse, we are members of
“Los Cardones” travel agency. Our driver today is Roberto.

Today our destination is Cachi. This beautiful town is located 157 km from the city of
Salta. The duration of the trip is 4 hs approximately.

Now, we are going to give some recommendations to have a good trip:

● Please, eat light food.

● Drink only water, try not to drink any other beverage.
● If you have a headache, please, don't take any pill, we have coca tea to avoid
altitude sickness.
● Don't smoke in the bus.
● Don’t talk and laugh loudly, remember you aren't alone in the bus, there are
other passengers.
● And the last one, keep the cleanliness of the bus.

There will be three stops throughout the trip. We are going to stop in El Carril, to
have breakfast and buy anything you need.The other stop is called “Piedra del Molino”.
At the top you will see “La Cuesta del Obispo” it's an amazing zig zag road. In “La
Piedra del Molino” we will stay no more than 15 minutes. The last stop will be “Los
Cardones” national park, this place is the third biggest flora and fauna reservation in
the world, and we will stay there 20 minutes. Finally, we will arrive at Cachi.
Do you have any questions? … please, get into bus and good trip! recién suben los
pasajeros?

We are going out of the city of Salta, as you know this city is located in the north of
Argentina and has a population of 500.000 of people. The climate is varied, in summer
it is wet and in winter it is dry. Salta is famous for its tradition, its food and dance,
its music, and recently our National Hero Martin Miguel de Guemes. This man
fought for the liberty of our country with his army, called “Los infernales”. Salta is a
city of faith, the devotion to the Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle is popular in the
country.
In this province you'll find different landscapes,in the north, in the south, in the east
and in the west, all of them so beautiful that it is a good idea to be back any time of
the year.
El Carril

We stopped here to have a break during the trip. We are staying here for 30 minutes,
to have breakfast or go to the toilet, if you need it or buy food and things that you
consider necessary, ok?

“La Cuesta del Obispo”

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now on provincial route N°33 going along the famous
way “La Cuesta del Obispo”. It has an extension of 60 km. It was originally called “La
Cuesta de la dormida del Obispo” , but as time passed by , it took the actual name.
The history says that in 1622, Monsignor Cortazar travelled from the city of Salta to
Cachi, in those days, the trip was so long that he stopped to sleep here, in the
middle of the way. Look through the window and you'll see this amazing landscape.

“Piedra del Molino”

We are at 3348 meters above the level sea. This is the highest point of La Quebrada
del Escoipe. In this place there is a viewpoint and you can see “La cuesta del Obispo”,
also there is a small chapel, inside you'll find San rafael, the protector of the travellers.
And finally there is a big stone, called “Piedra del molino”. The history says that
in 1927 a wagon was taking this stone to the city of Salta, more specifically,
to the Mercado Artesanal, but for its weight, the wagon broke, and the owners never
come back for it. Nowadays, this stone form part of the curiosities of this place.

“Valle Encantado”

This place has an extraordinary scenery. You can see a small lake and rock
paintings in the caves. The lakes are formed in the summer due to the rain and in
winter, they freeze. The valley floor covers with flowers of different colors in the
summer. Also, in this place you can do condor watching . The condor is the biggest
bird in South America and it lives at the top of these mountains.

You can access to “Valle Encantado” taking a detour of 4 km, and find a forest
ranger on the way to Tonco.

It’s advisable not to go in a vehicle if the way is wet caused by the rain.

me falta desde aqui en adelante vayan corrigiendo todo lo anterior porfis.

“Los Cardones”

Welcome to the national park “Los Cardones”. It’s located in the provincial route
N°33 to 25 km from Cachi and 100 km from the city of Salta. It was created in 1996
with the end to preserve different kinds of flora y fauna, especially for the
conservation of the cardon. It was called like that by the presence of thousand the
cactus, it's a kind of tree so typical of this region and they can grow up to 4 meters of
height. This national park has an extension of 65.520 hectares and includes the
departments of Cachi and San Carlos. You have two options to arrive here, you can
take the provincial route N°33 or the national route N°68.

As you know, the principal end of this park is the conservation of the cardon, time
ago this tree was exploited to make different kinds of furniture, this was stopped with
the creation of this protected area. Nowadays, the wood of this tree still using, but
only with the wood of the old cardon.

The principal activity that you can do here is the sighting of different animals,
protected in this area too. You have many tracks to see animals like zorro colorado
and zorro gris, tuco tuco puneño, gato del pajonal, zorrino, cóndor andino, guanaco
and others kinds of birds like carpintero andino, yasto, monterita serrana or the
guaipo, all of them are endangered species.

The weather is different according the station and the months. In winter is so dry and
cold, the temperature can reach the 11° in the summer, 30°. The rain comes
between november and march.

You can visit this national park all year around, you don't pay anything, it's free for
everybody.

Please! enjoy and remember, don't smudge the park.

“Tin Tin Straightaway”

We are tro now on the provincial route N°33, to 3.000 meters above the sea level,
crossing the national park Los Cardones, on the famous “Tin Tin Straightaway”. This
straight line has an extension of 18 km.

Its design was started in the middle of the Inca period, when it became part of one of
the paths taken by the Incas to conquer other territories. All this happened between
1480 and 1535. Later on, its development was interrupted by the coming of the
Spanish conquerors.
“Coming to Cachi”

Ladies and Gentleman, we are now 157 km from the city of Salta and 2280 meters
above the sea level and, finally, we are coming to Cachi. In a few minutes we can
enjoy this beautiful town.

This is a good moment to give some recommendations to have a great visit.

● Wear comfortable clothing, we will walk all day and it's important don't forget
that.
● Wear hat and sunblock, the sun here is so strong.
● Drink a lot of water or light juice, please, try not to drink alcohol.
● Don't Smoke, we are to more 2000 meters above the sea level, one cigarette
could to make you feel so wrong.
● Don't take any pill if you feel altitude sickness or headache, i said this before,
but it's necessary repeat it, we have coca tea, if you need it.
● Don't throw trash in the town of Cachi. It's really necessary preserve the
cleanness

Town of Cachi

Welcome to Cachi!

This beautiful town is part of the department of Cachi and it's located to the west of the
province of Salta. It limit to the north with La Poma and Rosario de Lerma, to the south
with Molinos and San Carlos, to the east with Chicoana and to the west with Los
Andes.

History of Cachi

The history says, before the arrival of the first European settlers, these lands were
inhabited by “Los Diaguitas”. They were sedentary farmers, expert potters and
metallurgists and they also domesticated and raised the llamas. This Indian people
had rejected the advance of the Incas, but in 1300, the Incan empire managed to
impose a certain domination, although the diaguitas continued to develop their
lifestyle.

When the encomiendas in Salta were distributed in 1673, doña Margarita de Chávez
was assigned the land corresponding to Cachi. Years later, in 1719, the owner of the
manor was don Pascual de Elizanda and then don Felipe de Aramburu, thus giving
origin to what was known as “Hacienda de Cachi”, a huge property that enclosed the
town for years.
The origin of the name “Cachi”

There are different versions of the origin and meaning of the name Cachi, one of
them is in the Quechua tongue, the word Cachi means "Salt", the other one is in
diaguita tongue, "Kak" means rock and "chi" or "chin" means silence. and the last
one speaks of a term from Atacama, meaning beautiful valley

The Town

The “Pueblo Viejo” has a great historical and tourist value for it was a colonial hamlet
from the XVIII century, the first building was the church, used to teach catechism and
for the consolidation of the Hispanic tongue. The new town was built around 1950 in
lands that had been expropriated from the Hacienda Cachi in 1946 by the national
government. Actually, the population of the town of Cachi is 2700 people
approximately, according to the last census.

The Economy

The economy of the department of Cachi is based on the production of peppers to

make paprika. It’s beautiful see all peppers on the floor drying in the sun, it’s like a
red sea. But there are others productions, like bean, tomato, carrot, onion and spices
like cumin and oregano. In these last years, Cachi has turned in one of the most
famous tourist destinations of the north of the country.

The weather

The weather in Cachi is cold and dry, with a standard temperature of 14° with a
maximum of 27° in December and a minimum of 4° in July.

Cachi has sunny days and a few cloudy days. The winds comes in winter, in the month
of August, and the rains in summer, from december to march.
Cachi
Cachi has a central square surrounded by cobble stone road streets and houses with
stone bases, adobe walls cover foe lime and sand withe, cardon roof, cane cover
with mud. The houses there has a high sidewalk of stone and slab.
In the heart of the town is placed the principal 9 de Julio square, in front of the
Archeological Museum Pio Pablo Diaz, and inside of the church is the San Pedro
Patron image.
“San Jose Church”
The propietaries, Aramburu’s family, lift up the church how a private chapel and then
was offered to population temple. This suffers an important modification in 1890, when
an arcade was added to its neoclassic façade. The San Jose church was declared
National Historical Monument in 1945.
Patron Saint festivity is celbrating every 18th and 19th of March. This festivity start
the midnight of 18th, the misachicos, little images coming to the town since remote
location for meeting and accompanied the Patron Saint. They putt around the museum
waiting the mass celebration, the representative cardon burning, subsequently
fireworks and an evening event. This is an offering, the light of life, the holy spirit and
the town faith unit. In the morning of the 19 start with the mass, the procession for the
streets, afterwards the Gaucho’s parade and finally a community lunch.
“9 de Julio square”
Is located opposite the church. Around 1972 the municipality closed with a stone wall
the perimeter and the first plain of urban town preservation was putting in progress.
This was built the stone archesthat actually exist on the four corners and in the middle.
In 2007 was modernised a little and construct gardens with autochthonous flora.
“Archeological Museum Pio Pablo Diaz”
This museum contained archaeology patrimony showing all Valle Calchaquí
prehispanic history period. The museum has more than 5.000 expressive pieces of
10.000 years of history.
“Cemetery”
Originally the people was burying inside the church. Some time later emerged the
cemetery or Saint Field. The church place was saved for important and wealthy
people. Cachi cemetery is located on top of hill away from the town, was built in
1850 approximately.