Too good to be true...

There is an exit on the highway to paradise and its called Cafayate. Four hours south of the very 'basic' Argentinian city of Salta lies this incredible land. The four N's are what makes this place so special.

First off, Nice people fill the village and a smile is constantly gracing their faces. From our hostel host giving us a discount and making us breakfast, to the lone taxi driver we encountered, to people on the street helping with directions...nice nice nice.

Next up, Noise-there isn't any! With very few cars, the honking horns of the city are replaced here with the occasionally squeaky bicycle chain.

Nature is the third N. The bus arrives through a series of blood red canyons leading to the vineyards that surround the village. On this particular occasion (in winter) the devil red rock walls that encompass the valley and giant green cacti are dusted with freshly fallen snow (a once-in-a-decade event). Climbing through the orange hills reveals frozen free-falling cascades spraying ice on to the desert sand.

The final N needed for near perfection is the sweet Nectar of the earth. Wine that is. Bodegas dot the village offering free tours and samples. Mendoza's Malbec is famously Argentinian, and every experienced passenger on the gringo trail has sampled it straight from the vineyard. However, Cafayate and its fruity white Torrontes wine are a rare jewel to outsiders- which, very important to backpackers and frugal minded individuals, keeps tourist-inflated prices to a minimum. I consider myself somewhat of an amateur sommelier, my private cellar includes my personal favorite vintage: Franzia, 2009/10 Sweet Red, Box, EZ-Fridge Pour Spout (for my international readers this is equal to Coolabah, Chasseur, and Sainsbury's ). With such highly adept taste buds (and extremely shallow pockets) I was EXTREMELY pleased with some of the incredible wines that could be bought for less than $2 a bottle. However, I was pretty upset with the lack of headache, nausea, and horribleness that my normal other wines offer the next day.

Cafayate is also home to the first Argentinian Parillada (grill) that Andrea and I enjoyed. The land of meat has been a long time coming and we are glad to get away from roast chicken for a while. To say our meal was mouth-watering is less than an understatement. It was mouth-Niagra falls watering. It was mouth- Moses slips up and the Red Sea closes watering. It was mouth- lock your lips around Old Faithful watering. With our tablecloth and shirts soaked with saliva before our parilla even reaches the table we knew we were in for an experience. Our garlic soaked meal comes sizzling on a mini-grill and includes chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage), costilla de cabrito (baby goat ribs), several steak cutlets, and a liter of Cab Sav from the bodega next door, Domingo. $15. And that's not each. That's together. We're talking a solid five pounds of meat and enough wine to help it all slide down your neck. 60 Argentinian pesos. With an average exchange rate of 4 to 1 that's 15 bucks! Divide that by two (cuz Andrea doesn't lend me any money) $7.50...am I making my point yet! I don't want to leave this place...