ARG by MTB Day 4: Cafayate to Cabra Corral

Another awesome day in Argentina! We started at midday with a tour of the Michel Torino vineyard (where our hotel was located). After downing several tasting glasses of white and red wines, I was ready to ride. 


We spent the last 2 days riding south. Today we took Route 68 northeast back towards Salta, where we landed on Wednesday morning. 


An hour or so into the ride, we entered Quebrada de las Conchas, which is another amazing valley of unreal red rock formations. Route 68 winds its way through the Conchas valley, following an almost dry river bed.

Gonzalo was back in the saddle today. Unfortunately, Javier is still unwell. Instead, he shot most of the fantastic photographs below.  


We rode until darkness; around 8.15pm. By that time, it was almost impossible to hear anything above the noise of insects. I don't know what they were, but they made a high-pitched sound. It was so loud that in some places we couldn't even stop.


The ride distance for today was 90km with 1800 calories expended. In comparison, today was 80% of yesterday's distance with only 50% of yesterday's calories. Road surface makes a huge difference (we had harsh headwinds on both days).  


Tonight we have a hotel on the edge of Argentina's second largest lake, Lago de Cabra Corral. We can't actually see the lake yet - its night - but tomorrow we're either going sailing or rafting before our ride back to Salta.

The first of two natural amphitheaters just off Route 68. 

The second amphitheater.

Pictures of our hotel and bodega last night in Cafayate.

We toured the vineyard tour with Ernesto Galperin (on the left). He founded one of the world's largest leather and tanning companies, here in Argentina. And, his son founded Mercado Libre, the eBay of Latin America.

The new production line can fill, cork, and label 7,000 bottles of wine per hour. The old equipment can manage 1,800 bottles per hour.