After my more than good experience with my work-for-housing exchange in Catamarca, I was eager to continue my journey to the north of Argentina. I had used the first half of my year 2024 to wander around the south, so I was a bit homesick for the landscapes we have higher up on the map. A few days before the end of my voluntary work in Catamarca, I had arranged a new place where I could continue walking. I was open to go anywhere, and luckily I got a good opportunity in Cafayate, a famous town in Salta for being located on the famous Ruta 40 đ.
DespuĂ©s de mi mĂĄs que buena experiencia con mi intercambio de trabajo por alojamiento en Catamarca, tenĂa muchas ganas de continuar el viaje hacia el norte de Argentina. La primera mitad de mi año 2024 la habĂa usado para pasear por el sur, asĂ que extrañaba un poco los paisajes que tenemos mĂĄs arriba en el mapa. Unos dĂas antes de que finalizara mi voluntariado en Catamarca me habĂa ocupado de conseguir un nuevo lugar para poder seguir paseando. Estaba abierta a ir a cualquier lugar, y por suerte conseguĂ una buena oportunidad en Cafayate, un famoso pueblo de Salta por estar ubicado sobre la famosa Ruta 40 đ.
Getting from Catamarca to Cafayate in Salta took me most of the day: although it is only about 360 km to travel, there was no direct service to take me there. To get there I had to take a bus from San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca to San Miguel de TucumĂĄn and then wait 4 hours for a second bus to Cafayate in Salta. All in all, all this took me more than 10 hours of the day and was quite exhausting, but I only paid about $50 for the whole transfer so it wasn't bad đ.
Moverme desde Catamarca hasta Cafayate en Salta me tomĂł casi todo el dĂa: si bien solo son unos 360 km a recorrer, no existĂa ningĂșn servicio directo que me llevara hasta ahĂ. Para poder llegar tuve que tomarme un micro desde San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca hasta San Miguel de TucumĂĄn y ahĂ esperar 4 horas hasta la partida de un segundo bus con destino a Cafayate en Salta. En total, hacer todo esto me llevĂł mĂĄs de 10 horas del dĂa y fue bastante agotador, pero solo paguĂ© unos $50 por todo este traslado asĂ que no estuvo mal đ.
My original idea was to get an exchange in a town in the province of Jujuy, a little further north, but I had no luck in that province. As it was getting close to the time when I had to move from Catamarca, in the last few days I had to accept to go to any place that had the conditions I always expect from this kind of exchange: 5 hours of work per day for 5 days a week or its equivalent in working hours. The hostel in Cafayate fulfilled that scheme and the tasks were simple like serving breakfast and helping with cleaning tasks so I accepted đ.
Mi idea original era conseguir un intercambio en algĂșn pueblo de a provincia de Jujuy, un poco mĂĄs al norte, pero no tuve suerte en esa provincia. Como ya se acercaba la fecha de tener que moverme de Catamarca, en los Ășltimos dĂas tuve que aceptar ir a cualquier lugar que tuviera las condiciones que yo siempre espero de este tipo de intercambios: 5 horas de trabajo por dĂa durante 5 dĂas a la semana o su equivalente en horas de trabajo. El hostel en Cafayate cumplĂa ese esquema y las tareas eran sencillas como servir el desayuno y colaborar con tareas de limpieza asĂ que aceptĂ© đ.
Cafayate is a town that I had already visited for one day in 2022 when I had started travelling alone in those group tours, so I already knew it in general terms. This time, my plan was to stay for two weeks so I would have enough time to go and see a few more things. This town has just what I like: a not so big settlement but surrounded by beautiful mountains to visit. Although I would have preferred to go somewhere new, I was happy with this plan đ.
Cafayate es un pueblo que yo ya habĂa visitado durante un dĂa en año 2022 cuando habĂa empezado a viajar sola en esos grupos de viajes grupales, asĂ que ya lo conocĂa a rasgos generales. Esta vez, mi plan era quedarme dos semanas asĂ que tendrĂa tiempo suficiente como para ir a conocer unas cuantas cosas mĂĄs. Este pueblo tiene justo lo que me gusta: un asentamiento no tan grande pero rodeado de hermosas montañas para ir a visitar. A pesar de que hubiese preferido ir a conocer un lugar nuevo, estaba contenta con este plan đ.
Besides the beautiful landscapes, the other main attraction of Cafayate in Salta are its numerous wineries and vineyards. Most of them offer guided tours with wine tasting for a small entrance fee. I already knew that during my stay in Cafayate I would surely invest a lot of time in wine tourism, and I think I deserved it because before that I had been leading a very healthy life. My country Argentina has a very good wine industry, so tasting them in the place of origin was something to take advantage of â€ïž.
AdemĂĄs de los hermosos paisajes, el otro atractivo principal de Cafayate en Salta son sus numerosas bodegas y viñedos. La mayorĂa de ellas ofrecen visitas guiadas con degustaciĂłn de vino con el abono de una pequeña entrada. Ya sabĂa que durante mi estancia en Cafayate seguramente invertirĂa bastante tiempo en el turismo de vinos, y creo que me lo merecĂa porque antes de eso habĂa estado teniendo una vida muy saludable. Mi paĂs Argentina tiene una industria vinĂfera muy buena, asĂ que probarlos en el lugar de origen era algo para aprovechar â€ïž.
Now that I look back on my experience visiting this part of my country, I realise that it was not my initial plan to be there, but the way everything flowed, I ended up being grateful that things happened the way they did. I have many good memories of my time in Cafayate: I met a lot of beautiful people, made some new friends and got to know more about this town and its day to day life. I really like these work-for-hosting exchanges because they end up giving you unimagined experiences, and I'm glad to be able to do them now that I have the time available đ.
Ahora que revivo mi experiencia visitando esta parte de mi paĂs, me doy cuenta de que no era mi plan inicial estar ahĂ, pero por cĂłmo fue fluyendo todo, terminĂ© agradeciendo que las cosas hayan sucedido como sucedieron. Tengo muchos buenos recuerdos de mi paso por Cafayate: conocĂ a un montĂłn de gente hermosa, hice algunos amigos nuevos y pude interiorizarme mĂĄs con este pueblo y su dĂa a dĂa. Estos intercambios de trabajo por alojamiento me gustan bastante porque terminan dĂĄndote experiencias impensadas, y me alegra poder hacerlos ahora que tengo el tiempo disponible đ.
â€ïž Hope you liked this post! Thanks for reading. â€ïž
â€ïžÂĄEspero que les haya gustado este post! Gracias por leer. â€ïž
With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau đ.
đž Cover created with Canva. All the images are my property đ.
đž Portada creada en Canva. Todas las imĂĄgenes son de mi propiedad đ.