Hidden archeological sites follow the path of the river to the town of San Carlos, the location of our second overnight stay. The recently built inn was a visual treat. Each of our inviting guest rooms and common dinning and living rooms were painted in a variety of colors derived from natural pigments. Our host Pablo and his delightful teenage daughters prepared home made bread and a traditional corn soufflé tart with condiments of chilled beet, carrot and sweet eggplant infused with garlic, and locally grown olives for our dinner and tree fresh peaches with dulce de leche for dessert. After a full day we gathered with Pablo’s family, their poodle puppy and a few neighbors around a warming pit fire. We received a lesson in the Southern Hemisphere constellations, shared thoughts in broken Spanish and English and sipped chilled Torrontés wine. Nearby children rehearsed a folk dance in their front yard until well past midnight. The sounds of flute and guitar mixed with our dreams as we each were falling deeper under the enchantment of the Calchaquies Valleys.

Before departing for Cafayate the next morning we stopped in one of the town’s Artists Cooperatives that featured area handcrafts, spices and a local preserves of fig, peach and cactus fruit. Although we had just had our breakfast we had to take advantage of tasting some ten or more selections of wine from La Bodeguita in the town of Animana located about twenty miles south of San Carlos. Wine makers Juan de la Cruz Rodriquez and his wife Rosario took a break from their duties to introduce us to a fine selection of their Malbec wines

In France this grape variety is known as Cot and it’s origins are traced to Cahors in the South of France, however it is in Argentina where it has developed it’s distinctive characteristics. The Torrontés grape has a more mysterious origin and is thought to be exclusive to Argentina. The current thought is that a Moscatel type of grape was crossed with a Criolla grape variety. The best examples of this wine are found in the Province of Salta and a particularly refreshing summer treat of torrontés ice cream can be enjoyed while people watching on the plaza of our next stop in the town of Cafayate.

Situated in a beltway of vineyards, Cafayate buildings are a mixture of colonial and baroque architecture. Wine, music and art are always a great combination and Cafayate as the cultural mecca of the region is home to numerous arts festivals. The well stocked music store, across from the plaza’s visitors center, is the best place to listen to and pick-up CD’s or tapes of the Northwest sounds, such as the haunting flute music of Runakay. You will also find locally made instruments and can purchase Rafael’s sculptures and Cecilia’s photographic works. If you have run out of film, as we did, be sure to restock your supplies here, because the journey ahead offers the ultimate of ultimate Kodak moments. Next stop ancient civilization.

When the Inca’s arrived in this north western region they encountered many of the same twenty-five tribes each with their own languages that still survive to this day. As a more technologically advanced civilization the Inca’s introduced systems that vastly improved agricultural production and many of the same irrigation channels they built are still in operation. The Quilmes peoples were less fortunate under the influence of the Spanish. Forced off their homeland they were marched to the port of Buenos Aires, where their population diminished due to lack of immunities against the newly introduced European diseases. The most common killer was the common cold. Eventually honored by immigrant German brew masters, a now national favorite beer is named after them.

Martin shared this and many other stories of the encounters with the two invading outside cultures as we climbed the terraced hillside of the interconnected complexes of the Quilmes civilization. Wandering goats sought shade from the hottest sun of the day, while the snow peaked Andes sparkled on the distant horizon. Walking along the top ridge of the ruins it felt as though time no longer existed. A Shangri La mist could have surrounded us and transported us through a hidden portal to the worlds of the Quilmes, Incas and Spaniards as we looked upon the same view that no doubt mesmerized them as much as it does today’s visitors.

At the foot off the ruins is an informative exhibition, as well as a charming hotel, lounge and restaurant, complete with llama parking. Great detail has been paid in designing lodging that blends perfectly with the landscape of the ruins and features large-scale decorative stone artwork. The hotel offers a true oasis from which to immerse oneself in the world of the ancients.

The final leg of our three-day 520 km. circuit followed the most rugged and staggeringly magnificent scenery of our entire journey. During the last remaining hours of daylight we traveled in the shadows cast by the 83 km. long Quebrada de las Conchas (The Shells Canyon), where a veritable sideshow of natural phenomena greeted us around every bend. We felt as though we had stumbled upon mother nature’s studio for monumental geological expressions. Here the natural formations are named: The Amphitheatre, The Friar, The Obelisc, and The Castles. A full moon guided us to the Inn of Chicoana where Sylvana awaited us with an assortment of empanadas and a heart of palm salad. Opening one of Juan’s and Rosario’s Malbec wines, we wondered how it was possible to feel that we had been away from the Inn for weeks, when in fact it been a mere three days.

And yet there was still more to experience close to our home at the Inn of Chicoana. Horseback riding and hiking into the nearby mountains with Martin and Pablo, the Prince of Salta, and Sebastian the guitar playing Gaucho was planned for our local excursion the following day. The timing of our trip coincided with the local Carnival celebration, where a small but enthusiastic parade of jeweled and feathered revelers shimmied down the main street into the wee hours of the morning, while the spectators indulged in the time honored tradition of spraying one another with shaving cream. We Chicks were not spared.

Knowing the state of the world we would return to in a few short days the sheer fun and innocence of the frivolity could have continued indefinitely. We call Martin Peter Pan, for with him you discover that you began your trip in Salta and ended it in Never Neverland.