Cachí sits at around 2,300 metres in the Calchaquí valleys of Salta province, and everything about it seems to have been made quiet by altitude and dryness. White adobe houses line narrow streets, the plaza is shaded by trees, and the church has a roof and doors made from the wood of the cardón, a tall columnar cactus that grows on the slopes around. The backdrop is the Nevado de Cachi, a snow-capped peak in the range that stands above 6,000 metres.
This is wine and pepper country, and the sun here is fierce. The old Calchaquí people lived here long before the Incas and then the Spanish arrived, and their descendants still keep alive weaving, pottery and a fondness for corn dishes like humita and locro. The archaeological museum in town shows pieces from the pre-Hispanic past, and a few hundred metres off the plaza the pace of life seems closer to the nineteenth century than the twenty-first.
The riding is the main reason many people pass through. Ruta 40 here is a famous motorcycle road. From the north, riders climb the Cuesta del Obispo, a gravel and then paved ascent with sharp bends, through Los Cardones National Park, where thousands of cardón cacti stand like sentries on the Recta del Tin Tin, a long straight line across the plain. South of Cachí the road follows the valley toward Molinos and Cafayate, with colourful rock formations and vineyards. Wind and altitude are factors, and nights are cold even in summer. Mornings are clearest.
Cachí is a small town but has the necessary basics, with a fuel pump and simple restaurants and guesthouses, though supplies can run low, so it is wise to top up before and after. Try empanadas salteñas with a glass of local Torrontés. At this height you may find yourself breathing harder than usual, so take it easy on the first day.