Molinos sits at the bottom of a dry, wide valley in the province of Salta, about two thousand metres above the sea, with the Calchaquí mountains standing around it in bands of rust and ochre. The river that made the valley is mostly a braid of stones for most of the year, and the green is confined to a thin ribbon of poplars, vineyards and walled fields along it. Cachí is the nearest proper settlement to the north, roughly forty kilometres off, and Cafayate lies a long day's gentle riding to the south.
The village is built around its church, San Pedro Nolasco, a low whitewashed building of adobe with a bell tower and a roof that uses the wood of the local cardón cactus, which is lighter and tougher than it sounds. Next door stands the old hacienda, once the property of the last Spanish governor of Salta, Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi, and local tradition says his remains rest in the church. The hacienda is now a hotel, which tells you the sort of village this is: a handful of streets, a plaza, a few empanada kitchens, and nobody in a hurry.
The riding along Ruta 40 here is the point of the trip. The road follows the valley floor and drops into dry washes, crosses the odd cattle grid, and climbs onto benches from which you can see twenty kilometres of the same colours repeating. Surfaces change, and so does their condition after the summer rains, so look at the road a long way ahead and keep your speed honest on gravel. Sand collects in the corners. Wind picks up in the afternoon and carries dust, so the best light and calmest air come in the morning, and in the cool months of the southern winter the days are crisp, sunny and cold at dawn.
A few kilometres out, high vineyards climb the slopes. Grapes at this altitude, like torrontés and malbec, ripen under strong ultraviolet light and cold nights, and a wine tasting room in the valley is a better excuse for a pause than most. Do not count on the village for fuel; Cachí and Cafayate are the places where you should fill the tank properly, and a rider with a spare litre in a bottle sleeps better on this road. Carry water too. The air is dry enough that you will drink more than you think, and a stop at Molinos in the shade of the plaza trees, with a pastry and strong coffee, is simply the way to take the altitude gently before the road drops south again.