Calingasta Valley

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This quiet valley lies 180 km from San Juan City on the other side of a dizzying mountain pass in the foothills of the Andes. The tourist center, as such, is a peaceful little village called El Barreal, whose dusty earth roads are lined with silvery poplars. There is really only one place to stay -the Posada San Eduardo, which is extremely nice and has a swimming pool– and you can organize most of your trips and excursions from here as well. There is lots to do: caravelling, or speeding across a huge dry lake bed at 60km an hour on a low-slung kart with a sail in the national park of El Leoncito; horse-riding, off-road driving or hiking up into the mountains for stunning views of the scenery, and rafting and fishing in the icy torrents splashing down from the snowy peaks. In January, which is when the mountains passes are clear all the way over to Chile, you can join a group for a 14-day ride in the footsteps of General San Martín, who led his ambitious campaign on Chile from this point. There’s quite a lot about his battle strategy in the San Martín Museum back in San Juan City.

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