Blogs from Purmamarca, Jujuy, Argentina, South America

So our time in the jungle had come to an end - I don’t think any of us were particularly sad to leave the heat and humidity. A really early wake up and trip to the airport and a half-empty flight, and before we knew it, we were in Salta. An unnervingly simple car pick up process and we were on our way. Mercifully easy path to the freeway - lots of police stops where we apparently drew no interest - and a quick lunch empanada stop and we reached our destination - Purmamarca. Bum steer from google on the location of the hotel, but some bodgy Spanish from me and help from half the town and we found out abode for the next three nights. We weren’t able to check in yet so we had ... read more

I knew I had done a bad thing. I should have known, after we crossed into Chile the first time, that you can't get anything past them. A border guard scrutinising our passports on the bus had already gruffly told me in angry Spanish to put my boots back on. They were only three day old socks so I didn't get what his problem was. And now this. The customs official triumphantly pranced back from his inspection of the bus with his golden retriever in tow. He gathered all the passengers together opposite the immobilised luggage conveyor belt where he carefully placed an orange plastic bag. My orange plastic bag. In seconds the dog was on it, leaping onto the conveyor belt and with its front paws stamping repeatedly on the bag whilst looking up intently ... read more

Papusryčiavę sėdom į Saros tėčio mašiną ir nuvažiavom į Tilcara, tai vienas turistinių miestų. Visų pirma turėjom užpilti kuro į mašiną nes jau visai nedaug likę, bet kolonėlėje jokio kuro nebėra, turėtų avežti šiandien apie 5 val. vakaro. Palikom automobilį mieste ir išėjom pasivaikščioti. Pirmiausia nuėjom iki autobusų terminalo, nes jau šianakt iš čia važiuosiu į Boliviją. Man tinkamiausias autobusas 3 nakties, tad laiko dar turim užtektinai. Tilcara visiškai turistinis miestas, centre vien kavinės, parduotuvės ir hosteliai. Porą valandų pasivaikščioję nutarėm grįžtį į Maimara, kuris daug jaukesnis už Tilcara. Papietavę nuėjom valandėlę pasėdėti prie upės, po naktinio lietaus joje vandens gerokai daugiau nei vakar. Po to važiuojam į kitą turistinį miestelį Pulmamarka. Čia turistų irgi nemažai, bet pats miestelis žymiai mažesnis ir jaukesnis nei Tilcara. Aplink iš visų pusių kalnai, o ... read more

Rano sme sa pekne vyspali, nikto nas nebudil, zistili sme ze sme si ustlali priamo na mravenisku, ale dnu sa im dostat nepodarilo. Z Tilcary sme kracali do dalsej dedinky - Maimara, kde mal byt jeden z najfotogenickejsich cintorinov podla nasho sprievodcu. Cintorin vyzeral uplne obycajne ako mnoho inych ktore sme videli predtym, nebyt sprievodcu ani po nom nepatrame. Potom sme zacali stopovat do Purmamarci, ktora bola vzdialena asi 20 km. Nevedeli sme ako to pojde a boli sme pripraveni celu vzdialenost odchodit, hlavne sme si vsak chceli skusit ako to vyzera so stopovanim v Argentine. Na zaciatku to vyzeralo beznadejne, ale po vyse hodine nam konecne zastavil maly nakladiak a zobral nas az do Purmamarci. V Purmamarce sa nachadza Cerro de los Siete Colores /vrch siedmych farieb/ a naozaj hral roznymi farbami - cervena, purpurova, ... read more

Travelling the way we do is full of uncertainty. When we enter new territory, we are never sure where we will get off the bus or where we will stay the night. It has its advantages and disadvantages, but is always interesting. Arriving into Purmamarca, we didn't need a friendly bus driver or a big "Bienvenidos" sign to let us know we had arrived. A rainbow striped hill gave it away. It is called the 'Cerro de las Siete Colores' (Hill of the Seven Colours), well it couldn't be a more accurate name. To be honest the colours didn't seem real. It was as radiant as technicolour, making everything else look monochrome in comparison. The town itself was highly photogenic too: cobbled streets and terracotta-coloured buildings with mud roofs. A 1,000 year old algarrobo tree gave ... read more