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Published: March 25th 2006
And so it was time to move on from the city of Salta to Tilcara a small adobe village set in the Quebrada Humahuaca valley in Northern Argentina.
As our Balut Bus (AP$16) made its way up the valley the journey became more and more spectacular, multicoloured mountains on either side with layers of colours from terracotta to copper green to cream and adobe villages clinging to dusty hillsides punctuated with stands of Cardon cacti.
Arriving at sunset in Tilcara (2500m) we soon realized that shorts, flip flops and strappy tops were not the way to go - it was freezing cold and we had all but forgotten how cold it can get at altitude at night. Luckily for me Simon had been shopping in Salta that morning and his bag of new shirts was sitting on the top of my rucksack and so Simon’s new casual shirt got its first outing on the streets of Tilcara as we hauled our bags up the steep cobbled streets (no taxis) to the Posada del Luz. As you do, we managed to get ourselves caught up in a parade. It’s quite common in these Andean communities for people to parade effigies
of Saints around the streets accompanied by bands and drums. Tonight was no exception and people were coming out of their houses to cross themselves as the procession went by and stare at the gringos in shorts and flip flops dragging their bags up the cobbled streets behind them…
Hitherto (what a great word!) my vote for most stylish hotel has gone to Casa Del Sol in Merida Venezuela, but the Posada del Luz in Tilcara gives it a run for its money. The place is set high on the edge of town looking straight down the valley. It has lovely cosy rooms with a patio and deckchairs (and drinks service) and each room has its own chiminea to chase away the Andean cold. There is also a swimming pool and lovely flower garden, restaurant and comfy overstuffed sofas for relaxing. It’s not cheap by Argentinean standards at AP$150 per night but in reality at thirty pounds a night it’s a steal.
By now the reality of the end of our trip is sinking in and so we decide to be active whilst we are here. We book up a horse riding trek for the next morning, not
too long just a 3 hour trip up to the Garganta Del Diablo (Devils throat) and back. We are getting quite used to this now and manage to get on the horses first time. It’s damn hot out here and looks just like the Wild West with all the cacti around. The Devils throat turns out to be a big depression in the valley floor and not really very exciting but the views of the Quebrada Humehuaca were outstanding.
Unfortunately Simon came a cropper when on his return to the village his horse was spooked by a taxi coming up behind him and threw him off. I was a little way behind at this point and watched the whole thing in slow motion. Although his fall was very graceful and he managed to avoid the horses flailing hooves he did get some nasty bruises, gravel rash and a sore neck. What a shame it was on our last horse trek of our trip. None the less trouper that he is, a bath and beer and laze on the patio sorted him out.
On arrival at Posada del Luz we noticed a van in the car park with a
sign saying “Caravana de Llamas” and so found ourselves on day two acquainting ourselves with a guy called Santos and 3 Llamas called “Gandalf”, “Saruman” and a little black one called “Gana”. See www.caravanadellamas.com.ar
Now, we have seen many a Llama on our travels and have assumed that they are arrogant, smelly, spitting creatures so our approach towards these 3 llamas who are exactly at eye level with us is a little guarded to say the least. However, Santos tells us a little about them (they are brothers and the little one a hand reared orphan), explains that the coloured wool that is woven into their coats and the earrings that the little llama is wearing is left over from a festival in February, gives us their reins, makes a offering to Pacha Mama and asks us to guide them to the awaiting Llama Movil!
The Llama Movil is a truck with high headroom and with a little help from Jaine the dog the 3 llamas are coerced into the truck where they sit looking out of the rear windows at the vehicles behind. All loaded, off we go to a pueblo called Juella which is also in
the multicoloured Quebrada Humehuaca.
The arrival in Juella of 2 gringos and a pack of llamas brings the little kids out of their houses for a look. This is one of the things I have grown to love about South America people aren’t scared to hide their curiosity and now we can converse fairly easily in Spanish (especially to the younger ones) we love these little encounters. Anyway, we walk through the village and cross a wide river with the llamas to make our way up towards a high point in the Cardon Cactus stand.
As you can see from the photos these Cactus look just like the stylized version we have come to expect from Hollywood. The straight, strong, woody skeleton is great for roofs, doors and window frames and so you can see it used in many local homes and the vaulted ceiling of the church in Purmamarca. They are supposed to be “protected” as they only grow 2cm per year and many of them are hundreds of years old but the proliferation of artesianal bits and pieces made from their “wood” suggests that the protection isn’t as tight as it should be, and that some
fall over and die with perhaps a little help.
The llamas are quite good natured but a little reluctant at times. Mine is particularly interested in eating anything green along the way. Walking through the village I had to protect several villagers rose bushes and maize field from Sarumans wandering jaw. Simon’s Gandalf stopped for a pee mid river and then got stage fright when we all looked at him and had a habit of stopping in the middle of nowhere for nothing in particular.
It was a long hot walk with the only shade being provided by very thorny bushes which we took refuge under occasionally. Whereas in the Amazon everything was geared to eating everything else, we noticed that here in this desert everything has an armor to defend itself. The trees have enormous thorns (the llamas are not put off though and eat around them); the Cordon cacti have spines 10cm long which are like needles to touch. Even the small cacti on the ground have spines which can go straight through your walking boots. It’s a great walk and a great opportunity to notice that even in the seemingly barren desert there are flowers
Hello handsome!
Como te llamas?and birds and little guinea pig type animals.
When we get to the high point, Santos points out archeological remains of a village that was once there, we are given a map to explore “the streets” whilst he sets up lunch for us. Usually lunch for us consists of cheese and ham rolls we have put together from the breakfast spread (ask Julie and Dave!) but this is something else. We return to a table and chairs with linen cloth set overlooking the cliff and the river. We have red wine, goat’s cheese, Serrano ham, sandwiches, olives and crisps, delicious. There is even a rug in the shade for us to relax on.
Whilst Gandalf and Saruman are content to wander around eating cactus fruit the little black llama that constantly makes a bleating sound is hanging around for his “treat” - an apple or two or however many he can steal from the fruit bowl before he is caught!
Lunch over we make our way back to the Llama Movil where the loading process takes a little longer without the help of Jainy the dog and we return to the posada where they are allowed to
out on the range
sitting in an office just wont be the same... graze on the grass. We say goodbye to Santos and the llamas and feel justifiably proud of ourselves for maintaining a conversation in Spanish all day.
Tilcara itself turned out to be a friendly little place well worth the days we spent there. There is the obligatory craft market in the plaza, (another great moment with 2 kids on a stall who were telling me the Spanish names for the animal finger puppets and then came across a sponge-bob without a head at the bottom of the box which provided great hilarity) and some nice restaurants in particular La Chacana Restaurant. All too soon it was our last night in Argentina and we celebrated with a bottle of Lagarde Malbec and bought the obligatory Argentinean Andean Music CD!
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