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Published: August 15th 2007
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Yavi
Here we are! But there was no info about the statue of the man with a rifle. It took about 20 minutes to get to Yavi in the remis. The driver dropped us off outside the church and, as it closes at midday on Saturday and Sunday, we took advantage of our 1130 arrival with a quick visit!
The Iglesia de San Francisco may (or may not) be the oldest church in Argentina. We had this in Susques a few weeks ago! The lady tending the church claimed it was built in the 1500s and is the oldest "original" church, so maybe that's where the dispute lies. Inside it was a bit gaudy and over the top with gold. Adorning the walls are works of art from the ancient Cusco School, a style which we have never taken to wherever we have seen it. Some of it has been restored, some remains in a tatty in-need-of-TLC state!
From the church we went to the Hostal de Yavi where we got a room for the night complete with breakfast, hot water and, allegedly, heating! But unlike yesterday we didn't need a nap so we dumped our bags and headed straight out.
First stop, the museum. It is housed in an old estancia and charts the rise
and fall of the
Marqesado de Tojo, an extremely wealthy landowner before the banning of nobility in Argentina in the 1700s (I seem to recall!). Although small (5 rooms in all) it was well presented and worth a visit if you are going to Yavi.
Then we tried to find the
pinturas rupestre or rock paintings. The short walk along the river at the base of the cliffs and caves was very nice, but we never saw any paintings! Maybe you need to ask someone
exactly where they are before you set out to find them!
After lunch in another hostel, we walked 4km each way to Yavi Chico. The scenery was beautiful and the walk not too hard considering we were at over 3000m AMSL. It's a good job it was a nice walk because everything was closed when we got there and there was nobody around to ask for keys to the church or museum. It looks like the school may be worth a visit if you can find out when they are open. Here they train children in artesan skills as well as gardening and horticulture.
So, we walked back to the hostal and
Gold Leaf
in abundance! took a well earned siesta. After that it was llama steaks with a couple of beers and a good chat with the only other guests, a couple of Austrians currently driving around the North of Argentina. We were all weary though, so it didn't turn into a late night. Even so, the staff "accidentally" turned off all the lights a couple of times, which we took as a signal they wanted us to go to bed!!
After breakfast, including fabulous home-made
dulce de leche, we tried to get a remis back to La Quiaca. We waited on the main avenue for about half an hour before we finally managed to get a lift. The nice young man then took us all the way to the bus station.
So, do we recommend Yavi? It was nice, but deadly quiet! Perhaps if you really MUST see the church, then its worth a visit. Otherwise, you really must get some walking done in the countryside or it might be a wasted night stop. We liked it though!!
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Gustavo
non-member comment
LESS WORDS
You should have shown the photographs keeping your comments for you.