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PURMAMARCA
corns of different colorsWe decided to make our last road trip visiting small towns in the north of Salta,actually to the province of Jujuy, the guys from our hostel Inti Huasi recommended taking the route passing through El Carmen a small town, the roads are supposed to be winding but green everywhere, like a cloudforest. so after breakfast we set off, and indeed the scenery is lush, it was raining since we left Salta and we were worried we wont see much today but we went anyway, afetr about 2 hours on winding road, misty and cold we arrived at a town called Volcan where we gassed up and the gas attendant said once we passed through the mountains it will clear up, and 5 kms later true to his word it was clear, a bit of clouds but sun is out and we started enjoying the colorful scenery in front of us, same as the Quebradas we visited days ago, first stop is the town of Purmamarca, famous for the Hill of Seven Colors, the hills are with brilliant colors as if painted, Georgie mentioned she feels like being inside a postcard and its true, postcard perfect scenery. the town is quaint, with
a number of gringos and lots of stalls selling souvenirs, but quiet and calm no one pushing to buy from them. The church of Santa Rosa de Lima was cool but nothing really outstanding in my opinion, we drove out of town to take panoramic photos of the hills then drove past the town of Tilcara we took photos of the area, stopping every so often then moved on to Humahuaca, since we have seen so much colorful hills we decided to chill and just enjoy the town itself, the scenery around the town is fantastic but we were more keen on relaxing so we walked around town buying those cool felt hats, and had lunch in a small restaurant. the people here are majority indigenous, giving an indication how close we are to Bolivia.
After lunch we drove back to Salta passing once again the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, where we decided to not stop as it was raining there anyway, too cloudy and gloomy.Asado for dinner tonight at Inti huasi hostel a few people from other hostels turned up, friends of the Dutch contingent and the young English dude, Oliver whom we met in the
hostel in Mendoza is here as well. The feast looks amazing, grilled veggies, meat, salads, wow the whole spread! Red wine is flowing as well as usual, after we stuffed ourselves we socialized and mingled until 2:00am then Aurelie and I decided to go to sleep and Joe and Andy and Georgie went with the whole group out to a bar with the Simpsons theme, they came back around 7:00am, Andy woke me up to get the key for the truck and he drove off and returned it by himself, we were supposed to do it as a group but everyone is still passed out then. 11:00 am everyone is up, i made breakfast and then the 3 folks who went out last night went straight back to bed, me and Aurelie went out to town to check it out, we took the cable cars to the top of the San Bernardino Hill, it was cloudy and drizzly and cold, at the top it was quite foggy and got worse, we took quick photos, we got to a giant cross and below it was a dude smoking pot! Anyway we bought tickets to get back down on the very slow
cable cars, very foggy by now. Back at the base of the cable car at Plaza San Martin we went to walk towards the center, we saw a few churches so we followed it, most establishments are shut, quitr annoying not opening until past 4pm. we had lunch at Confeteria restaurant inside a mall in the plaza then to MAAM the Archeological museum that houses mummies of children discovered atop Volcan Llullaillaco at 6, 739 meters., only the young girl is on exhibit and you cant take pictures, it looks quite disturbing, not gross really it's just quite likelike!! preserved on a refrigerated environment you peek at a dead child that lived in the late 15th century. What is cool is they have exhibits of more than a hundred artefacts found along with the mummies and very well preserved too, oh there is also another mummy on exhibit, La Reina del Cerro from the Chusca mountain, she looks eerie, quite disturbing figure in my opinion.
Walked the town and took photos of different architectural styles found just around the plaza. It was way cold and me and Aurelie were freezing. We went to shop for dinner to cook tonight
then took the taxi back to the hostel. Dinner was adobo, with a delicious Nanni red wine Cabernet Sauvignon, god i love the red wines here in Argentina. After breakfast we all went out to town with a new dude Dave, a British pilot
quite a talkative guy, a bit annoying but anyway we hang out with him, we stopped by the place Joe found some patches to buy some then had lunch at the mercado, a superb soup called Locro, beans and tripes and some meat, really good. Then walked the city with Aurelie and Dave as the rest went back to chill in the hostel. i bought my bus ticket to resistencia but have to re schedule it as Aurelie and me decided to do the day trip to follow the Tren a las Nubes trail by bus, the train was way too expensive for us and takes longer. so booked it after much thinking. We visited the San Francisco and Catedral churches and they look good at night, we then picked up the guys and had dinner at Los Gauchos good meal, it is very cold here as usual and we hurried to get back to the
hostel as Andy, Georgie and Joe have to take the 1:00am bus to Bolivia.
Early morning start, we got picked up for the day trip going to Quebrada de Humahuaca following for sometime the path that the famous Tren a las Nubes takes, it was quite expensive for my budget so opted for the shuttle bus trip. Me, Aurelie and the annoying English dude Dave went on the trip.
We stopped at some bridges made for the train then as we went past the mountain range the green becomes an explosion of different colors, we struggled taking photos, it was quite windy and sand flying all over the place. We arrived at a small town called Quijano for desayuno then moved on towards San Antonio delos Cobres, the town way up north where the train stops, we are at about 4,000 meters here and our driver/guide handed out coca leaves to chew, and I felt better, it actually works believe it or not.
The wind was howling in san Antonio, freaking cold, we had lunch there and then descended to get to Salinas Grandes, the Argentine version of Salar de Uyuni, not as striking as the latter but well worth
the visit as we saw how salt were harvested, the blueness of the sky was not well pronounced due to the sand being blown away and created a brown haze in the horizon. frome there descended some more towards the Quebrada de Humahuaca, all the towns we visited before on the road trip were actually part of the Quebrada, this mountain range full of colors, still amazing the 2nd time around. We dropped off Aurelie and the annoying Brit who was doing his best to hit on Aurelie, i forgot to warn her to be careful but i think she knew. Hope to see her again in the future, the last of the road trip crew I said bye to and am off back to Salta for the asado waiting for me at the hostel, yay! After the asado, I went out to the bar district with the guys from the hostel, Mike, an American dude, an irish couple and a few Germans, we had a few drinks in this one bar then hours later came back to the hostel to drink some more, Ross the Welsh dude we have been hanging out on and off was still there, supposedly
on his way to Jujuy but kept postponing his plans, anyway he was hanging out with a band he met at the Simpsons inspired bar but got tired of their music.
Slept pretty good a bit hungover from too much red wine and beer, sorted my stuff out and checked out, Ross got up and we had lunch at the park near the hostel, I had asado again, he had choripan. Just basically watched the French open on tv killing time,y bus leaves at 6pm to Resistencia. Walked to the bus terminal and left, uneventful bus ride, got to Resistencia just short of 7am, freaking cold!!! i planned on staying here but decided to just spend the half day checking out the sights then move on to Posadas.
Went around to look for the left luggage at the terminal but could not find it, asked some helper dude and pointed me to a small booth next to the women's toilet, it was a ticket booth office doubling as luggage storage as well.Got out and loooke for the bus to town, 110, I asked the driver to let me off the center. then before i get off I asked hime
to show me where to wait for a bus back to the terminal.
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liliram
liliram
Gil, where do you get all the energy?
From one pinoy to another, you amaze me with your stamina. I have been following your blogs, and I reckon you have been traveling non-stop for some 3 years? Wow, and you are getting better with that camera! Where to next, Gil?