Tucuman and Tafi de Valle

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Tucuman is actually a big city but you would never think that when you are there.
We planned to stay four nights in the city but the hostel would only take us for two, this was not because they were booked up it was because you don't need any longer here than that.
The hostel (Tucuman Hostel) was very simple but still a ok place to stay in. All the rooms have very tall doorways and open out on to an outdoor area, they are very very basic so do not be expecting much.

So after two days we were ready for our next stop. We had heard that you can rent a car from Tucuman to Salta for approx 700 pesos. However as we could not estimate the exact amount of time we wanted for stops in between so we opted for guided tour, the guide we got had a excellent knowledge of the area and of the places we stopped in between.

We left with the guide to visit Tafi de Valle, this was a really quaint little town where many of the people from Tucuman had their holiday homes. It is a very peaceful place, In Molinos, you can visit the church, which is part of a bigger complex that also includes the elegant Governor’s House. Don Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi, the last royalist governor, used to live there. Some ancient artifacts inside the attached home of the old governor.
Also, in this town is where you find standing ancient granite monuments, these have similar engravings on them like you would find on Celtic monument's. However these were from the Indians, each one was to worship a particular god, eg, god of earth, moon or sun.
After a quick coffee we set off on our journey to the next stop an Indian archaeological site called Quillmes. We pasted the highest point of this valley which was 3200 meters above sea level. Here we were greeted by a Lama at the side of the road, lol!!
Quillmes was the name of the Indian tribe and the ruins of their homes can be clearly seen. After spending some time walking around this site we moved on to Cafayate.

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Photos

Bitter OrangeTrees
The line the streets in this part of Argentina.

Independance Plaques
Plaques for each year of independance from the Spanish.

Candy Floss Man.
There is a very large park in the centre of Tucaman

Indian Moument.
Tafi tribe

Tafi de Valle
You can see the cloud over the valle.

Comments

[Margaret Corey]

Please ship 5 dozen empandanas (variety) to NYC immediately. Will review after receipt of goods!