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Published: October 25th 2007
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This blog claims to come from the city of Salta, but actually covers our time in Salta and Jujuy and surrounding areas. Northwest Argentina is hot, dry and the home of the majority of Argentina´s "indigenous" population. It is also home to some very high mountains (these are the Andes of course) and some gorgeous trekking opportunities.
Salta City We started our visit to Northwest Argentina in the city of Salta after a
long bus trip from Asuncion. Salta provides an excellent base for a few days before heading to the surrouding regions. We climbed the hill (San Bernardo) rising above Salta, which gives great views across the city to the Andes (and also has a cafe serving amazing lemonade!). We explored Salta´s museums, and learnt of the Inca presence in this region, which has been unearthed through various archaeological excavations. This includes a particularly famous occasion in 1999, where bodies of 3 Inca children were found in a burial site at a mountain to the west of Salta at an altitude of over 6,000 metres. The body of one of the children was on display, and I must admit I found it a bit disconcerting. However, the story of
the discovery and the history were interesting and made me want to be a "high altitude archaeologist"!
San Salvador de Jujuy (or just "Jujuy" to it´s friends) After a few days in Salta, we moved north to town of Jujuy for a short one-night stopover. Jujuy is described in guidebooks as a slightly run-down and scrappy sort of place. However, I must admit I enjoyed it... It felt safe, was pretty clean, had nice buildings, a good hostel (Los Colorados) and a pulsating night life. Although our visit was only brief we managed to fit in a visit to the archaeology museum (more skulls and mummies) and some other sights such as the huge cathedral. There was also a great ice-cream shop there (La Pinguina) - highly recommended!
Tilcara So, after our time in the urban surroundings of Salta and Jujuy we finally escaped to the country. For our visit to the Humuhuaca Valley (UNESCO heritage site) we based ourselves in the small town of Tilcara. This is in a lovely location, surrounded by impressive peaks and with blue skies and sunshine that suited us perfectly. We were also staying in a gorgeous hospedaje (Jatun Mayu), which I
can unreservedly recommend (as long as you like tepid warm showers that is...!)
We were able to take time to explore the town, with its nice central plaza and plentiful small bars and restaurants. Tilcara is overlooked by a pre-hispanic fort thought to be 800 to 900 years old (called the Pucara). We enjoyed wandering the ruins and marvelling at the cacti that dot the landscape. Tilcara was also where we discovered that it is possible to eat llama meat. Moreover, it tastes amazing and I had one of my best meals of the trip (llama in orange sauce!) at Tilcara. We also enjoyed local specialities, made with maize, corn, beef and other bits and bobs.
The countryside surrounding Tilcara is perfectly suited to hiking, with a number of paths snaking into the hills. We hiked to the local "Garganta del Diablo" (Devil´s Throat). The path takes you past some excellent rock scenery and eventually to a lookout point over a gorge (the Garganta). Unfortunately we couldn´t see a way to get down to the bottom of the gorge and instead we walked up along the river valley that was feeding the Garganta. This turned into a great
move - we had the whole place to ourselves and enjoyed the scenery and company in peace.
For two days we decided to rent bikes (yes, masochistic) and cycle to various towns and sights in the valley. The first day of cycling took us 25 kilometres down the valley (south) to the town of Purmamarca. Within itself, this is a pleasant enough town with a pretty main square, church, etc. However, what makes it amazing is the stunning rocks surrounding the town. After our long cycle we climbed a hill opposite the town to get a better view of the "hill of 7 colours" - stunning. We also enjoyed exploring the town and a relaxing lunch before cycling along the "Pasaje de 7 colores" followed by a
long 25km bike ride back uphill to Tilcara.
A few days later we were on the bikes again, but this time we went north further up the valley. This was a slightly shorter ride but made more difficult by winds working against us. The main reason for our trip was to reach the Tropic of Capricorn. As a geographer, I find all of this completely fascinating, although it takes a long
time to explain the geography to Barry! (I´m sure he must be sick of hearing my babbling by now). Strange to think that when the sun reaches overhead here (21 December) we will be at the southernmost city of the world (well, that´s the plan).
After our enjoyable few days in the valley we went back to Salta where we met up with Russ (of Traveblog fame
rrruss), his wife Trish and their couch surfer Katie. We had a very enjoyable meal, massive steak and a chance to swap travel tales.
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Stephen Paul
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Salty
Every travelblog of Salta I see has me yearning to visit, and yours is no exception! I rated a few photos. :) Salta looks like Arizona on acid- by that I mean its a desert and dry and has huge columnar cactus- yet the mountains are 3 times bigger, the latitude is much closer to the equator and history is much different! Love it!