Advertisement
Published: July 13th 2008
Our first set down in the Argentinian Andes was Salta. Salta for me was pleasant enough, but it suffers a bit in comparison with the last few towns we´ve been in: Buenos Aires, Bariloche and Mendoza. However it´s a pretty interesting comparison as it´s nothing like the rest of Argentina. Instead it´s got more in common with the Andean regions of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and not just because it´s chilly. This is the one region in Argentina where there´s still an large indigenous populace, and the European descendants appear to be in the minority. You can get pretty much anything you want made out of llama wool. What´s really interesting is that you can get the
exactly the same jumper from here up to Quito. Hands up travellers, how many of you have this item of shame in your backpack? I know Nat has...
Anyway, Salta was a fun enough place to spend a couple of days. We met up with a couple of new mates from Mendoza, took a cable car up the mountain for a spectacular view, and went for a few runs. Nobody runs here, so you get heckled even more than back home. My favourite
Ali and Kelly
Hanging out with the kids. These two kept making us stop for lollies and pop. They´re nearly 12, but don´t act it.by far was an ancient empanada salesman who yelled at us in Spanish "stop running and have an empanada" every time we passed him. The only drawback being as we were doing laps of a very small park, this got kind of dull very quickly.
Salta does boast some great museums. The best of these by far for me was the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña (The Archaeology of the High Mountains). The museum is centred around the stunning find in the 90s of 3 near perfectly preserved Inca children in the mountains near Salta. The children had been fed up, marched from Cusco (in all probability), and left to die of exposure at the mountain top. The incredible cold at nearly 7000 metres up means that they look today pretty much as they did 500 years ago. It´s a fairly sombre sight - the youngest of the 3 children is on display in a perspex case, and you can see the marks of where she was struck by lightning - probably posthumously. I was a wee bit too squeamish to take photos I´m afraid - but you can find them on the net anyhow if you´re morbidly
inclined.
After Salta we decided to continue heading north to the tiny town of Humahuaca. We really only intended to cross the border, and one option was a night bus from Salta. However had we done this we would have missed one of the sights of the trip. The Quebrada de Humahuaca is an incredible canyon set in impossibly picturesque mountain range. The mountains themselves are a range of vibrant reds and pastel greens and purples. I´m not sure how this came about, but given with the time involved I´m ruling out enterprising locals with watercolours and opting for the nefarious hands of geology.
Humahuaca itself is pretty, stone clad and good for a wander around, though at over 3000 metres you wander very slowly! Once again, it´s very Andino, and doesn´t feel very Argentinian at all. Instead of the ubiquitous stakes and parillas you get quinoa soup and llama burgers. Even the buses have started to take on more of a Bolivian feel... no more coche bling cama here, but antiquated rust buckets bumping along miraculously, stinking of dust and mould.
There are also some beautifully set pre-Colombian ruins here, the Ruinas de Pucara. In parts
Cable Car Engineering
To keep De Gorski happy! these have been restored to within an inch of their life, but given the surrounding scenery and ancient cacti, they were well worth the visit.
Next stop for us is the border with Bolivia... Fingers crossed the Bolivians haven´t closed it again! I have to say we´ve totally loved Argentina, from the South of Patagonia, to the Andean North, and are currently plotting ways to return!
See you soon,
Si xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.203s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 19; qc: 82; dbt: 0.1156s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
barrygahan
Barry
Nice to read about the quebrada again
Quebrada de Humahuaca was one of my favourite parts of Argentina. Hope you made it to the seven coloured mountain in Purmamarca. Enjoy Bolivia! Btw, I think I've almost the exact same picture of Ruth at that cafe in Salta!