Purmamarca, Tilcara & Humahuaca

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Today we went on an excursion through the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca gorge) by following Rio Grande (which is quite dry at this moment) up to the small town of Humahuaca.

On the route we first stopped at Purmamarca - a little village famous for the Seven Coulour Hill next to it (Cerro de los Siete Colores). And indeed, the stones of the hill are really colourfull: varous tonalities of red, green, yellow, white, brown... This coloration seems to be result of oxidation of all kinds of minerals present in it: iron for red, copper for green, and so on.

We then went on to Tilcara, driving through this valley, also famous in Argentinian history because of many battles against Spanish that took place during the struggle for indipendence. Tilcara has been declared the world heritage site few years ago due to the pre-Colombian fortification site built by indigenous people, and discovered begin 1900's. The views from the hill which they picked out strategically (to see the arriving enemey) were just amazing!

Our final destination for the day was the little town of Humahuaca. Here we had the lunch - and, of course, what is more appropriate than the lama meat? It tastes good and it also seems to be healthy - something to do with cholesterol. The village itself has a real Andean feel to it. The indigenous people, coblestone streets, adobe houses. All painted with the pastel earth kind of colour to make it blend in with the scenery.

Tomorrow is our last day here in Andes. We will be heading north and up to the Salinas Grandes, to check out yet another nature wonder.

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Photos

At Tilcara site
Listening carefully to the guide ;-)