Pachakusi Tilcara

... wander, based loosly on ¨head west, then north´ this has been difficult **there are an uncanny amount of young, hip, good- looking people who live here. It is touted as an "artists enclave" but it´s still a little strange. Best I can figure, it´s a bit like a South Lake Tahoe before the boom. If the construction continues, in 2-3 years, when the new places age and the old places get facelifts (and walls and doors and toilets) it will likely be on the japanese tour bus circut

... rocky slopes, and even a majestic condor in flight, circling over us. Unfortunately all I could really focus on was my knee... and I was mightily glad, Sue, that we had invested in those huge orange Peruvian painkillers! The border was hellish... a lengthy trudge over a rocky surface, to the immigration office, with the weight of my luggage bearing down on my puffy knee joint, and then a seemingly interminable queue for exit and entry stamps, when ...

... is quite spectacular. You can see the different layers of rock exposed by the erosion of the mountainside and they really are all different colours. It would have been nice to be on a tour at this point so I could have asked what minerals are present in the layers to make them so distinctly different. We found another little gem of a place to stay, this one had walls made of stone and a cute little courtyard with ...

... haha, the first thing we heard when they arrived was, ' Mama! Sie sprechen auch Deutsch!' which means ' mama, they also speak German!' When it was nice and dark we had a good view of the stars with no light around...and weirdly enough we were hearing thunder for quite some time during the night somewhere in the distance. The next morning I washed a bunch of clothes and put a bunch of water on my gas stove to boil...the I started ...

... sacs et nous avons ainsi atteint le village dans les temps. Un couple d'americains nous a renseigne sur les 2 balades a faire. A priori en 2h, tu peux visiter le village. Ca tombe bien, on a pas beaucoup plus de temps. On a beau etre a 2200m d'altitude, il fait plutot chaud et c'est bien agreable de pouvoir remarcher en T-shirt. Les panoramas sont toujours aussi ...

The Rio Grande snakes its way along the Quebrada as glittering mercury, indifferent witness of struggles, expeditions and slaughtering. Inca armies, caravans of prisoners, columns of Spanish conquerers, later on patriotic cavalries expelling the Goths northwards and these, in turn coming back southwards, and again being repelled by the patriots. With spear and carbine, sword and knife, mutilating and beheading each other with the rage of brothers. Then nights of ...

... to the plaza, drinking mate. Tonight I don´t know what I am going to do. I was invited to a party but I don´t really want to go unless the other girls from my group go. So I am kind of bored just hanging around, but it is rainy out and I could be content just sleeping too, haha. Maybe soon I will write about other stuff besides just what I´ve been up to, I will have to see! Love you all! Andrea A vacation within my vacation!! I got last thursday off from school and ...

... This week Monday the 24th- Friday 28th- has gone quick and just fine. We had Monday off for a federal celebration or something but I didn´t do too much. I guess there isn´t really anything too interesting that occurred this week to tell about. I´ve been hanging out with friends a bit more, going to the plaza, drinking mate. Tonight I don´t know what I am going to do. I was invited to a party but I don´t really want to go unless the other ...

Saio de Salta. Estou realmente entusiasmado com a moto, que ficou excelente após a revisao com o Pedro. Munido deste espírito de perfeicao decido consertar também o alarme. Vou à loja que ficava ao lado da ´La vieja estacción¨ . Espero uns 15 minutos até que o rapaz olha o alarme e me diz que seria melhor verificar com o Maurizzo, uma loja no centro da cidade. Lá vou ...

¨Enough already with the small towns surrounded by rocks and dust¨. This is, I think, a fair characterisation of Mrs R´s general feeling at the moment. Yesterday we left Tilcara, a small town surrounded by rocks and dust and took an hour and a half bus ride to Humahuaca, a small town surrounded by rocks and dust about 50km north. This part of Argentina is pretty far removed from the cosmopolitan Buenos Aires. The main purpose for our ...