Into Jujuy via Quebrada de Humahuaca
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
19
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Humahuaca,
Argentina
Thursday, March 6, 2008
However that was all to change when we came upon the colossal sized village of Santa Rosa de Tastil jam packed with a population of 100 people approx
Tren a las Nubes
. There were about 10 buildings constructed of a mix of water and mud. Defying the conventional neon signposts they notify you of your whereabouts by forming the name of the location with rocks on the opposite hillside. We stopped in the extravagant cafe which was literally no more than a shed with a rear-counter selling delicacies of water, coffee & biscuits on a cobweb covered shelf. A mini museum occupied one of those buildings containing tools of the indians. Most of those living there are descendants of the indians who once occupied the area & the ruins of that previous civilisation lay on the hillside overlooking the buildings beneath. All you see are the rock outlines of homes, the cactus covered landscape & countless lizards sheltering in the shadows of the bushes. The silence there is deafening.The next stop was the town of San Antonio de los Cobres. As we approached, it reminded me of an Irish construction site except when you enter it turns into a perfectly rectangular mini town holding 7000 people. They can't be doing too bad though when satellite dishes cover the rooves of each home. Driving onwards we followed this 'road' which was pretty much an uneven gravel path & felt like driving over rumble strips non stop passing foxes, alpacas, llamas & vicuņas until we came upon a restaurant sign in the middle of wilderness. Our guide lead us off the trail along an even rougher path towards an apparent farm yard which turned out to be the village of El Mojon, home to 28 people
Vane centre of El Mojon
. It's dwellings were fabricated similarly to those seen earlier in the morning. It had it's own church, a micro museum & a unique restaurant/bar which had a bamboo roof, a table of salt & llama cushioned chairs. It was the most unique place I've dined & I tried llama so definitely a memorable experience had.Following on our track for another half hour we reached Las Salinas Grandes, the salt plains, which are spectacular. Spending 20 mins there is the equivalent of 3 hours in a sun bed. It's noted for taking wild perspective photos which we indulged in but the image that stole the show was the solitary guy sitting beside a porter loo in the middle of the place wearing a balaclava & sunglasses asking for a peso per usage ...genius... that episode of Fr Ted having the picnic was observed in reality.
Our destination for the evening was Purmamarca on the opposite side of the mountains & our trusty Citroen helped us climb the zigzagging route to a height of 4170m. Some people keep coca leaves in their mouth to counteract altitude sickness but I wasn't affected. Countless guides from various tour operators carry out the same excursion daily stopping at the exact same spots for photos, monuments, etc. What's bizarre is that locals have picked up on it so you find a table with artesan souvenirs for sale & behind it a local on the side of the road under 35C heat knitting with nobody around for miles
Fr Ted like scene
. The views are breathtaking on the descent as you draw closer to Purmamarca & enter Jujuy which is home to Cerro de los Siete Colores (Mountaintop of the 7 colours due to the minerals inside), the oldest tree in Arg (over 800 years old) & 400 people. Needless to say you are in the middle of nowhere but the place is totally dependant on tourism. Our guide lead us to a little hostel right in the corner at the back of the village, p100 for the night...the job. After a wander around the place we stopped for food while a folk group battered out a few classics, none of which I knew or ever heard of but the reactions seemed positive from all present, twas as good as Christy in Vicar Street. Following an early morning trek around the Cerro enveloping the village we picked up a few souvenirs. Vanesas work compadre decided to follow our route & arrived on the tourbus collecting us before heading north along Quebrada de Humahuaca. I can't emphasise how impressive the scenery is with the mountains changing colour, form & shape regularly. The rocks have an intense red/pink colour like Arizona/Utah at one point but a few km down the road the rocks turn to soil & display colours of purple/yellows/white/reds/orange. Another odd sight was a big hole in the cliff face from where a meteor hit...crazy.
We passed through the Tropic of Capricorn en route to our most northerly stop, Humahuaca. It's a bigger model of Purmamarca again home to spectacular scenery with a population of over 10000, a priceless church with its tabernackle area fabricated from solid gold & an impressive monument in the centre plaza dedicated to it's Indian descendants. After lunch & a spell of wandering round & some shopping we made a U turn starting the return leg
D Cerro de los siete colors trek
. We had hoped to hit Iruya further north but due to flooding it was inaccesible.The journey was broken up when we stopped at Tilcara to see the Pucara (fortress) which lies on the hill overlooking the village. The indigenous folk used it as their protection from enemies. It's cactus covered, surrounded by these really tall trees planted to pshade from the wind, home to a Botanical garden & its ruins remind you of Pompeii. Other than passing by the village of Maimara, noted for its colourful cemetery on the hillside, the torrential rain was as much as we could see for the duration of the 100+ Km to Salta wher. fortunately we got back to the same hostel
