This is the final diary in a series of three that shares our Easter Weekend trip in Argentina, Salta - Northwest Argentina and Salta to Purmamarca
Our last day was spent in a small corner of the province of Jujuy. We woke up early to take a hike in the colored hills of the small town of Purmamarca. This is an area ripe for eco-tourism. I wish we had more time to hike off the established trail and into the hills because there was obviously much more to discover. The locals are content to cater to rich Porteños (people of the port city of Buenos Aires) and have built a system of hotels and restaurants to support the local tourist industry, which is limited to a small hiking trail among the Cerro de los Siete Colores and a plaza full of small shops and artisan stands selling woven goods and musical instruments.
Few people wake up early in Argentina so my boys and I had the trail to ourselves. We hiked out of town but for a good portion of the trail, it is hard to tell if you are in the hills or in the town or a combination of both.
We found dogs guarding the trail near a typical brick home. The younger dog barked and barked, very concerned that we were coming close but he never got really mean. I think we was more scared of us than we were of him. I had definitely met meaner dogs while canvasing in New Mexico!
We saw a shrine along the dirt road, much like those we often see in Texas or in California memorializing the death a child or a friend who might have died in a traffic accident. They always make me a little sad. I couldn't imagine a car on this road, though it was definitely wide enough for one and obviously someone had met their fate at this very spot.
The outskirts of town fade into farms. The farms are obviously small and the locals raise cows as well as grow crops. Some have horses and I am sure they make money offering trail rides. Argentines love their horses!
We left the built up portions of town just before the sun was high enough to spotlight the beauty in the hills. But even in the dawn light, we could see the stripes of purple, pink, and cream among the orange, red, and brown. Once again, we were reminded of the American Desert Southwest.
As we headed further back, the sun finally made it high enough and lit the foreground of our pictures. Hills like this just beg to be climbed and my 12 year old had a hey-day making his way amongst the crags and climbing to heights to wave at us down below. I really do wish we had had more time here but our driver was coming at 10am to take us on more adventure and we had to finish the trail and eat breakfast before he arrived.
As the trail turned back towards town we saw two interesting piles of stones and we instinctively were drawn to them to take a photo. A transplanted Porteño/business owner was just taking his morning exercise around the track and he told us that the stones were shrines to Pachamama, a fertility goddess of the indigenous people of the Andes.
My oldest son was also struck by the morning light and took a great shot heading that complements the feel of the morning, the haziness of the fog rising from the ground, and the character of the environment. Truly, a picture is worth a thousand words.
As we got back into town, the sun was full up. We passed the small chapel in town and as Easter Sunday would be the next day, Christ and the Cross were appropriately decorated with flowers. Catholicism is very strong in the rural parts of this country.
After breakfast, we waited outside for our driver. It was proving to be a gorgeous day! And the attention-seeking parrots were the highlight of my youngest son's morning. They chattered and cheeped in the trees next to the patio. We still have a hard time believing these to be wild birds.
We hit the road at about ten and drove the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a colorful valley that leads to the town of Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2003. On the way we stopped to see the archaelogical ruins at Pucará de Tilcara. Some of the ruins have been rebuilt to show what they would have looked like. My sons stood near one to give you an idea of the height of the door and walls. And we took a close up of the roof so that we could remember the adobe like structure... my husband is very interested in buildings made from local materials.
Many of the ruins have been left as is and are still covered with scrub and cactus.
The birds obviously love the wildness of this place and we managed to snap another picture of a different type of parrot and the cactus provided great subjects for our budding photographer son.
And the height of the location gave us a good view of the valley looking towards Humahuaca and of neighboring homes on the hillsides.
The site predates the Incans but there are walls built after their arrival to the area. This wall is supposed to be an example of an Incan style structure - something about the methods used to construct it and the height of the wall.
As we were leaving, we saw more llamas... these ones decked out for the multitude of tourists beginning to arrive.
On the road in between Tilcara and Humahuaca, there is a small monument dedicated to the Summer Solstice (December, here). You may not notice, but the moon is faintly
apparent in the sky.
And then to Humahuaca itself!
During a lunch of locro, empanadas, and llama milanesas (see diary 1), we were treated to some folklorico, music and dancers in the tradition of the local people. We also ate the best quinoa salad I have ever had. The quinoa was tender and served with tiny chopped vegetables and dressed with oil and vinegar. I could have eaten an entire meal of that starter alone.
The city is famous because it was the location of the last battle against the Spanish for Independence. The battle was won only because the local population, indigenous people of the area, fought along side colonists, and this battle is memorialized in a huge monument and the top of stone steps in the middle of town.
The town was chock full of tourists and vendors. Many were selling standard tourist fare, lots of Andean-style sweaters and hats, woven tablecloths, and musical instruments. A few were inventive and left their stands behind. We particularly loved the woman selling hats in the city square and the women spinning her own wool on the plaza steps. The latter was chewing coca leaves as I spoke to her and she had lost the majority of her teeth. Although she was willing to have her picture taken, I always hesitate to take blatant photos of locals because I hate the feeling of being such a stereotypical tourist. At the same time, I wanted to always remember her as she was different from the multitude of vendors. I felt she was real; she was living her life despite the tourism in the city, not because of it.
The local city hall was in a Spanish-style structure I have not often seen here. Normally we see buildings that are very colonial, with curved lines and ornate decoration. This building was solid and obviously took advantage of local materials. It was more like the old west in the United States than any other building I had seen.
After touring Humahuaca, we headed back on the same road we came in but stopped to take different pictures. We visited a chapel with paintings of different angels armed with colonial weapons. The last battle for Independence is deeply a part of this area and the people believe that the battle of Independence was won by the will of God. To the people of that time, it made perfect sense that their angels would be armed with rifles. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside, but I did get a picture of the children outside... they were surprised to be asked to take a picture and I did it in exchange for a donation. They were raising money for their local school.
One of the most striking sites of the day was another stop on the side of the road. Our guide wanted to show us the colors of the Quebrada de Humahuaca and the best view just happened to be next to a large cemetary built into a neighboring hillside. The contrast was striking.
On another hillside nearby, we saw another home of note.
Our day was almost finished. We were headed back to Salta but our guide said we had enough time to stop in the capital city of Jujuy Province, San Salavador de Jujuy, and to see the famous flag of Belgrano. We're not ones to pass up the opportunity to see anything, so we said, why not. He took us to the provincial capitol building and inside we saw the first flag of the nation, the civil flag.
This flag is not the one that the nation uses - they have chosen the military flag, two broad blue stripes, a broad white stripe in the center, and the Argentine sun in the middle. We learned from our short tour that the rays of the Argentine sun are important because they represent both the Europeans who came to South America (the long straight rays of a mythical Roman sun) and the curved, wavy rays of the local Andean people who helped win the final battle for Independence.
Belgrano was the General who one this final battle and pictures of him are everywhere in this building and in the cathedral on the plaza. He is basically Argentina's George Washington.
After this, the sun set and our road trip turned dark. We headed on the local freeway back to Salta and to track down a decent dinner before heading to bed. We had a flight out the next morning to catch and wanted to be decently rested before getting home. Everyone had school the day after Easter. I'll leave you with one last picture of my youngest at the airport - he had wanted to buy one thing while on this trip, a poncho. He wore it proudly all the way home.