January 23rd started bright and early with Fredrico picking us up at 0700 for our very full day to Quebrada de Humahuaca. Our drive started out passing through large areas of agriculture where there were large tobacco farms and huge sugar cane plantations. As we started to approach the hills we entered dense fog and I was quite concerned but this soon cleared and we were treated to a day of visual magnificence. The whole area is a World Heritage Site and it’s beauty was like something we had never seen before.The colours and textures in the hills are just outstanding and though we made several photo stops you kept wanting to take more. We stopped at the small town of Purmamarca which is nestled in a cradle of multi coloured hills. We visited the adobe chapel of Saint Rosa built in 1648 which was special in its simplicity. There was a huge artisan market in the square and down the narrow streets but absolutely no pressure from any of the locals. Just smiles. This whole area is rich in culture and the home of many of the indigenous people of Argentina and their beliefs persist. One of these that was evident was that even with the small towns the cemetery was located high above the town as the spirit can only go up and this way they could not return to the home to cause havoc. We then travelled on to Tilcara and visited the Picard which is an ancient pre-Colombian indigenous fortress which has been partially reconstructed. Built high on the hill it was very interesting and the views were spectacular. We then crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and arrived in the town of Humahuaca which is located 2939 meters above sea level. It was founded by the natives of the region in 1594 and stands out for its pure colonial adobe houses and narrow cobblestone streets. After yet another delicious meal in another local restaurant where especially Eric’s Spanish is improving due to no English spoken we explored the town and then headed back. About 60 kilometres from Salta Fredrico left the highway and took a very narrow and winding road which went through jungle, farms as well as giving us wonderful views of the fertile valleys far below. We covered over 500 kilometres but the day flew by and after another late dinner we hit the bed to get ready for the next leg of our trip.
After travelling through farmlands and hills of green the landscape dried out and the colours started to appear
The contrasts were amazing
The hills were in all sizes and textures
Set against the blue sky we were so lucky as the day started with a lot less promise
The only plants were low and scrubby due to the altitude and low amount of rainfall
Your eye was constantly drawn in to the landscape
One possible painting after another
Hard to take it all in
Climbed up some hills for more panoramic views
Absolutely incredible
This town has a rather impressive backdrop
Adobe buildings with cobblestone streets and sidewalks. All clean as could be
Historic church from the 1600’s
Beautiful Main Street of Purmamarca
All the colours kept changing making it all so beautiful
Even the rocks without as much colour had so much texture that they had a different appeal
Trying to capture just a bit of the feel of what one could see from a single point
A small village nestled in the hill
An elderly gentleman making his way down the street of Humahuaca
Our lunch stop for the day
Church in the main square with the war monument showing up behind
Unique restaurant front. Llama used to run wild here but were domesticated by the natives and are farmed today for their meat and are used extensively for their packing ability
A local selling her wares in the main square
People cooking on the streets is very common everywhere and the choice for a BBQ is half a metal barrel
Humahuaca was the favourite village we visited as even though their were a fair number of tourists many locals were out and about
Driving the narrow winding road through the lush green what they refer to as jungle. The only animals we saw were cows, pigs and horses.
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