NORTH
TO THE BORDER
(Aventuras
Travel Tales Index - Aventuras
Argentinas Index - Argentina Pix
In our first travelogue, we mentioned that Buenos Aires was
unlike other cities in Latin America and people were mostly of European
descent. As we traveled through Salta and Jujuy, the two most Northwestern
provinces, we noticed more similarities to the rest of Latin America. We
encountered more dirt roads and not exactly chicken buses, but close. The
people seemed poorer and we saw more people with Indian features. We got as
close as one hundred miles to the Chilean and Bolivian borders and would venture
to say that Jujuy was culturally more like Bolivia than the parts of Argentina
we had already seen.
As for the weather, remember how hot Rosario and Tucuman
had been? You might think as we headed North and got closer to the equator, it
would get even hotter. Well, it didn't because we were in the mountains at
elevations above 6,000 feet. It got colder, much colder. In fact, at one point,
Paul took a wool blanket from our room to wrap around his shoulders when we
went out to dinner!
While it didn't have much to see, the city of Jujuy turned
out to be a pleasant surprise. We stayed at a friendly place recommended by the
tourist office that consisted of four rooms above a restaurant with a very
lovely senora running the operation. The streets were bustling with people
until about noon and then deserted until about 5:00 PM when things picked up
again. One unusual feature of Jujuy was that you didn't have to play chicken
with traffic while crossing the street. They actually stopped and waited for
you to cross!
Our goal in Jujuy was to see the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Purmamarca, the first town in the canyon, was very small, about five blocks by
five blocks and hemmed in on all sides by mountains. El Cerro de Siete Colores
- the mountain of seven colors formed the Southern backdrop to the town. It was
multicolored, sedimentary rock very similar to Cafayate and equally beautiful.
The layers were not uniform or all horizontal, they sort of flowed like water
in a rocky stream.
West of Purmamarca was Salinas Grandes, the largest salt
flats in Argentina. We took a trip there with four Argentineans in an SUV.
Purmamarca lies at about 7000 feet above sea level, but the mountain pass from
Purmamarca to Salinas Grandes was at 13,500 feet. So, we got a great view of
the mountains surrounding Purmamarca as the road (and our SUV) slowly climbed
toward the pass, switching back and forth all the time. In Purmamarca, it had
been a cold, cloudy day but on the other side of the pass we found a hot, sunny
day with the shining salt flats in the distance.
The salt flats were fifty miles long by twenty miles wide
and seemed perfectly, totally, absolutely... flat. Twenty five families own the
land and they are slowly mining the salt by hand. The road which was raised
about five feet divided the flats in half. On one side, they were submerged
under about 6 inches of water, forming a large lake, while the other side was
dry, packed salt as hard as rock. The shallow lake formed this incredible
mirror for the mountains, blue sky and scattered clouds. Back in Purmamarca, we
now knew the secret sign that people had been to the salt flats - after wading
through the water, our sandals, feet and ankles came out all white, coated with
salt.
Purmamarca itself had very little traffic, but lots of
people walking around. The central plaza was lined with vendors selling various
textiles - blankets, ponchos, sweaters and shawls made from sheep, vicuna and
llama wool. The cheapest items came from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador while the
more expensive and perhaps better made items were Argentinean. You might think,
"ugh, what a tourist trap", but it had a very relaxed vibe about it.
No high pressure sales, no hassles, just relax and enjoy. Our plans changed
from stopping for the day to staying two nights.
We took a daytrip heading further in the Quebrada passing
through Maimara and Tilcara. Maimara was shaped by the long narrow valley it
lay in. Facing the town, was La Paleta del Pintor - the painter's palette. The
steep sides of the mountain had black, violet, rose, yellow, orange, green and
other colored rock. Along the base of the mountain ran a very muddy river and
then lay the town. It was a beautiful setting for a somewhat dull town with a
lot of agriculture and minimal tourism.
Beyond Mairmara was Tilcara, the biggest and most touristed
town in the valley. It had the same wares as in Purmamarca, but much more
aggressive vendors. It had the feeling of a place where tour buses zoom in for
a stop and zoom out again. Wow, we were glad we decided to stay in Purmamarca.
We climbed up to El Pucara, a restored pre-Columbian
hill-top fort overlooking Tilcara. Lois thought this was great, even with the
rain, a wonderful view and lots of little stone huts to poke about. Paul was
disappointed because to him it seemed like a series of rebuilt stone walls with
a few small buildings here and there. Plus, it was cold and rainy and
therefore, time to end the day trip and head back to Purmamarca...
The following day, we took a bus to Humahuaca, the Northern
most part of the Quebrada. Humahuaca was a pleasant little town with not a lot
going on. We did a bit of walking and climbed up some peaks overlooking the
town. From the top of the very windy ridge, we had a great view of the town,
the surrounding countryside and an approaching rainstorm. We hightailed it back
to town and miraculously, beat the storm. From Humahuaca, we took a bus to
Iruya. This was something we added to our itinerary based on what other people
had told us about the trip and the town.
The trip to Iruya was over dirt roads and through many
creeks, passing aluminum roofed, adobe houses, some with solar cell panels. We
went up and up, from about 7000 feet to 13000 feet. The bus stopped at the top
of a pass so everyone could get out, stretch their legs, take a photo and enjoy
the expansive vista below us.
As we approached Iruya, the first thing we could see was
the church - the tallest and largest building in town. The town was literally
built into the side of the mountain. We had been a little worried about finding
a place to stay since our bus and another arrived at the same time (90% full of
Buenos Aires students on summer break). However, on arrival, we were met by a
large number of ladies with little cards for their particular hospedaje. We
took one of the most expensive places at $7 for the two of us. In general,
Iruya was the cheapest place we visited in Argentina. For $4 we had a dinner
consisting of a mixed salad, potato and egg quiche, french fries, baked chicken
breast and bottled water.
The boom in tourism started for Iruya a few years after the
peso's devaluation. Before the devaluation, Argentineans had ample money to
travel outside the country and did (the peso was worth $1). After the
devaluation, prices went up, salaries didn't and many middle class people found
themselves poor and/or homeless (the peso was worth 33 cents). More recently,
inflation cooled down, salaries started to catch up with costs and Argentineans
could afford to travel within their own country. Given the low cost of Salta
and Jujuy, many chose to travel there. Iruya had been turned into a town of
hospedajes and comedors (literally "dining rooms" or cheap eats
places). However, it still retained its low key charm and beautiful
surroundings. We could have stayed much longer, but unfortunately, our schedule
only permitted one day.
From Iruya we returned to Humahuaca, which had been
transformed overnight into party central. There was a festival going on and
everyone within a one day bus ride of town had shown up to participate. We had
bigger fish to fry and headed to Maimara which had the Festival del Choclo
(Corn Festival). Unfortunately, we got there past prime time and there was a
little leftover food to try and a lot of leftover drunks to avoid! We headed
back to Jujuy where we stayed at the same place as when we went through the
prior week. It always nice to return somewhere and already know your way around.
The following day we flew out of Jujuy and back to Buenos
Aires where we had just one more week left of our trip. But that's another
story...
Lois & Paul
Aventuras Argentinas Part 5 Aventuras
Argentinas Part 7