So here we were on the way back to Purmamarca and we made a stop in Tilcara, Jujuy.
Tilcara is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places of Argentina, habitation dating back to more than 10,000 years. How crazy is that?
We stopped just to see the Pucará of Tilcara. Pucará is a pre-Inca fortification and it’s located on a hill just outside the town with the same name, it can be seen from the road. Taking into account that it’s a fort, its location was strategically chosen so as to be easy to defend and to provide good views over the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
It was National Monument in 2000 and it has been partially rebuilt. It is the only publicly accessible archaeological site in the Quebrada de Humahuaca!
In the late 15th century, the tribes of the Quebrada were finally conquered by the Incas under Tupac Inca Yupanqui (not Tupac the rapper), who used the pucará as a military base and to secure the supply of metals such as silver, zinc and copper which were mined nearby.
The pucará was very interesting, the houses were built with stones, the roof was made of a mix of mud and straw that was put on top dried cardoon (like a big cactus). They are really low, but I think that’s the whole point of hiding in the hills.
This was our last stop for the day, it had been a really long day. So when we got back, we just went for a walk to the Paseo Los Colorados, a 3km trek through the red hill (colorado means red) that, once again, you shouldn’t miss.
We then went and bought more things in the craft market on the main square, had some dinner and off to bed again. Because, guess what, we had another early start the next morning.
The next morning, we were on the road again. We were driving from Purmamarca, Jujuy, to Cafayate, Salta, travelling approximately 360km.
First thing we did was stop just outside Purmamarca and took the famous picture of the Cerro de los Siete Colores, it’s just so beautiful I don’t have the words to describe it. (If you’re ever here I definitely recommend visiting this spot.)
We were on the road again when the police informed us that there was a protest going on and that the road was closed by the protesters. In Argentina we call this piquete, where people close the road and put tires all around and start burning them.
We didn’t know what to do, they were closing access to the only way to Salta from where we were. We got to the long queue of cars, people were getting out of their cars but no one was moving. So my mum decided to follow some people and they started driving on the wrong side of the road and took a turn down a side road that took us to a small settlement; it was too small to call it a village. We then reached a point where we didn’t have road any more, it was just a dried river with loads of rocks. You could see big trucks trying to cross it, as well as some cars.
We didn’t have a choice, if we wanted to get to Cafayate we had to follow the crowd. So we crossed the bumpy dried river and then we got stuck. We had trucks coming the opposite way but they couldn’t make a turn. We couldn’t go forward or backwards. So I got out of the car with Rory and we went to explore to see what we could do while walking on this dried river. People started moving rocks around until, after half an hour of not moving at all, the trucks passed and then cars could move in both directions. We cut through someone’s back garden, we reached a little town and were on the road again. So Rory had a 100% Argentinian experience ;).
We were back on track and going from one province to another you could see the difference. Jujuy is drier with less vegetation, while Salta has lower hills and you can see a lot of green around.
We drove, on Route 68, past Salta city, and 90 km later we arrived to the Quebrada de las Conchas (conchas meaning seashell), in the Calchaquí Valley. It’s a scenic route with lots of rock formations and viewpoints. Definitely worth a look!
Our first stop was the Garganta del Diablo (the devil’s throat), this big, long rock formation which looks like the inside of someone’s throat. The rocks were red so I’m going to guess that’s why it’s the Devil’s and no one else’s. We walked in and we could see just how impressive it was. But we reach this kind of high rock that people were magically getting over to go see the rest. Rory simply run and got to the top but I couldn’t, of course I’m far from being agile or fit. So I tried once or twice but I just couldn’t get up there☹.
Rory was exploring and I was stuck at the bottom just waiting. So I went to the guy that was selling handmade jewellery and asked him if there was a secret or something. So he kindly stood up and showed me the trick. And, oh yeah!! I made it to the top! I was in the throat now, exploring, running, climbing rocks and taking loads of pictures. Until my mum called as back and we had to go, we still had a lot of ground to cover.
Some of the stops we made on the way were the Anfiteatro, an amphitheatre that even now has concerts every once in a while. The acoustics are amazing.
We also saw the frog, a rock that looks just like a frog (of course!) and then some mountains that look like castle. There are many, many stops along the road, with a lot to see. So should you venture here on your travels keep your eyes peeled!
But my favourite of all was Las Tres Cruces, the three crosses, which is a view point that leaves you breathless. The view from here is just WOW, it makes you realise how small we are and how strong and powerful nature is, what it can create and how it can change.
We finally arrived to Cafayate, a city known for its wine, more specifically Torrontés wine. I even found an ice cream shop that sold Torrontés and Cabernet wine ice cream. We had an amazing lunch here, stretched our legs and we were back on the road again back to Salta city, where we would spend our last night.
We arrived late at night, left all our things and went for a walk around the city centre, visited the main square, the churches looked beautiful with the lights at night. We enjoyed a drink and went back to bed. We only had a day left and we still had more things to see.
Hope you enjoyed it ;), I think you had enough for today. I promise to finish the trip next time.
See you next time xx