NW Argentina

Flying in Tucuman

Spent 2 nights in Tucumán after BA and had 2 short flights. Cloudy the first day I flew so just a top to bottom. The Saturday was a lovely sunny day, but after waiting around all morning for my lift to the site, I missed it after hunger got the better of me and I went to find some empanadas. The empanadas were delicious (best empanadas in the country up north - much moister), but maybe not worth the 3 hours it took me to make my own way to the takeoff. Still, had a surprisingly nice flight in the early evening, finding some lift off a spur that was catching the light valley breeze.

Salta

Had decided to spend a night in Salta, but on my way there thought I would be better off in Jujuy, a bit further north. So just a few hours in Salta - enough to appreciate the colonial architecture - before heading on and arriving pretty late in Jujuy (thankfully there was still someone in the hostel I'd gone for as they locked up shortly after - not a lot of options in Jujuy).

On Monday I went for a day trip to Purmamarca, a bit further north of Jujuy in the Quebrada Humahuaca gorge, to see the Cerro de los siete colores (hill of seven colours). Not much to the village of Purmamarca other than the colourful market stalls that practically fill the village, selling all the same Andean jumpers, ponchos and socks etc. The hill overlooking the village is indeed very colourful, but I forgot to count how any different colours I could see. After a wander round the village and finding a bit of info i wasnt really sure what I was going to do all day, as the walk around the hill looked like it would only take about 10 minutes. It did, but on a quest to explore I followed a ridge on the edge of the village that took me up into the mountains behind and I ended up having a great hike, climbing up the nearest peak and then circling round the back of the village along the ridge line. The landscape was incredible. Desert mountains with big bands of martian red and white in the rock and the hillsides dotted with giant cacti.

 

The change in ancestry to Andean heritage is really noticeable in the North.

My last night in Argentina I treated myself and went to the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor in Juyuy...and I can only conclude that Juyuy is not a capital of gastronomy. I tried the llama a la frontera which turned out to be a llama steak on a big plate of crisps. The meal was ok. The biggest disappointment was the llama; I was expecting something with a reasonably robust flavour and what I got was akin to a supermarket pork loin.

A few thoughts on Argentina:

• Expensive 
• Artesanal
• Italian 
• Mullets

- The Italian ancestry is very apparent in the Argentine personalities and language.

- Great meat (and they really do eat A LOT of it), but pretty limited cuisine otherwise. Fruit and veg here is about as good as the UK.

- Big hippy communities plying their arts and crafts and artesanal everything nearly everywhere.

- Imaginative haircuts with great combos of mullets, dreads and shaved patches - if you're into that kinda thing.