Humahueca, Argentina
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Saturday morning was time to leave
Salta and head north to Humahueca (pronounce that with silent h's!), a small town a couple of hours from the Bolivian border. The journey into the Andes was amazing, Humahueca is at 3000m so a good introduction to high altitude. We went through a huge valley that is famed for having 7 colours of earth, we only saw about 3 or 4 but hundreds of enormous cacti as well. The bright blue sky and strong sun contrast beautifully with the scenery. We got chatting to a local couple towards the end of the journey, who were going to the same place as us, but for work. They are children's entertainers; clowns and a ventriloquist, and were fun to chat to in our improving Spanish. Arriving in Humahueca was a welcome back to proper travelling again, although it seems a popular place, it's tiny and I haven't heard any other English voices so far. Not surprisingly the hostel didn't have our reservation as they use an online booking service but don't have the internet in house
! However, they had a room available and the accommodation more than makes up for the slight lack of organisation! The rooms are around a tiny, pretty, cobbled courtyard and they are decorated all with local materials. At first they seem basic, but then you notice the handiwork that has gone into the tiles and built-in furniture and you appreciate it all the more.
We had a wander around Humahueca and were amazed by how different it is to anything we've seen before. I can only describe it as like the Wild West but wilder. The houses are all single storey, all made of rock and painted a cream colour, and EVERYTHING is dusty. The sky is a brilliant blue and the sun tries to burn holes in your eyes, such is it's intensity. When we stood atop a small hill with a statue dedicated to Argentina's warriors and surveyed the surrounds we were taken aback by how empty, dry and arid the place is. Well, it's certainly a good place to sit and watch the world go by; it's not a place for thinking, it's too harsh a place for that. The high altitude certainly thins out the air, and the mind for that matter...
