tilcara, argentina

i arrived to tilcara in the morning, my friends had left the previous night and i just had a hostel name. it wasn´t hard to find them, but the hostel was not right in the center. the good thing is that tilcara is another small town and getting lost is not the worst thing. when i got to the hostel, my friends were getting ready to go out and hike to la garganta del diablo, the devil´s throat. it is a part in a canyon where the water falls, or at least that is what i though it was. the walk was about 1 1/2 hours or so, but the thing is, i didn´t change my jeans, and the sun was crazy this day! beautiful day, but crazy sun. so, i tried to ignore it and keep walking...

 

after we reached la garganta del diablo, we kept walking to go see a waterfall. the walk is along the river and you have to cross it several times. it is really shallow, and there are rocks that you can step on, but short-legged sandrita coulnd´t jump as well, and my hiking shoes got wet... great smell. backpacker smelling shoes. ;) (tmi?)

after walking for a bit, wet shoes and all, we reached the waterfall. so refreshing to stand closed to it and get sprinkled with some fresh water. because you know, the sun was crazy!

after that, we walked a bit more to see the canyon... no pictures here..

the tilcaras were the original habitants of the area, a pre-incan culture that were part of the omaguacas. after walking back, we visited the pucará ruins, where the tilcaras used to live. tiny houses, a cementery, a corral to keep the animals, and gorgeous views of the quebrada de humahuaca. .

at night we went to a peña for some dinner and folkloric music. the lyrics about the land and love for their town and for la quebrada were so beautiful!