I can’t believe that my first month in Buenos Aires has already come to a close. In between summer class and the beginning of the semester, the 29th, Belgrano gave us a week off. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with my time until Alison, a friend from school, suggested that we head north to explore a few different provinces. I am so glad that I agreed to this!
Last Sunday I got on a bus to Jujuy, a province or state in the Northwest corner of Argentina. The bus trip was about 20 hours and I was anticipating a pretty long, uncomfortable ride. However, since most people utilize buses (and not airplanes) to move throughout the country, Argentines have perfected this form of travel. My seat transformed into a bed and I was able to sleep for about 8 hours. I even watched Wreck it Ralph in Spanish on my own little TV (Ralph El Demoledor).
After finding our hostel (which is not in fact spelled HOSTILE), Alison, Kelsea, Cameron and I explored the city. We ventured through a small art fair and soon came to find that the Northern provinces are very proud of the fact that raise llamas. Thus, you can buy anything you ever wanted/imagined made of llama wool. Jujuy is a pretty small town and most of the sight-seeing involves driving into “el campo” or the countryside.
One day we hired a guide to drive us to two small pueblos: Purmamarca and Humahuaca. In Purmamarca you will find El Cerro de Siete Colores or the Hill of Seven Colors.
In Humahuaca we had a traditional lunch that included locro (a type of soup made with beef and corn) as well as llama milanesa. I was not very thrilled about eating llama, but I thought I had to give it a try. Humahuaca is one of the oldest pueblos in the province of Jujuy. It used to be a stopping point for travelers. Now, it just seems to be a popular tourist spot with lots of artisans.
Also this puppy with a scarf is from Humahuaca and I really liked him.
We also stopped to see a huge sun dial/monument that marked the location of the Tropic of Capricorn. I didn’t really know what the Tropic marked, only that it was a line on every map. Actually, the Tropic of Capricorn marks the southernmost latitude where the sun can be directly overhead. So there you go. Also I got that from wikipedia.
I don’t want this post to get too long so I will expand more on what happened in Salta soon! While I really enjoyed my time there, I don’t think going to Jujuy was particularly necessary and we probably could have done all the same things if we had stayed in Salta for a week. However, the mountains around Jujuy are pretty beautiful and looked amazing when it snowed there for the first time in 5 years (just our luck).
Photo creds to Cameron
Caitlin pequeña, Mundo grandísimo 