Tucumán

Our first stop as we progressed up north was a city called Tucumán. We just overnighted there taking in the vibe of the city where Argentina was declared independent. It’s a nice city, perfect for a quick stopover. We stayed in a quant friendly hostel near the central plaza which is landmarked by the illuminated Casa de Gobierno. We spent the evening strolling around the various markets and plazas.

To continue the journey we bought an open three stop bus ticket up country with our first stop being Tafí del Valle.


Tafí del Valle

We arrived in Tafí early afternoon after snowfalls in the mountains and were accosted by a little old lady who wanted us to rent her annexed cottage flat.


We were easily won over by the whitewashed walls and little fire stove, a comfy assurance against the frost outside. It felt like we were in a little old traditional Irish cottage, and keeping it real the wind blew straight through the cracks around the windows and doors. Thankfully the five blankets on the bed and the burning embers kept us warm.


The town was perfect, it looked like a film set, ideally placed in a snowy mountain valley overlooking a lake with llaymas in the fields.


After wandering around the town we discovered that the best way to reach the Parque Los Menhires, some 10km away was to hitch the quiet country road.


A pick-up eventually stopped and we hopped in the back, next to a raw rip cage, presumably dog food. Oh My God was it cold when we rounded the corner and the crosswinds from the lake hit us, we were blue with chattering teeth when we eventually arrived.

First things first, a warm cup of tea and lunch, we had some traditional food wraped in a corn leaf.


The Menhires are indigenous granite monuments collected from nearby archaeological sites representing ancient art and prayer.


Getting back wasn’t as easy, we waited a while for a lift, walked along the foggy icy roads eventually getting a lift half way with two fisher men, and amazingly we got home the rest of the way with the same pick-up that brought us there. This time we knew to sit with our backs to the wind!
Before leaving we made sure to sample some of Tafí’s handmade cheese which weren’t half bad.

Amaiche
Next was Amaiche a tiny town where we stopped to visit the nearby ruins of Quilmes. We joined a tour with just one other lady from Buenos Aires. Our guide was of Quilmes Indian decent and his German girlfriend was our translator, she also brought along her baby on the tour.

We stopped en-route under the shade of a medicine tree where our guide described the history of the Quilmes people, of their near obliteration by the Spanish invaders and the current state of affairs. Then it was on to the ruins, these are amazing and surrounded by a forest of cacti.

It looked like a ‘cowboy and Indians’ movie! The ruins were appropriated and partially restored under the dictatorship of General Videla in the 70’s without consulting the Quilmes people, the rightful owners. The land was then leased to a business man named Cruz for ten years for $110 which he didn’t pay. He actually built a hotel with a swimming pool on the grounds without consent from the community or any impact studies. It’s now closed and in legal contention. The site remained closed for some time but the Quilmes community decided to reopen it to visitors, thus benefiting the community. The hotel remains closed.


On our return we visited a small village with mud brick houses, and a little ceramic workshop. We drank maté with the owner while discussing his way of life and his craft which he learned from his mother.

Maté is the country’s obsession. It’s a tea drink made from the herb yerba maté. It’s unusual to see a group of Argentineans on a bus or trip or bunched together without at least one thermos flask full of hot water amongst them. The person with the flask carries the cup, which is also called the mate and fills it up with the yerba and adds hot water. You usually drink the tea out of a sliver straw with perforated ends so only the tea and no herb gets into the straw. The first person drinks the tea and it’s refilled with water and passed to the next person, everybody shares the same cup and straw. The tea can be refilled many times, usually until the water runs out. If you don’t want another round of tea you say ‘gracias’ when you’re finished drinking and hand the cup back to the host. It tastes a little like herby green tea, but they add lots of sugar so it’s way to sweet for us, if we have to accept any we’re quick with our ‘gracias’ in returning the cup. As an avid tea drinker I wholly commend this practice- although the sharing of the straw is a little gross, especially in these times of swine flu!

After our trip to the ruins we checked out the local museum named Pachamama, who is mother earth. People pray to Pachamama for a good harvest or present offerings to her in appeasement. Even with the acceptance of Catholicism throughout South America, Pachamama is still important and prayed to.

This museum was pretty impressive with an array of beautiful rocks from the surrounding countryside, including quartz, gold and marble. It also gave an example as to what the houses at the ruins would have looked like when the 5000+ Quilmes people lived there.

The museum grounds are beautiful with pebble pictures depicting some of the traditional indigenous pictures and symbols.

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