Courtenay Katherine

DAYS 7-8: LIMA, PERU

Lima /
September 7-8, 2024

The following day, we walked north along the sea for an hour or so along beautifully maintained bike and walking paths reminiscent of bustling, active Central Park in New York City in the summertime. There were runners and cyclists, dogwalkers and tourists, all enjoying the temperate weather, and we took in the lovely scenery along the way, including the spring blooms of bougainvillea and tulips just beginning. Sushi was the objective (given our lack of seafood in Mendoza). 

On our last full day in Lima, we decided to explore southern Barranco, a very artsy part of the district, with fabulous graffiti and galleries everywhere, cafes and brunch spots along narrow, cobblestoned streets lined with fashionable apartment buildings overlooking the ocean, interesting parks and museums, etc. Here, we were reminded of the Village in NYC: smaller, but it has the same vibe. At one gallery, an attendant asked if we had tried Asian/Peruvian cuisine and suggested we go to a nearby 100-year-old establishment (an institution!) for lunch. So, we found our way to Gran Chifa Chung Yion. We were the only tourists in the place on a Sunday. And the experience, sitting under the dragon on the wall, people watching and eating plentiful authentic, classic old-style Chinese accompanied by chicha morada with native Peruvians—what else can you ask for in a lunch?

Then we visited the fascinating  Museo Pedro de Osma, a beautiful old mansion turned private museum featuring art and antiquities from the Peruvian Colonial Period and an excellent exhibit detailing the Incan heritage of Lima and the surrounding areas. The residence was the family’s summer house until the 1940 Lima earthquake when Pedro de Osma’s children made Barranco their year-round home.

On the way back to the hotel, we found ourselves heading down a well-maintained stairway that deposited us below the cliffs on a bridge over the highway leading to the sea. We watched the surfers, couples, groups of young people, and (yes) break-dancers on the beach and then made the long climb back up to our hotel to finish packing. Before heading to the airport, we had dinner and drinks at Ayuhuasca Bar and Resto, a fabulous famous bar/restaurant recommended by friends.

Although we experienced only a tiny slice of Lima on this trip, mostly confining our days to within walking distance of our incomparable hotel, we loved the art, gastronomic culture and urban vibe and plan to return soon to learn more!

The link to the photos and videos for days 7 and 8 is here: Lima Days 7 and 8

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DAYS 5-6: LIMA, PERU

Lima /
September 5-6, 2024

We flew the short one-hour hop back to Lima in the afternoon and arrived at our hotel, Casa Republica, in the Barranco section, one of 43 districts in the city. On the way from the airport, the enormous palisades rising from the Pacific Ocean reminded us of Santa Monica, California.  Later, we learned that cliffs further south shield Barranco from colder and more humid winds, creating a warmer and drier microclimate than many of the other districts of Lima.

The garúa, or fog that blankets the coast of Peru, is a constant in Lima, resulting in a soft “greyness” permeated by the sun that persists through most of the winter months. We found it to be a welcome change from the dry, desert conditions we are used to in Mendoza. That evening, we walked along the esplanade above the ocean at dusk, which felt mesmerizing, with the waves breaking below and the glow of the city beyond. We continued a short distance to a nearby fish place, LA 73. So fresh and so good!!

On our first full day in Lima, we walked across the street to an art space and store called Dédalo and purchased several more textiles, jewelry and other items and afterward enjoyed a coffee and a bite to eat at their charming café in back. Next door, we found the Jade Rivera art gallery, an exhibit of the famous local artist’s work, a fascinating portfolio of street graffiti, more refined paintings and eclectic pieces. The MAC, Lima (Museum of Contemporary Art), a 15-minute walk from our hotel, offered more interesting Peruvian and South American artists’ work and the opportunity to view an exhibit and meet the artist Ramiro Llona.

Needing a bit of downtime that afternoon, we took it easy and, in the evening, we took an Uber to the San Isidro district to eat at Astrid y Gaston. The restaurant is housed in a beautiful old mansion (as are many hotels, art galleries and other businesses) with interior decoration aimed at luxury, fantasy and style. The bar, for example, is constructed around two beautiful native trees under festival-like streamers cascading from the ether in the middle of the central courtyard. We were seated in an adjacent courtyard for our tasting menu of “tapas”—eight courses plus dessert, which we enjoyed with a fine bottle of Chilean wine. Dishes included scallops in a cream, dill concoction, Peking duck tacos, a shrimp cocktail taco, river shrimp with blueberry sauce and yam shavings, pork bao with fruit orange sauce, pepper ice cream with nuts and a thin cracker crust on top and a chocolate souffle of 83% chocolate with ricotta garlic ice cream. Divine!

The link to the photos and videos for days 5 and 6 is here: Lima Days 5 and 6

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DAY 4: CUSCO, PERU

Cusco /
September 4, 2024

Our tour guide, Dennis, arrived at the hotel at 7 am to collect us for our private, all-day tour of the Sacred Valley. After a 45-minute drive, we arrived in Chinchero, a small Peruvian town at 3760 meters (12,336 feet) featuring Incan ruins and colonial 17th-century structures built on top of the destroyed ancient walls. The district is the center of Peruvian weaving; several local, traditionally dressed women explained and demonstrated the intricacies of harvesting, dying and preparing llama wool for weaving. It turns out this demonstration is one of several sites connected to the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco (CTTC), the museum we came across in Cusco. A little corny, but the beautiful artistry is quite impressive. We purchased several textiles from their enormous shop before continuing.

The next stop, another half hour further into the valley, was Moray, the ruins of an Incan agricultural testing laboratory at about 3400 meters (11,500 feet) above sea level. Moray comprises three crater-like depressions, each with several circular terraces of varying sizes and depths, with an integrated irrigation system believed to have been used to grow hundreds of varieties of crops, including corn, grains, and potatoes, in various conditions. The terraces descend about 150 meters (490 feet); each of the three circular structures has about 12 levels of terraces, and the largest has a diameter of about 182 meters (600 feet). Moray is also quite an engineering feat, built using intricate stone masonry dating back to the 13th century. Unbelievable!

Nearby, San Francisco de Maras, a town of about 50,000 people, is known for its ancient salt mines, which have been used since Incan times. We drove down several switchbacks into a valley below Maras to view thousands of “pozos,” or wells, placed in the form of terraces that stretch down the entire valley as far as one can see, occupying a total area of approximately 1.5 to 2 hectares (4 to 5 acres). Each pozo is formed with retaining walls of small stones sealed with natural clay mortar, forming dikes of approximately 5m2 (54 square feet). The valley of pozos is flooded with saltwater fed by a hypersaline underground spring that originated 110 million years ago during the formation of the Andes Mountains. The salt dries according to weather conditions and is harvested by the local owners and sold in Peru and presumably worldwide. When the Spanish invaded the surrounding communities and discovered the mines, the settlers developed thousands more, copying the existing antique pozos over the ensuing centuries. Ownership of each pozo has been passed down from generation to generation, and today, they are still mined by individual families. Once a year, they hold a salt festival called Kachi Raymi, a celebration of the harvest and a spiritual celebration of the natural world.

We ate lunch at a relatively touristy stop, but it was a relief to relax for an hour out of the hot sun. We enjoyed the local cuisine and cold, refreshing chicha morada.

Afterward, we drove about 40 minutes further into the Valley to Ollantaytambo, another important archeological Incan site from around the same period, when, in the 15th century, Pachacútec continued to transform his chiefdom into an Empire. Pachacutec rebuilt the town, which provided lodging for the Inca nobility, and his men farmed the terraces leading to the Temple at the top. 

Today, Ollantaytambo is an Incan-colonial city at 2790 meters (9150 feet) that still maintains its layout and culture from the Incan period and its language, Quechua. It is a “dead” city, meaning few people still actually live there, and most of the houses have colonial architecture built by the Spanish on top of Incan ruins. But the ceremonial Temple of the Sun, made up of stone pieces that weigh as much as 100 tons atop a steep series of terraces, is more intact and a site to behold!

We spent several hours climbing to the top of the ruins, which was a challenging hike in altitude and very windy and dusty conditions; it was straight up! The walls are mainly intact throughout, including at least fifteen or more agricultural terrace levels, and it was easy to discern the apparent differences between the pre-Incan, lower fifth of each section, and the Incan structures built on top. Again, the precision of the Incan construction (perfectly positioned stones and identically sized windows, for example) was mind-boggling! From the unfinished Temple of the Sun at the top, we had a breathtaking view of the town below and the opposing mountain with its grain storehouses, called qullqas, built right into the top third of its cliff-like walls.  The Temple of the Sun featured massive slabs of stone, hauled up from miles away by hundreds of men, a feat that took decades, seemingly impossible, even by today’s construction standards.

Of course, the descent was again much easier than the accent, and we were content to nap on the 90-minute ride back to Cusco after a tour of an ancient place unlike anything we had ever seen. And there is so much more to see when we inevitably return!

The link to the photos and videos for day 4 is here: Cusco Day 4

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DAY 3: CUSCO, PERU

Cusco /
September 3, 2024

This morning, we set out to visit Sacsayhuaman, an hour’s climb straight up from our hotel. Sacsayhuaman is an Incan ceremonial temple of worship (later referred to as a citadel by the Spaniards) on the city’s northern outskirts at 3700 meters (12,140 feet) and the most prominent structure built by the Incas in that period. We walked the first 30 minutes slowly up beautifully adorned streets filled with shops and artisans’ tables. On the way, we noticed pairs of ceramic bulls on top of some houses. We later learned that these are given by the parents of the bride and groom when couples construct new houses. The bulls serve as protectors for the new family home. The second 30 minutes were more difficult as we followed a very sunny, hot, extremely steep, winding, rocky path to the entrance gate of the site. A very tiring hike, but worth it for the beautiful views of the city!

The site is enormous, almost twelve square miles encompassing several archeological sites, and much of the original massive stonework remains; huge, finely cut polygonal blocks, many over 4 meters in height, make up the walls of the fortress, and like at Qorikancha, the fine shaping of the stones was so precise that mortar was not necessary. However, here, the rocks varied in size and shape and still somehow fit together perfectly, whereas, at the latter, all the stones were cut in precisely the same size and shape. Incredibly, at both sites, the Incas used bronze bars and interlocking cutouts to secure the stones, which rendered them largely earthquake-proof; five hundred years of earthquakes have done remarkably little damage to most Incan structures. The corner of each zigzag in the primary temple wall is anchored by a massive stone weighing between 90 and 125 tons. Archeological scholars estimate that over 20,000 people worked on the construction, and the stones were brought from as far as 20km away. The walls reveal various symbols of animals typical of the region, arranged or carved by the Incas, including serpents, pumas and falcons (I’ve outlined a falcon in one of the photos). In addition, there are ruins of residences and towers, sanctuaries, warehouses, and aqueducts. In 1536, during the Spanish conquest, a significant battle occurred at Sacsayhuaman between Incan and Spanish forces. The Incas caused considerable damage to the Spanish but were ultimately defeated, and unfortunately, many of the structures were destroyed.

Sacsayhuaman was an important temple where the Incan Festival of the Sun was held every winter solstice, in which offerings and sacrifices were likely made to honor the sun god. Today, a reenactment of the ceremony is still held each year. Only partially due to the altitude, the place is undoubtedly sacred and emits a mystical, spiritual feeling as you walk amongst the ruins and marvel at the architecture. Truly a remarkable site to see.

After the (much easier) decent, we ate a late lunch at a tiny trout ceviche place near our hotel. I have never had better ceviche (and we were in the mountains)! Then, after checking out the artsy San Blas square, we headed for a siesta and finished the day with dinner at another popular, nearby restaurant, Pachapapa.

The link to the photos and videos for day 3 is here: Cusco Day 3

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DAYS 1 and 2: CUSCO, PERU

Cusco /
September 1-2, 2024

We flew directly from Mendoza to Lima and then caught a plane to Cusco. You fly into the city around the mountains and then into the valley below; it is quite a landing with a breathtaking view of the valley, revealing a city of half a million people.

Our hotel, the Atoq San Blas, is a 20-room boutique hotel built into the mountainside, like most structures in Cusco. Our altitude was 3000 meters (9,800 feet), about two-thirds of the way to the very “top” of the city. After coca leaf tea to help with the altitude, we headed straight for a siesta. We began climbing the winding, narrow streets early in the evening to reach the Limbus Bar & Resto. It was relatively close to the hotel, but boy did we feel the altitude getting there! The cocktail/dinner spot was at the top of one of the city’s many hills with 180-degree views. And they served fabulous drinks for $3 US dollars apiece, plus ceviche and a fresh, grilled trout to die for!

After breakfast on our first day, we started for the center of the historic district, a steep downhill trek through cobblestone alleys, stairways and narrow roads. We stopped at several textile shops along the way and finally came to one of the significant ruins, the excavated canals of the Incas. And just beyond, we arrived at one of Cusco’s most important temple ruins, the sacred Incan Sun Palace, Qorikancha. We met a lovely woman offering a private tour, who explained the Incan construction methods, religious practices, and the structure’s fate after the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. Built by the 9th Incan Emperor, Pachakutiq, the walls were once covered in gold, and the courtyard was filled with gold statues, all stolen by the Spanish.

We next found the Artisanal Market, a bit of a disappointment full of the same sorts of products sold in Jujuy and the Atacama Desert—handmade goods, alpaca sweaters and other textiles, woven table runners, etc. Cusco, Peru, Jujuy (Argentina) and Atacama (Chile and Argentina) were all part of the Incan Empire, so, unsurprisingly, many of these markets look the same. Traditional weaving and other arts and crafts have existed for generations throughout the old Incan Empire.

On our way to lunch (climbing back up toward the hotel very slowly), we passed through the Plaza de Armas with its tourist shops and restaurants and evidence of colonial influence, with many Catholic churches and cathedrals. We also came across a few high-quality textile shops, including the Museum of Weaving. A nonprofit collaborative, the museum (Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco) includes excellent exhibits on weaving and the lifestyle of the people over generations. The adjacent store featured goods made by artisans from small towns all over Peru. 

The link to the photos and videos for days 1 and 2 is here: Cusco Days 1 and 2

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Drive to Iruya, Salta

Jujuy /

The thermometer in the car read around 5 degrees Celsius as we set out a little after 10 am. It was a clear day, and the mountains to the north were luminous in the rising sun as we drove north about 45 kilometers past Humahuaca and turned onto a dirt road for the rest of the trip to Iruya, another 50k, which took another hour and 40 minutes. We had read about this fantastic route, despite the roads, but we were underwhelmed for a good while — just a simple, dirt road cutting through sheep pastures and every 10 kilometers or so, a tiny town would appear. The most interesting thing was that every pueblo had a beautiful cemetery with flowers and a well-kept stone fence, and each seemed to be much larger than we would expect for the size of the towns.

Finally, after about an hour we started climbing on switchbacks up to about 4000 meters (13,000+ft), passing through the Abra del Condor with spectacular views of pink, green, and purple mountains with clouds hanging in between them and the wide, rocky fields of yellow grass and paths below us. Harrowing would be my descriptor of the route, but then I’m a bit afraid of heights (?!). We passed a sign informing us we had crossed from Jujuy to Salta and then with dozens of acres of farmland in the distance below, we headed down more switchbacks to about 2500m (8000ft) — a drop of 1500m (5000ft) –and then back up more winding roads along the canyon and up to Iruya, a village of maybe a 1000 people built into the cliffs at 2800 meters altitude and above the river. Along the way we encountered several mules loose on the side of the road who stopped to say hello, and several interesting and amusing signs and sites, including the shrine of the “Immaculate Virgin de Buenos Caminos” (Immaculate Virgin of Good Roads) where all the road equipment for repairing the roads was parked. And we ran into an extreme cycling tour group, coasting down the switchbacks on what we presumed to be electric bikes.

Driving through the town of Iruya is impossible because of the narrow streets, so we were directed to park in the riverbed below the town and walk up. In 6-degree crisp, cold weather, we hiked up to the church and then another kilometer to the top of the town and had a small lunch at the Iruya Hotel.

The return trip was just as hairy, but much quicker by at least 45 minutes probably due to Knox’s familiarity with the roads; we had more fantastic views coming the other way with the setting sun lighting up the mountains to the east. Without question, this road trip was one of the longest, most challenging dirt roads we have encountered ever, and worth every second!

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/FbNdNTon2bUjWT8T6

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Drive to Las Salinas Grandes

Jujuy /

Purmamarca is known to most as being famous for the Mountain of Seven Colors. So far, we had certainly been enamored of the stunning colors and textures of the surrounding mountains everywhere we went, and the seven colors did not disappoint. On our way to the Salinas Grandes, we first stopped in Purmamarca for shopping at the artisanal market, where they had a lot of typical pottery and textiles from the region with dozens of vendors selling virtually the same products. However, we eventually found several very lovely higher-end textile stores. We bought a few items, stopped at the pharmacy for eye drops (really dry air in Jujuy) and had a coffee before heading out for the hour-long drive through the Lipan Gap to the enormous salt lake in the high plains called Salinas Grandes.

A truly unbelievable drive. We climbed from 24 degrees Celsius in Purmamarca past the famous Seven Colors Mountains and on up 50+ hairpin turns to the high plains (La Puna) and 11 degrees Celsius at the top. We reached 4170m (shy of 14,000ft!) and definitely felt the altitude! Then we headed down to the salt lake in wind and 13 degrees. An indescribable view that evoked the image of white, snow-covered ice on an enormous, frozen lake with bright sun and whipping winds. Salinas Grandes is at around 3400m and stretches for 320 kilometers east to west. We passed a salt mine and stopped at the tourist site in the middle of the “lake” to visit with the shop proprietors and buy a few trinkets. Most of those working the stalls are from the small indigenous community near the Flat called Tres Pozos, a community of three settlements, home to a total of a couple hundred people.

That night after a welcome nap, we went for dinner at one of the best-reviewed restaurants in Tilcara, Nuevo Progreso, owned and operated by the chef Maria Florencia Rodriguez, also chef at the winery we had visited for lunch a few days before. An excellent meal, stunning presentation, service, and atmosphere.

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/As6Nht5pX9fpeuRs9

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Cooking Class with Anita / Pucará

Jujuy /

We had pre-arranged a cooking class to learn about the regional cuisine. We arrived at Anita’s restaurant, El Patio, in Tilcara at 9:30am. After several minutes of introductions and conversation about her background, she took us to the central Tilcara market to buy various veggies, fruits and other goods. The market is quite large and held every day including holidays and weekends and is full of every type of meat, fruit, and vegetable you can imagine, as well as a large portion devoted to the sale of clothes and other products. The variety of fresh fruit and veggies at this time of year surprised me, because in Mendoza we find that many common items are unavailable for several months in the winter. Turns out that because Jujuy is a province with four completely different growing climates/ zones, just about all types of produce are plentiful most of the year. We would never have found the market on our own. And, of course, we learned about the endless types of corn, potatoes, other tubers, and quinoa native to northern Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru! Beautiful! We headed back to her restaurant and began preparing the ingredients to make two types of empanadas –one with quinoa and pepper and onion, the other with pepper onion and llama meat (they raise and eat llamas commonly in northern Argentina). Of course, as all Argentines know, you shape empanadas differently according to their contents. Meat empanadas are shaped one way and vegetables another, etc. I found the shaping of the dough extremely difficult, but Knox took to it immediately!

During the morning, we had a lovely conversation about life in Tilcara and the Humahuaca region of Jujuy. Two girls from a national nonprofit based in Buenos Aires, Pequeños Pasos, whom Anita had known before and were in town came for lunch. We dined and chatted with them about the country, BA, and even politics. Anita brought out tamales also, made with a dried beef called charquie (pronounced Sharky). Very salty, but excellent. 

After lunch, we went to the archeological site in Tilcara called Pucará (or fortress), a 70-meter-high hill on the outskirts of Tilcara. It is a fortress built as a replica of the ruins of an ancient pre-Hispanic, Inca town in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, and honestly, it is not very interesting. However, we followed the Spanish guide and learned about its disputed nature. At the top of Pucará there is a monument in honor of the first archaeologists to uncover the site in 1908, Juan Bautista Ambrosetti and Salvador Debenedetti from the University of Buenos Aires. It is a controversial construction because in carrying it out, they destroyed valuable original artifacts and built the monument in a contradictory architectural style that failed to conserve the Incan historical heritage.

After siesta, we went to another ceramics and art shop on the way to Humahuaca, a tiny, dusty town about 25 minutes north of our hotel where we had dinner and saw a live folk music show by two well-known guitarists from Jujuy. One of the musicians played a twelve-string instrument with a round back, a charango. We were pleased to be able to understand 95% of the folklore stories that were part of the performance. I had a quinoa risotto, which was a satisfying stew-like dish on a cold night!

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/X6fwzJHJ2XxRq4aj7

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Taller de Nadalino y Milagros / Viñedos Yacoraite

Jujuy /

We decided to try to find the ceramics studio of an Argentine ceramicist who had been recommended to me by my ceramics teacher. She said he was well known in the country for the ceramic musical instruments he creates. I found him on Instagram, and we had an address outside the small town of Miamara, one of the villages we saw from horseback the day before.

We drove into the very dusty town straight up a very steep hill about a half mile and parked near the address. No one was around except some kids and dogs playing.  We saw no sign nor any house or street numbers (thank you Google maps!) and so right when I was about to knock on the door of the house I believed to be the address, a grey-bearded, thin man in maybe his early to mid-seventies opened the gate adjacent to the house. I introduced myself and he, Nadalino, and his wife, Milagros, invited us into their small, modest home. The front room displayed many beautiful ceramic pieces of all sorts—sculptures, bowls and cups– and in the corner was her wheel and a shelf with several items drying. The kitchen area contained several more. He showed us his studio in a room behind the house, the gas kiln they use, and the garden. Turns out that he works by hand and she on the wheel, and he was adamant about disabusing us of the notion that he is a well-known artist (hence the picture of the sign next to the door of his studio that features a question mark added by a friend of his).

We spent an enchanting 90 minutes chatting about pottery, poetry, music, various techniques they each employ, creativity, the essence of art and life in general, etc. Nadalino explained that his inspiration for pieces come from moments in time, fixed moments in time that he “saves” and then expresses in the pieces he creates. Also, every morning, he rises before the sun and takes a photo of the sun rising over the mountains from his patio.

We bought one of his unconventional drums that he makes in all sizes, a sculpture and several small, thrown items by Milagros. He offered us a glass of wine while he packed our pieces, we chatted some more and we exchanged contact information. Knox asked how people can possibly find their studio. Nadalino’s response was very emphatic: they only want to meet people who have a genuine interest in what they do. “If people want to find me,” he said, “they will find me.” And it was clear they cherish meeting people who are interested in art and creativity and discussing matters of poetry and music, etc. We took our leave, headed to the car and my phone rang. It was Nadalino! We had forgotten to pay, to arrange the transfer from our bank to theirs. And, we had forgotten a poem by Watanabe, written on a large piece of butcher paper that he had gifted Knox! So, we headed back up the hill and finalized payment, once more thanking them for such an amazing visit. Nadalino remarked that leaving with someone’s pieces without paying is sign of how good friends exchange art and ideas.

We had planned a lunch at a winery, called Viñedos Yacoraite, a half hour further north, not far from our hotel, recommended by the hikers from Rosario we had met several days earlier. They had raved about how amazing the whole experience was, and so we arrived, expecting a cool place and a good lunch, but we did not expect the spectacular setting, beneath the sacred mountain called La Pollera Coya o Meson de Yacoraite (literally, the skirt or table of Yacoraite) at 9500ft. The altitude was apparent as we parked and gazed up at the spectacular restaurant and cava built into the hill with views of the majestic mountain and surrounding vineyards. The land is sacred dating back to the Incas; the descendants believe, as their ancestors did, that the mountain protects them and their small community. Given the indigenous community’s ongoing conflict with the influence of outsiders and folks not associated with their larger families, it was interesting to see such a large, modern winery in the middle of their land. We wondered about the politics of someone with so much money buying the land, building and essentially inviting foreigners and tourism into a sacred place.

The lunch was four courses, paired with wine from the vineyards (made in the capital town of San Salvador). We learned it is one of the highest vineyards in the world! And, it was for sure one of the best lunches we have enjoyed during our time in Argentina. The chef, Maria Florencia Rodriguez, is well-known in Jujuy and it turned out she is also the head chef at another restaurant in Tilcara we were to eat at a few nights later.

A day unlike any other: amazing, magical and unexpected!

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ruVdjv4MArgQwMjt7

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Horseback Riding in the Mountains of Tilcara

Jujuy /

We left the hotel early on a very cold morning at and drove15 minutes south from our hotel to a small, dusty and rustic horse encampment (really couldn’t call it a ranch) outside of Tilcara and situated next to railroad tracks (a rare site in Argentina). Gonzalo has around 25 very well-fed, well-cared for, typical Argentina working horses. After mounting the already saddled animals, we crossed the highway and began heading up; the temperature climbed quickly to about 25 degrees Celsius as we shed layer after layer. The three of us spent the morning climbing up a large wash along the rainbow-colored mountainsides with jagged peaks that look like castles formed by the rain and wind over millennia (called Castillos de Huichaira). With spectacular views, and silent except for a few birds here and there, we enjoyed every second! A pleasant surprise was the number of cardones (Argentina saguaro cacti; similar, but not the same) lining the path, and huge ones all over the mountain sides along with various other green desert scrub. 

After the ride, we went into town for a simple lunch outside on a shady square. Exhausted by the altitude and the sun, we retired for the rest of the day.

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/zQ3vn6B94UwHp6sP7

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