Tilcara and Humahuaca

Tilcara

I arrived in Tilcara at around 2:30pm. Tilcara is a very small town with mostly dirt and cobblestone roads. Dogs are all over the place and constantly bark.

I did not have a hostel booked and there was no cell coverage in the town for my provider. I went to a coffee shop for some tea and to search for a hostel. I found one with a private room and walked over. I checked in and took a long-ish nap.

At around 6pm, I went for a short hike up the Cerro de la Cruz for a panoramic view of the town. On the way there I ran into Rocio (whom I originally met in Salta). After the hike, I walked around the town and then went into a restaurant to have dinner. The restaurant was almost full and I grabbed the last table. A few minutes later, Alice (Italian living in London) walked in, and since there were no tables left, we sat together. After dinner, I went to a Pena to listen to live music.

The next morning, I went to Pucara, an ancient Inca village in Tilcara. I then did some work and took a bus to Humahuaca.

Humahuaca

Humahuaca is slightly larger than Tilcara but very similar in feel. I checked in to my hostel and did some work. After work, I walked around checking out the local markets and then had dinner at a restaurant with live traditional music.

The next day, I mostly worked. I had planned on going to Serrania del Hornocal in the morning, but it was raining up there. Alice texted me that she had decided to come to Humahuaca, and was interested in doing the tour to Hornocal. The weather in the afternoon looked a bit better, so I decided to wait to do the tour together.

Serrania del Hornocal

A pickup truck picked us up from the hostel and we started our 45 minutes uphill trip on dirt roads to Hornocal. Humahuaca is at an altitude of 3,000m and Hornocal is at 4,350m. Hornocal is also called the Cerro de Catorce Colores and all these colours make for an amazing sight.

The tour took about 2 hours and we made it back to town hungry. We went for food, wine and live music.

This was my last night in Argentina. The next morning, Alice and I took the 9:30am bus into La Quiaca to cross into Bolivia at Villazon. We are both planning on doing the Uyuni Salt flat tour next but she will be starting it from Uyuni and I from Tupiza. In Villazon, I took a collectivo to Tupiza.