Monday, April 3, 2023

Our day began in Purmamarca, Argentina. We stayed overnight at a boutique hotel in the heart of the small desert town. None of us got much sleep after Aden threw up last night. I hoped it was altitude sickness to blame, but he coughed all night long keeping the rest of us awake as well.

Like most hotels in Argentina, Pumahuasi Boutique Hotel serves a continental breakfast in the morning. The four of us went to the lobby around 9:00am for an offering of fruit, yogurt & granola, pastries, and coffee/juice. Then, we loaded our backpacks into our rental car and set off on our first activity of the day. Our plan this morning was to hike the Hill of the Seven Colors before departing Purmamarca for the province city of Salta.

The Hill of the Seven Colors was beautiful — we could actually see it right from our hotel as the surrounding mountains hug the town of Purmamarca. Around 10:00am, the four of us walked through town to the start of the trailhead. This circuit trail is about 1 1/2 miles long and hilly, but not strenuous. Aden dragged his feet a bit about walking, but that was mostly because he didn’t feel the best this morning. We took it slow, admiring the view. It was a gorgeous walk through the vibrantly-colored mountains.

After we walked the Hill of the Seven Colors trail loop, the four of us wandered through the Paseo de Los Colorados. An artisan market is open daily around Plaza 9 de Julio selling traditional Andean-style woven blankets, clothing, hats, scarves and clay bowls. This was probably the most robust market we’ve seen of all the towns along Route 9 in Northern Argentina.

Across from the plaza is the Church of Santa Rosa de Lima built in 1648 which has been deemed a National Historic Monument. A 650-year-old carob tree grows in the front of the church and the troops of Manuel Belgrano’s Army of the North are said to have rested under this very tree in their quest for Argentina’s Independence.

Around Noon, the four of us walked back to our rental car parked at the Pumahuasi Boutique Hotel. We left Purmamarca, driving south along Route 9 toward the city of Salta — a three-hour trip. One of the great things about the way we travel is that we often have no idea what to expect from the routes we take. This makes travel stressful at times, but it’s always worth it for the views and the experiences.

Route 9 between the towns of Purmamarca and Jujuy was easy enough, but then the road narrowed south of Jujuy, winding through a lush sub-tropical rainforest. Honestly, who would have guessed we’d be driving through a mossy, lush, rainforest canopy when we’d just hiked through a desert of colorful mountains this morning?! Was this even the same day? Yes, it very much was — welcome to the diverse topography of Argentina.

As we weaved through the rainforest with plenty of blind corners and one-lane bridges, Andi and I found ourselves questioning whether this was the highway or a bike path. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere? This was, in fact, still Route 9 and though it had a dotted white line down the center, its width wasn’t any wider than a car length. Increasing the intensity of the drive were the numerous animals (dogs, horses, cows, chickens, and pigs!) crossing the road. Fortunately, there were only a few cars and campers who shared the road with us.

The last 30 minutes of the drive opened up to a regular-sized highway again. Andi booked us an airbnb in the Salta suburb of San Lorenzo for the next three nights, hoping to avoid the crowds and the busyness of the big city. Our airbnb host recommended a restaurant in San Lorenzo called El Bodegón for lunch, so we stopped there on our way into town.

At El Bodegón, Andi and I ordered a plate of empanadas (beef, chicken, and lamb) and chorizo sausage for he and I to share, chicken milanese for Aden, and a cheeseburger for Tory. Our meals were very good.

After lunch, we drove to our airbnb. The address listing was vague, so Andi and I spent at least 15 minutes driving around looking for the house. We finally found it at the end of the alley. When we pulled up, an older woman greeted us at the door and showed us around the place. Our host spoke great English, but the woman who welcomed us into the airbnb (her mother) didn’t speak or understand a single word. That didn’t stop her for going on about the house, and showing us various things about the property. A small dog followed the mother all around inside our rental which I didn’t particularly appreciate (not to mention, Tory is afraid of dogs so this didn’t make her feel very comfortable). Our airbnb is sandwiched between the mother’s house on one side and the airbnb host’s house on the other.

This airbnb is interesting — Andi and I can’t quite figure it out. It’s a one-bedroom, one bathroom house with a huge living room / kitchen area. The kids will sleep on a pull-out twin trundle bed in the living room which isn’t the first time we’ve seen this setup in Argentina. A lot of airbnbs here use twin beds as sofas so they can increase the number of beds available. Tory and Aden aren’t big fans of this layout, but sometimes that’s the best option we can get. There’s a pool outside at this house, too, which makes me think that this house is often used as a pool house / guest house for the owners living next door.

Shortly after we settled into our place, the owner stopped over to see if we needed anything. She spoke great English, and answered all the questions we had. She even brought over a wireless extender so that Andi would get better internet reception for his work calls. The owners have two kids, ages 10 and 8, and she asked if Aden and Tory would like to play later. Soon, Aden was outside kicking a soccer ball around with the little boy named Lorenzo.

After two months of travel, we’re all getting pretty sick of eating in restaurants so Andi and I decided to cook dinner at our airbnb tonight. We ran down the street to a small tienda (store) to buy the basic necessities of fruit, vegetables, milk, bread, and jugs of water. Back at the house, Andi made gnocchi with green beans for the four of us, and it honestly tasted fantastic having a meal that was simple in both process and portions.

We discovered a working disco light about the living room / kitchen table, so the kids fell asleep to the strobe of pink and blue specks of light dancing around the room. They both loved it!

Tomorrow is a half free day / half school & work day, so we are planning to explore the city of Salta in the morning.