Tilcara and Purmamarca.

Together with another aussie that we had met in Salta, we arrived in Tilcara, a very, very, very tiny town in the far north of Argentina.

The surroundings of Tilcara.

As we were running out of cash, we let our mate go to the hostel first and headed straight for the town's only bank. Just to realize that none of the 2 ATM machines would work for us. At all.

Since we were not new to card-related problems (see The visa fiasco), we didn't despair, and went to our hostel instead to check if we could pay on card and drop our bags.


The lady who owned the hostel told us that she had seen that problem before with foreign cards and not to worry, since the next town North of us had working ATMs.

 She was also adorable and trusting enough to let us stay without paying  (knowing we had no money on us) until the following day when we were going to be able to go get cash.

Once the weight was lifted off our shoulders, we were free to explore. And now we weren't worried anymore, we really saw the little streets lined with clay houses and cacti.

And this internet cafe with an epic llama mural.

There were very few cars, and most of them looked like this.

"It is forbidden to park.
DAMMIT"

It became quickly obvious that we were getting close to Bolivia. The clothing of the locals, the landscape and the general Andean feel. And the altitude was getting to us just a little bit.

A sneaky pic: ladies of two generations.

Streets of Tilcara.

We walked through the town (which doesn't take long at all) to get to an ancient pre-Incan fortress: Pukará de Tilcara (pukará means fortress, I think).

Going to the Pukará.

Notice how the sun gets insanely bright at altitude.

It was almost sunset when we got to the fortress, and the landscape was stunning.

Andean botanical garden outside the fortress,
or our first encounter with this madness cacti.

Cactus appreciation.

When the cacti rot, they start
looking like the spawn of  Satan. 

Genuine happiness face when I noticed I could stick my
finger into the cactus flower. I'm a bit weird.

Cactus photobomb: HAI GUYS!

#nofilter #nomakeup 

Walking among our spiky friends.

Bits of the fortress. We entered the little "houses", where
Chey had to bend to fit.

Afterwards, we met the aussie and a super nice girl who was walking with him, got some humitas that a local lady was selling in her front yard, and talked about our trips.

Gringos.

The following day we took a local bus to the close-by town of Humahuaca, got cash (yay!) and then headed to the beautiful and even smaller Purmamarca, where the insane Cerro de siete colores is.

The first glimpse of the seven coloured mountain, in Purmamarca.

A walk through town looking at the crafts and wanting EVERYTHING.

Seven couloured gatita.

Typical regional crafts...and Coca-cola umbrellas ruining everything.

Street empanadas. Beautiful.

Cacti.

On the way to the cerro, having fun (that box of wine was not drunk by me)

On the way up, with stunning colours all around.

Happiness, wind, and a dog doing some kind of dance in the background.

An epic Chey picture.

And this was the view from the top of the lookout.

More view.

The wind didn't prevent us from having a great time.

Chey running towards a big cactus.

And it was love at first sight.

But he had to leave the cactus, because all good things
must come to an end.

We found a wilderness "toilet". Didn't use it, though, but it goes to our collection.

At sunset it was getting SERIOUSLY cold, which is something that happens more and more at high altitudes.  We returned to Tilcara, where we went crazy at the souvenir shop (The Andes region has the most awesome crafts ever) and then had a gorgeous dinner at our local favorite restaurant.

The souvenirs are all made by the local women, and the shop helps
them make an independent living out of their lovely crafts.

Insanely delicious breaded cheese "milanesas".
And salad, because we're that healthy.

My bunny-eared hat from the souvenir shop.