Sunday April 29, 2012
Salta and Tilcara
Misty in Salta, Sunny and Dry in Tilcara
We got up early to get ready for our first road trip on our own. After breakfast we took a cab to the airport to get our car. We got to the airport just before 8am and the Alamo counter was not open yet. It was quite cold at the airport but we entertained ourselves by reading (me – my book, Sandra – her magazines). The Alamo man arrived exactly at 830am and we spent the next hour doing the paperwork and inspection for our VW Gof rental car. The only issue we really had was that the gas tank was less than ½ full. We both HATE that when rental companies do that. I also tried to see if there was an automatic transmission as although Sandra was going to teach me, we both knew, she would have to do most of the driving which is not fun for her.
Our original plan was to take the mountain route 9 to our destination Tilcara which is the heart of Quebrada de Humahuaca. However, the Alamo man said that given it is very cloudy, it will not be a good idea as the road is paved but very windy and the visibility will be poor. So instead, we took the same route that Raul took from Purmamarca to Salta which also happens to be the fastest.
After successfully buying gas at a gasoline station, we navigated our way outside the city to the highway. Once on the highway it was pretty easy, but there are a lot of aggressive drivers who will pass on no passing zones and slow drivers going 30km/hr below the speed limit.
Our first stop was Purmamarca to get a photo of the Hill of Seven Colors in the morning. Unfortunately many other tourists had the same idea but we got a few good photos. The plan was then for my first lesson on a manual transmission car but the road was narrow and windy so we scrapped it.
The Beautiful Hill of Seven Colors in Purmamarca
We then continued to our destination Tilcara but got sidetracked with the spectacular view that we made a couple of photo stops.
I took lots of photos, it was so hard to choose two.
We finally got into town around 115pm, time for lunch! Tilcara is one of the “’biggest” towns in Quebrada de Humahuaca and is at 2461meters. It’s a dusty town which reminded us an old cowboy town in the Southwest of America. It’s also a very low key town where hippies seem to have taken over.
Our first mission was to find our hotel : Posado con Los Angeles. Fortunately for us, they were visible signs directing us to the B&B. It’s quite a nice place and for 350 pesos for a double with breakfast, it’s a deal. Connie from Bloomers arranged everything for us which was a major time saver.
After parking and unloading, we headed out to look for two restaurants Connie recommended – Qomer and Nuevo Progresso. Word of advice, don’t try looking for restaurants with the address. We could not find it. We found Nuevo Progresso accidentally but it was closed. After asking several people who gave us conflicting directions, we finally found Qomer, and we were very glad we made the effort to find it. We ordered the region specials: local cheese empanadas, beef empanadas, beef tamales and a salad of quinoa, tomatoes, hominy, local potatoes and local cheese. DELISH, especially the empanadas and tamales. The empanadas were the best we had. Salta and Tilcara are supposed to have the best empanadas in all of Argentina. We are going to have to go a place in Salta specializing in empanadas to make a comparison. And of course, we had a bottle of Torrentes ( a varietal which is a specialty of Cafayate).
Our Delicious Lunch at Qomer
After stuffing ourselves again, we walked around the dusty town with narrow streets where tourists and cars were jockeying for space. We stopped by a few places but decided to go back to the hotel and chill out for a few hours before heading out again and check out some of the stores. BUT, we found some ladies making a quesadilla like snack on the street from scratch. Sandra had the one with local cheese and ham. I had the one just with the local cheese. The local cheese is EXCELLENT and the pastry was very flaky and a cross between a pastry and tortilla.
The "Quesadilla" and Quesadilla Lady
Horses are still popular means of transportation around here.
After a rest, we walked through town at night, window shopped, found a great vinoteca and bought a bottle of wine for our before bedtime drink and some souvenirs and called it a night. We really are enjoying our vacation.
Our Hotel and View
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