TUCUMÁN: Los Valles

SUNDAY 12/26/10: The Valleys

After Christmas, we woke up early and headed through the windy mountain roads with the varying biodiversity of subtropical jungle to pine forests to arid desert.

the benefit of getting up at 5:30 am

breakfast for the roosters

what a pillow!

Tafí del Valle
We stopped in Tafí del Valle, a more touristy valley town with some beautiful landscapes.

Meri, Javi and I decided to take some old mares out for a ride.

Javi with his mare

me with my mare

it was a slow ride...these were some OLD mares

bathin' time

Amaicha del Valle
Another rather jostly ride through the mountains and we arrived in Amaicha del Valle.  This is where I got my first real taste of the pueblos of the northwest.  We arrived at 4pm – right in the middle of siesta time…and they certainly take their siestas seriously – the only life that we saw was the group of men in the plaza playing guitar, singing folklore songs and drinking the local Norte beer.  (We assumed that they’d be there all night…and we were correct.)

Amaicha: where the facturas (pastries) are $0.50...but it doesn't seem very open.

Amaicha: where it's sunny 360 days of the year

apacheta: an offering to the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth)

the "musicians" that were the only people in the plaza when we arrived...and they stayed through the night

to the hostel...once it finally opened after the siesta

After getting a hostel, Meri, Flor and I toured the local sights.

Museo de la Pacha Mama

the "river"

burros!

vineyards

sculpture by German artist, Ludwig Shumacher

las panzas

the restaurant where we had dinner

Upon returning, Javi had begun to suffer from insolación (sun poisoning) and Meri brought him to the town clinic in the plaza.  He was well cared for by the visiting doctor.  He also checked out Flor and her baby to make sure all was alright after the tumultuous bus rides and changes in altitude...while Javi was getting a shot in the bum.  The doctor also proceeded to pull out this MP3 player to have me listen to his favorite American song: “Puff the Magic Dragon” and practiced his French with Flor.  Part of Javi’s treatment included a bit of psychoanalysis, and the doctor even treated my sudden drop in blood pressure with a good bout of the tickles.  Needless to say, it was a rather surreal experience, and we were all a little afraid that we’d have to spend extra time in Amaicha for Javi to heal…especially Meri who slept in the bed next to the resident dog’s bed.

the invalids in the clinic of Amaicha: sun poisoning, low blood pressure, pregnant