Purmamarca is the town we had hoped San Pedro de Atacama in Chile might have been. This place is as cute as a button.
Call me superficial but the town is neat and tidy, definitely a tourist trap but that is its function and they do it well.
The life blood of Purmamarca is trade with tourists and this is part of the vast sprawling daily market.
Rusty and I started our second day here with an early morning walk and we liked what we saw, coffee shops, outside seating, narrow alleys and huge trees. This algarrobo tree is surrounded by legend.
They say the Quechua chief Viltipoco was caught here by the Spanish while resting under it after a day working in the fields. And the liberator of northern Argentina, Manuel Belgrano took a nap in its shade during a break in the general’s fight to liberate northern Argentina.
In Aymara the name Purmamarca means town in the desert and that is what this is.
The church downtown. You’ll see photos of this any time you search Purmamarca online.
Viltipoco led the resistance to the Spanish in 1594 but after his capture died in prison in 1596. His memory lives on:
The town has a population of just two thousand people and it lives on tourism helped along by the colorful mountains in the valley behind the town and nearby. It’s not actually on Highway 9 but it is a huge tourist destination in Argentina. I guess Instagram hasn’t yet put it on the map for foreigners. Yet though I’m doing my bit…
Rusty likes walking on a leash in unfamiliar places. I still have to encourage him to walk sometimes as he gets scared of strange places and local dogs, which in the event are usually afraid of him.
Rusty the rule breaker, unlike me, the by-the-book worry wart.
The blue dot is where we are and the red line shows our planned path to Brazil over the next couple of months with a pause in Perú to get a new passport. All plans are subject to change of course.
We both really enjoyed wandering around town. Rusty put up with our eccentric desire to stroll among strangers but he was keen to get home and longe around GANNET2 for the evening.
Souvenirs:
Tomorrow’s lunch when we hope to be on the road to Salta.
And yes we bought some llama salami to try. Weird huh?
Someone has dinner on his mind.
