Tilcara

   We changed our plans for the next part of Spring break a little, and found a bus early this morning to Tilcara in the southern part of the Jujoy province. Our plan was to go to Purmamarca, which is only a few kilometers from Tilcara, but didn't have the options we wanted for excursions to see the salt flats in Jujoy. During the four hour bus ride, we saw some of the most amazing land formations I've ever seen. The rocks in the mountains were probably 14 different colors ranging from pink to purple to green to blue and grey. We were in awe sitting in the front of the bus watching everything. Jeanette narrates her enthusiasm for everything we do, including her appreciation for land and every stay dog in Argentina. So during our entire bus ride I heard Jeanette exclaiming about how beautiful the land was through comments like "Oh! The world!" or "Guys, look!!" And the land was really amazing. And this puts us all in a very positive mood.
    Purmamarca is known for having a rock wall of 7 different colors, but we saw these kinds of rock formations all throughout our drive. When we arrived in Tilcara, we found a great lunch where I had both eggplant milanesa and llama milanesa, which were both amazing. During lunch a group of singers came and preformed for us at the restaurant, and sang really well!            
 We were planning on camping here, but when we talked to the travel agency, he told us that nobody is camping yet because it's still too cold at night. We didn't have the gear we needed for such low temperatures, so we decided to find a hostel, and it was actually only 7 pesos more to stay in the hostel than go to the camp spot. We were a bit cold even in the day, so it was a great idea to not camp. We'll still try to camp when we go to Calilegua. Also the hostel was a great help in making our plans for our time here, and saved us a bunch of money by telling us how to get to the salt flats without paying for an excursion. This is tomorrows plan.
    We spent the afternoon hiking a trail in the town that lead us to a waterfall, also called the Garganta del Diablo, but much much smaller than the Garganta in Iguazu. It was 4 km right up hill, but we saw so many cacti and mountain landscapes. Its hard to believe how the mountains around here are formed because they are so colorful and in such unique shapes.
    We sat on a cliff for a while enjoying the scenery, eating manís, and relaxing, then hiked along a river bed to the waterfall.
    Upon return we went to look at all the artisan markets in the central plaza where they sell a lot of touristy products like jewelry and textiles. Salta and Jujoy are known for cheap wool from the llamas and alpacas. On our last day in Salta I'm planning on buying a bunch of gifts for everybody to bring back to the states.