Cafayate
This morning, visit of the 'Quilmes' site.
These ruins are perched at an altitude of 1855 m, at the foot of Cerro Alto del Rey, and are known to be the ultimate indigenous stronghold before Spanish colonization.
Its labyrinthine structure is built in floors, from the valley to the hill. It was founded in the 11th century by the Indian population Quilmes.
The architecture of the place allowed him to play a crucial defensive role. The people were thus able to resist the invasion of the Incas in the 1480s and that of the Spanish conquistadors afterwards, for 130 years.
In 1667, the Quilmes Indians gave in and were forced to surrender to the colonizers. Families are forced to walk in extreme conditions to Buenos Aires area, more than 1000 km away. Out of 2,600 Indians, only 800 arrived!!!
We start our visit with the museum where a film retracing the life of the Quilmes people is shown. We come out shaken.
While we stroll through the ruins, we meet a couple of Italians 'Christina and Lucas' with whom we spend quite a while talking ... Nice meeting.
Before arriving in Cafayate, we stop at a distillery run by a woman from Madrid.
Then we visit a bodega, a wine estate that, among other things, sells its production directly. After the visit, we choose the tasting 'Grande Réserve'... Bad luck, we are not entitled to the charcuterie and cheese board to accompany the wines like the others!!!
Evening at the exit of the city, here the parking of camping-cars is prohibited in town.
Santa Maria
We take our time, the guided tour is mandatory. We have the choice between a departure at 8 AM or a departure at 9:30 AM ...
The first one seemed too early to us, also, we decide to take the second one ... We should maybe have taken the first ... A bus of 50 retired tourists of all ages arrive a quarter of an hour before the start of the tour.
The visit, which usually lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes, turns into 2 hours and 30 minutes!!! It’s an experience to live only once ... The group stretches on the course between each stop point ... The guide, very patient, with the help of the companion tries to gather her flock in order to continue telling the story of this site ... We walk through all this place in a hubbub of personal conversations.
* Museo El Shincal
The ruins of this site attest to its importance in the 'Inca' empire. It was once the southernmost city of the Inca empire. The remains are framed by two hills with terraces used for ceremonies.
One can observe the foundations of dwellings, a large building for storing crops, a ceremonial platform, irrigation canals typical of Incan agriculture and the iconic "staircase to the sky".
We then take our 'Cafayate' route again.
We are sitting in a parking lot near the city center where we enjoy a good ice cream.
Londres
Cool day.
Our goal : the purchase of an argentinian gas bottle to replace our American bottle.
It’s not as easy as it may seem. We find many stores or gas stations that only exchange bottles...
Finally, we find a "Coca-Cola" distributor who deposits bottles ... Here we are quite relieved.
We continue our journey through a completely different landscape, but monotonous.
We settle down for the evening in the parking lot of the 'Museo El Shincal' that we will visit tomorrow.
ROAD BOOK 220
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