Purmamarca & the Andes

In order to break up the route to the Chilean Atacama Desert, we decide not to drive directly from Salta to San Pedro de Atacama, but to make a stopover in Purmamarca. And that is the right decision! The 4-hour bus ride takes us there, which is why we chose South America as our destination: THE ANDES

We get closer and closer to the mighty mountains, finally being able to get off at the junction to Purmamarca. That's the advantage when the bus stops at every corner.. You can also get off where there is no official bus stop. We walk about 2km through a dreamlike landscape until we reach our small hostel and are warmly welcomed. The friendly couple tells us that they make everything here themselves, from cakes and cookies to bread and jam. So we are even more looking forward to breakfast the next day! (Since good bread is pretty high on our 'Things I miss about Germany' list). We use the afternoon to take a walk to the nearby town of Purmamarca and take a first look at the 'Cerro De Los Siete Colores' - the mountain of seven colors.

Even today, even with cloudy skies, the colors are indescribable. As it turns out, they shine even more when the sun is out the next day! The different colors are created by the high concentration of different minerals in the rocks, some of which are up to 400 million years old! We discover a small winding path on a neighboring mountain and decide that we want to hike to the summit the next day.

Said and done. After a very delicious birthday breakfast, we set off to climb the summit in brilliant sunshine. The 700 meters of altitude on the 2,900m high mountain are accompanied by a fantastic panorama, so you always have to force yourself to look at the path and not tumble down from the mountain like 'Hans guck in die Luft'. We pass by hundreds of cacti, from which entire houses and roofs are built here. When we reach the top, we can hardly believe the view and enjoy it to the fullest. And that, even though Jan caught a cold overnight. We only meet one other person on the entire way. That's how we like hiking :)

In the evening, we have homemade pasta and live music before we fall asleep tired. This day couldn't have been any better!