Salta, Argentina

We wake up in Salta and it is Inka’s last day before flying back early tomorrow to Buenos Aires. I am staying in the city for a few more days, so I’ve suggested Inka sets the day out with what she is keen to see. First stop is the tourist office to see if there is a walking tour we can join. It is Sunday, so the city is very relaxed and quiet, there is also no tour today. We grab a few maps and when I ask for a tour with English, I mispronounce and request a tour with churches. Turns out they have a map of such a tour and as Salta is famed for its churches it doesn’t seem a bad idea. Inka manages to find a bus tour leaving at 4pm, which should enable her to see a few more sights including a market! We set off on our church tour and visit San Francisco church first. This is one of the most ornate structures, with even curtains part of the concrete facade. Inka gets chatting to the caretaker and he kindly offers to show us around. This is fantastic as he shows us the private prep chambers and even takes us behind the altar to reveal a hidden passage way that was used in the war of Independence smuggling people to the Cathedral. We resume our tour after viewing these back of house areas and visit several other churches. They are all different and some are ornately decorated in pastel colours. Each seem to have a service in progress, so I think I went to four different ones in one day. I particularly liked the one who broadcast the words through outdoor speakers and you could sit in the pretty garden to listen. We stop at the Plaza for a disappointing lunch before heading to the Museum of high altitude archaeology. The name does not give away the subjects of this interesting museum. It is the home of 3 inca children found in 1999 on mount Llullaillaco 6,700 metre high up. The children continue to be cryopreserved at -20degrees as they were found in a uniquely natural preserved condition. You can only view one as they rotate the exposure time. The turn today was of ‘The lightning girl’, a 6 year old married and sacrificed probably to bless in harmonious tribes. The girl had a conical shaped head which indicates nobility, a sun virgin brought up in house of chosen women. Once selected and married to a opposing tribe leaders sun she was given a maize drink to put her to sleep and then buried with offerings. The other children are a 15yr old girl and a 7yr old boy. The viewing of the body was a little bit creepy, and she was so lifelike I felt like she would open her eyes at any moment. I kept looking away to avoid staring too much. Too soon Inka’s tour is due to start and we dash to the hotel for her to grab her things. I read for the few hours she is away and then we have a cheeky farewell beer to celebrate our adventures. Poem to the children: Plegaria a Los ninos del Llullailloco