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We left for Tilcara the day of my b-day and were a little shocked at the overwhelming difference from Salta. Tilcara is a gorgeous small town that looks a bit like a set from an old west movie. Everything is brown and the streets are either dirt or cobbled. There are not as many tourist and the faces of the people are very different to those of the bigger cities.
On the bus trip up we saw a small protest on the side of the road and were later explained that the native people are fighting for the rights of their land which the government want to use for mining. Everywhere in Tilcara are rainbow checked flags that represent this fight.
We met an Argentinian man in Salta and ran into him in Tilcara. He was very sweet when he explained he was gay and at first thought that Tilcara must have the most gays in all of Argentina given the number of gay pride flags around the town (confusion with the native rights flags). Speaking of which only a few weeks prior Argentina legalised gay marriage. It made me realise how backwards Australia still is.
Our hostel owners were a lovely married couple about our parent's age. We really enjoyed their company and on our last night decided to cook them dinner. There was a concert just up the road so as we ate we could hear the music clearly.
One of the highlights for Tilcara was the Lama trek; an all day trek up the through the mountains with lamas. I have to say despite the lama's carrying our water, I it would have been much easier to walk by ourselves. Lamas can be rather lazy and human walking pace seems to be much quicker than the pace of our lama friends. It was a hard walk given the altitude and stubbornness of our lamas but really enjoyable.
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