Roaming South America

Purmamarca, Argentina

July 8, 2023

Purmamarca, Argentina, has a population of about 891, as of the 2010 census. Purmamarca is an old town—the church (see the photos in the photo album) was built in 1648, and is still being used today. The town had already existed at the time of the conquest of the local area. The walls are adobe and the roof is made of Cardón and mud. Cardón is a catus that looks very similar to the Sajuaro cacti in Arizona and northern Mexico.

Purmamarca sits alongside the cross-Andes highway but has seen very little benefit of its location. But, UNESCO recognized the Quebrada de Humahuaca as a World Heritage Site. This area is a valley that runs north-south and contains several historical towns. The local people are mostly of the indigenous group called Quechua. Purmamarca sits right at the base of the Cerro de 7 Colores (Mountain of 7 colors), a spectacular mountain, basically a very big rock, that is layered with different sediments from the many eons, and they contain seven different colors. It can be seen in photos in the photo album.

The town has a thriving tourist-centered business district, although very small, the entire town encompasses something like 5/6 blocks by 4/5 blocks of streets. There are many hotels and hostals, many shops selling locally-made products such as pottery, clothes, foods, and more. The town does have two cash machines and a business that handles wire transfers.

Purmamarca has a warm, generally temperate climate. The average daytime high of 16° C (62° F), and the nightly average low of 5° C (41° F). The city's elevation averages 2325 meters (7628 feet). The average monthly rainfall amounts to 123 mm ( inches) of rain.

So, my impressions: Purmamarca is a very very small town. If you've ever visited San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, then you will know what Purmamarca looks like, they could be twins except San Pedro is a bit larger. This town does have convenience stores and one that calls itself a supermarket, but don't let that fool you. The two cash machines had no money in them when I was here, and the PagoFacil, a place you can do money transfers, also had no cash, and the businesses would not give extra cash back on purchases, all because the indigenous people are set up roadblocks to protest against the government. So, the town is basically running out of cash right now. They hope to get money delivered within a couple of days. (I'm writing this a day after being in town.) There are many tour operators here and there are tourist locations outside of town to visit. But, my time here was cut short. I came here with a minimum amount of cash expecting to get more out of the cash machines. That didn't happen. After trying fruitlessly to get cash from anyone through a bank transfer I gave up. So, early Monday morning I left and returned to San Salvador de Jujuy. I will not be returning to see the town because of the roadblocks. Another visit will just have to wait for another trip to this area.

My goal is to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal, I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000. I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the countries mentioned above and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people.  And, now that I have visited more than 30 towns/cities, I've decided I will probably want an inland town. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least here in Ecuador. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town/city (less than around 80,000 population) that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

My goal is to visit the towns and discover which one calls out to me - "Chip, Chip, make your new home here, this is your new home town". That hasn't happened yet, but the towns listed below are very close to giving me that feeling. At any rate, I am not visiting tourist attractions or archeological sites, etc, those will have to wait for another trip through South America.

At this point in my journey, I had ten towns on my Top 10 list, but I narrowed it down to four:

• Tingo Maria, Perú
• Moyobamba, Perú
• Catamayo, Ecuador
• Puyo, Ecuador

During my travels in Ecuador I visited 32 towns/cities. In Perú, I visited 26 towns/cities; in Chile, only five towns; and in Argentina, I visited 15 towns. In Uruguay, I visited five towns, and in Brazil, three. So far, I have visited 26 cities in Paraguay.

Next up: San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina (again).