View of the Quilmes ruins from the top of the mountainWe got up at 7:00 am this morning to pack and eat breakfast. Then we went to the Quilmes Indian Ruins – my favorite part of the whole trip. When we got there, all we saw were halfway-reconstructed stone walls on every side. We met up with our guide, who is one of the few native guides available at the ruins.
He told us about the history of the Quilmes indians. They lived in this valley, embraced on three sides by a mountain, and built refuges up in the mountains for times of danger. At their peak, the valley held 10,000 people. The Incas attempted to invade them numerous times, but they managed to resist until the Spanish conquisition (the Spanish gave the Incas other things to worry about). But their time of peace was limited, because soon the Spanish conquerors came. The Quilmes resisted the Spanish invasion for 130 years, until the Spanish finally conquered them with a long siege. A few Quilmes managed to escape over the mountain – they are the ancestors of the around 150 surviving descendents, who live in the town of Quilmes. After being conquered, the around 4,000 Quilmes were marched from Tucumán to Buenos Aires – a replica of the United States “Trail of Tears.” The majority died along the way, and the others either committed suicide or died of diseases in Buenos Aires. From the beginning of the march, by order of the priest and the chief of the tribe, the Quilmes refused to procreate – they didn’t want to bring children into the world as slaves.
After giving us a brief history, we started the hike up the mountain. It was a long hike on a narrow trail that literally disappeared when you looked back – and it was the most fun I’ve ever had. Around every bend was a new stone wall or a flat stone full of pestle and mortars. We sat on stones where the Quilmes women used to grind corn. We saw ceremonial stones where the shaman used to fill the holes with water and use the position of the reflection to study the constellations and the movement of the stars. We saw a gigantic 300-year-old cactus – and our guide explained how the Quilmes believed that when someone died, their soul turned into a cactus. We climbed to the top of a mountain and looked down over the huge expanse of Quilmes land. It was absolutely incredible...
Valle de las NubesAfter that, we went back to Amaicha del Valle (where the hostel was) to eat lunch, and then we left for Córdoba. On the drive back, we stopped to see Valle de las Nubes - Valley of the Clouds - which is literally a valley with a cloud inside of it. The mountains sticking up on either side of the valley rise straight up into the clear blue sky - and there's just this random cloud sitting in the valley below them!
We finally got back to Cordoba at around 1:00 am... It was a great trip!
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