Today we went out to the museum of archeology of the high mountains. It was definitely worth staying in salta for, although a bit creepy.

It was all about the pre Hispanic people who had lived in the Andes, and featured loads of artefacts that they had found at the top of a mountain in a ritual burial site, in which the inca people had buried three children alive. There were loads of interesting details about how the children were a special offering and it was thought they'd move to the next life and protect the people with their ancestors. They had been buried with detailed cloths and offerings like bowls and slings, and there were loads of mini carved figures, of children in cloth, and llamas, in gold, silver and spudache(?), a shell. They had also apparently been drugged and given alcohol before they were buried alive, which hopefully meant they didn't feel anything. It was very disturbing.

The exhibition finished with a display of one of the three inca children - the maiden (15), the boy (7) and the lightning girl (6), all of which had somehow been preserved in the tomb. We saw the lightning girl, who had been called that because of a bolt of lightning that had struck her side at some point. They keep them specially encased in a sealed room at a low temperature, which added to the eerie feeling of it all. We didn't look at her long. You weren't allowed to take photos, but I'll try to find one to add to help explain.

After that we went to a second museum which we had been recommended, about the life of General Martin Miguel de Guemes, the leader of the independence revolution against the Spanish in Argentina. It was really useful to learn about the war for independence and the museum was very well done with interactive videos and reenactments. The only issue was that it was all in Spanish, so we had to walk around reading the transcripts through a link on our phones! Really interesting.

Later we tried some more local food, as well as more empanadas. We had a talemal and humales (??) both are corn meal with either cheese or meat in the middle, wrapped in corn sheafs. I think we prefer empanadas!

We then got the bus over to Tilcara, where we went for one of the best dinners we've had so far! Rob had llama which I also tried, which is like beef steak but without fat, and I had a lovely quinoa and vegetable crepe in a blue cheese sauce with walnuts. It was divine, as was the apple crumble we finished with!