Back in Salta late afternoon tired after a long drive we check into the same hotel for the third time, reclaim our luggage, splash our faces and race over to the archeological museum, open for another 2 hours, our only opportunity to visit before we leave. I suspect Martin would rather have a nap so I feel heavy with responsibility, if we don't go we might always regret it, if we do it may disappoint.

They won't let us in for 15minutes as there's a big guided tour on. We sit and wait. More people arrive, but this is a city for queues, we have seen long snaking lines outside every bank to do paperwork to claim social security. They are all of Indian origin. One guide was scathing, they could do it all on the internet, there's no need to queue. I think she is missing the point.

Finally in, we race through the background blurb in case it closes before we get to see the exhibits. In 1999 archeologists (thankfully modern and enlightened) found the mummies of 3 children perfectly preserved inside and out in the cold dry conditions over 6000m up on an Andes volcano, site of an Inca sacrifice ceremony 500 years ago. Girls of 6 and 15 and a boy of 7 were walked maybe hundreds of kilometres, fed with coca leaves and alcohol and buried alive with offerings to communicate with the gods.

Videos show the strange rebirth of the children, pulled like seated statues from the ice. The fabric and tiny white feathers of the grave goods look 5 yrs old rather than 500. The children are exhibited one at a time in rotation in a glass cylinder in low oxygen and low light which increases their aura, although more detail of their perfect preservation is seen in video and photos.

We see 'Lightening Girl', the youngest, skin, clothes, hair and teeth still perfect in the dim light, burns to her face and clothes from a later lightening strike on her shallow grave. Her peaceful face, eyes closed, as if she has just fallen asleep, I am overwhelmed with relief that she had done just that, fallen asleep and not woken up, no sign of horror or fear.