Our next stop was to a small alternative town called San Marcos Sierra, about an hour drive north of Capilla del Monte. It was recommended to us by some friends, Rafi and Flor, who we met in while volunteering in Jinotega, Nicaragua.
the common area of our hostel It was pretty much what I was expecting: free-spirited happy people, artisan booths, jam sessions at night, people walking and biking around with accordions, guitars, colourful homemade clothing, delicious fresh-baked goods and fresh produce for sale. It was awesome!
When we checked into our hostel, which was basically a man named Hernan's house with some extra rooms, we asked for the key and Hernan looked at us in a funny way and told us that they don't lock anything in this town. "No one has even been robbed and it's just not that kind of place. Our town is built on trust." So, hesitantly at first, we accepted this and unpacked our stuff.
We weren't sure how long we would stay at first but it ended up to be about a week in total. We wandered around the town on the first day and checked out one of the many honey farms, "El Arbol", which was really interesting. In their storefront they had something like a dozen different types of honey available, all of different colour, consistency, and flavour. Did you know that the honey produced depends on the type of plant that's currently in bloom? This place times their harvests so that they can isolate the properties of a given set of plants - neat-o! We got to sample each of the flavours and bought a couple tiny jars to enjoy later.
When we checked into our hostel, which was basically a man named Hernan's house with some extra rooms, we asked for the key and Hernan looked at us in a funny way and told us that they don't lock anything in this town. "No one has even been robbed and it's just not that kind of place. Our town is built on trust." So, hesitantly at first, we accepted this and unpacked our stuff.
We weren't sure how long we would stay at first but it ended up to be about a week in total. We wandered around the town on the first day and checked out one of the many honey farms, "El Arbol", which was really interesting. In their storefront they had something like a dozen different types of honey available, all of different colour, consistency, and flavour. Did you know that the honey produced depends on the type of plant that's currently in bloom? This place times their harvests so that they can isolate the properties of a given set of plants - neat-o! We got to sample each of the flavours and bought a couple tiny jars to enjoy later.
 busy bee |  so many honeys! |
The next day we went to the world famous (supposedly) Hippie Museum. The guy that worked there was very enthusiastic about the Hippie movement and had all kinds of information about the origins of it (200BC) to the current culture. Apparently Jesus Christ was one of the first hippies - who knew! He only spoke Spanish so we probably didn't get all the details, but it was interesting nonetheless to look at his collection of "artifacts" including many autographed posters from the Beatles, Janis Joplin and some Spanish Hippie movies. At the end of the tour we wrote a little message to the future and sealed it in an empty wine bottle which would be used as a building block for a house that was half constructed, waiting on more future message bottles. It was an interesting idea and kind of fun. I wonder if someone will read my note in a thousand years...
 the Hippie and his Museum |  writing a message to future hippies |
jammin' on stage For the rest of our time we hung out with Leo and Daniel, two guys living at the hostel. Leo took us out one night to a "Zapata", a jam session which was held at someone's adobe hut in the forest with a built-in stage. There was a full drum set, two congas, guitars, a bass, an accordion, a keyboard, a microphone and some other random little instruments. We watched and listened for awhile to the music that actually sounded rehearsed! And then I got pulled up to join in on a conga drum. It was so much fun! After another couple of songs I switched it up and took on the keyboard which was a bit scary but I got into it pretty quickly. Andrew continued to watch and we couldn't get him to come up which surprised me.
The town was so peaceful and pretty. We went running every second day, 8-10km down a crushed quartz road that was all white and sparkly. It was as if the rest of the world didn't exist. I can see why people would want to live in a town like this. Lots of talented and interesting people living in a very co-operative community. We were sad to leave but we had a plane to catch out of Buenos Aires in 3 days - Vamos a Colombia!
Have a warm & chilly day,
-Chelsea
Have a warm & chilly day,
-Chelsea
San Marcos Photos
To open photos from San Marcos Sierra in a new window, click here.
RSS Feed