The north of Argentina is not an area that I had previously thought to visit before beginning this trip. Having recently spent a wonderful couple of weeks there, I can only think back and wonder why not.
Being a tourist, whether within your own country, continent, or even further afield, its always tempting to choose the highlights or “big-ticket” items to visit. These could be anything from a visit to the Great Wall in Beijing, a city break to Barcelona, the Great Pyramids in Cairo or Buckingham Palace in London. Yet both our enjoyment as tourists, and that of the local residents, is diminishing rapidly for such highly desired spots.
The media is full of stories recently where locals are pushing back on the massive influx of tourists. Some taking to violence or discrimination towards these once welcome guests, while others are simply upping sticks from their homes and moving to pastures new.
Less publicised but equally relevant, is the regular tourist experience in these such areas, which has changed greatly over time as visitor numbers have sky-rocketed. Many readers will know what I mean when I describe a scene of huge crowds of people queuing at museums, temples, viewpoints, attractions etc. The reality of being herded around and simply another revenue generator does not bring a warm fuzzy feeling. It leaves us feeling unwanted, tricked and usually quite uncomfortable, in the moment and also thereafter.
Yes there are more people in the world than there were ten years ago (nearly 800 million more actually), however the allure the “big” destinations now have over us seems to be growing exponentially. Without getting into it, I think we could be fairly confident that the rise of social media has played a very significant role in this trend.
Having been traveling now for nine months, I can reflect a little on where we have been and where we have had the best (and worst) experiences. Almost without fail, our most enjoyable times have been spent in places that would not be on many people’s bucket lists. Conversely, some of the so-called “must-see” sites, places or cities have not lived up to prior expectations.
And all this brings me to the North of Argentina. I could talk about the incredible beauty of places like Pumamarca, Tilcara and Hornocal in Jujuy province, or the diverse cultures and history of the native people in Salta province. These places are really up there with the places I would recommend most highly to visit in the world. But what struck me the most throughout our visit was the relative lack of tourists everywhere we went. We did not queue for anything, we never had to wait to be attended to, and we certainly never felt like just a number. Moreover, we were thus able to genuinely connect with the locals each and every day. Said locals being truly delighted to see us enjoying their small part of the world.
I for one am absolutely guilty of visiting tourist hot-spots in the past. And I will undoubtedly visit similar places in the future. However, I will now visit them less often, replacing them with visits to places less known, less frequented, but places offering much more rewarding and memorable experiences.
Click here to read the “Forced Time-Out” blog post
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