El Manantial del Silencio

El Manantial del Silencio is a colonial-style house 500 metres from the village of Purmamarca, at the foot of the Cerro de los Siete Colores, the hill of seven colours, in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It stands at 2,324 metres on National Route 52, the road that climbs to the Salinas Grandes, about 65 kilometres from San Salvador de Jujuy and 195 kilometres from Salta. The house has whitewashed walls, green shutters and shaded galleries, and its neo-colonial interiors are hung with paintings of the arquebusier angels. Rooms look onto the hills or the garden, the suite has a sitting room and a jacuzzi, and a separate house of about 90 square metres sleeps up to six. There is no television in any room, on purpose. Calandria, the restaurant, serves Andean cooking, and the spa has a heated pool facing the park, a jacuzzi, a dry sauna, a Scottish shower, a solarium and massage rooms. A botanical trail through the park labels 11 plants of the Quebrada, among them molle, cardón and walnut, and the hotel runs a tourism school for local people.