Argentina 2009

Friday27November

We leave Jujuy and continue our route north.
Yesterday, we were in the Quebrada de las Conchas, now we are in the Quebrada de Humahuaca which was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 2003. There too nature has done a beautiful job, the reliefs are superb and the colors just as varied.

The quebrada is also worth it for its small villages on the mountainside.
Notably, Maimará and its cemetery on the slopes of the hill

From the top of the cemetery, a beautiful view is offered to us on "la Paleta del Pintor", the Painter's Palette...

We arrive at the northernmost point we will reach in Argentina.
And it is a most easy landmark because it is the monument symbolizing the crossing of the Tropic of Capricorn!
And we are right on time, the sun is just in alignment!

We therefore retrace our steps and branch off west towards Chile to join the salt lake of "Salinas Grandes" 60 kilometers away.

This detour towards the Salinas Grandes allows us to enjoy a magnificent landscape. The road takes us through the Col del Morado located at 4170 meters altitude. Until today, I have never been so high on this planet!  

My GPS indicates 4224 meters... would the satellite have moved away by 54 meters??? Anyway, the coordinates are indeed correct.

3400 meters altitude. We arrive at the salt lake, one of the largest in the world. On the edge, the water is not totally evaporated but it gives us magnificent reflections of cloudy sky.

This "salar" or "salt desert" reminds me of the one in Death Valley in the United States in 2005. But here the expanse is even larger and even drier than there.

The salt is being fully exploited. It is harvested and stored in the middle of the lake

The house sheltering the workers is made of salt bricks.

It is 2:30 PM, we leave the lake to reach the city of Salta tonight. But before that we must find a spot to eat! We therefore leave towards the South taking a dirt track that crosses the desert.

We pass by this small village in the middle of nowhere: Los tres morros

Right photo, the Nevado de Acay.

3:00 PM, the desert continues and we still haven't eaten!
Are we going to be forced to eat llama?

or this vicuña???

It is 4:00 PM and finally, against all expectations, appears a "restaurante" sign! It leads to a small hamlet, improbable as the area is far from everything.

A wood oven. There is an association "Solar Inti" which tries to implement solar ovens that are more economical for the forty or so families living in this zone.

The entrance to the restaurant.

In the restaurant, we won't be alone, children (probably from the village) are in the middle of a meal.

The owner proposes various dishes, we say yes to everything!
First a llama brain empanada.....  , then a llama steak, a "French" soup, a peach with dulce de leche, and a coffee! Excellent!!!

Believe it or not, there are streets here!

Right next to the restaurant, a small museum about the region

The shell of an armadillo

A braided leather lasso and a wool weaving loom

The village even has its church.

The roof is made of cactus.

Satiated, we hit the road again.

This desert is never-ending! We finally cross a bit of life with this nice herd of llamas.
The sun is setting and the scene is really pretty. The strand of colored wool attached to the coat allows the shepherd to recognize his llamas.

This herd is not guarded by a shepherd but by a shepherdess!
She approaches us to ask for water. Not surprising with this furnace!
She didn't hesitate and finished the bottle while remarking that it was a bit warm... 

Note in her hand her wool spinning stick

Finally we approach the end of this desert and on the way, we cross the railway track of the "tren a las nubes" (the train to the clouds) which dates from 1924.

Shepherd guarding his sheep.

Night is about to fall and the landscapes are still as beautiful. Here, mountains of pebbles covered with cacti.

Here we are finally in Salta and spending the night at the hostel "la casona de Terra Oculta".