Bottom of the Ocean in the Sky

We got the 11am flight from Iguazú Falls to Salta where we had arranged for a rental car to explore the provinces of Salta and Jujuy.  Salta is 1152m above sea level in the foothills of the Andes.  We picked up our rental car after receiving instructions how to drive a manual (?) and headed north towards Jujuy Provence. We had barely been in the car for 20 minutes when we thought we were being pulled over by 2 politcia on the side of the road – we were warned that there were endless police stops on the roads.  In fact, it was simply 2 cops hitching a ride back home after their car had broken down.  One of them spoke good English so we had a tour guide for the first hour. 

The journey to Tilcara in the heart of the Jujuy Provence, a World Heritage area, was a 3 hour drive and with overcast skies and with my dodgy tummy, it was a journey of few stops. We arrived at our Tilcara Mistica Hostel around 5 – first impressions were not great and they did not improve. I guess you can’t expect much from US25 per night although I (everyone!) was thankful that we at least did not need to share a bathroom.

We got up early for our drive the next day to the famous 14 Coloured Mountain of Humahuaca.  Breakfast was akin to prisoner rations which sort of suited my stomach. The drive to Humahuaca took about 40 minutes, we stopped briefly in the town to grab some cocoa leaves before heading into the mountains and the Hornocal Mirador (lookout).  Shortly after leaving town we turned onto a dirt road for another 40 minutes or so of steep climbing and endless hairpins. Both of us could feel the effect of the altitude so we started chewing on the cocoa leaves – Deryn said they tasted like shit, given her obvious greater experience, I took her word for it.

We finally reached the Mirador which was over 4300m.  We then had a 10 minute walk down to the best viewpoint. The colours in the mountains were spectacular – caused by shells and sediments when the mountains were at the bottom of the ocean.  “Tony Abbott has a lot to answer for (R Dowling)”.  We could have stayed there for days but the effect of the altitude combined with a cold wind meant we could only manage 20 minutes. The walk back took a while due to the altitude which left us feeling very lightheaded and fatigued even though we were chewing cocoa leaves like a couple of cows.

We headed back to Tilcara for some food before driving to Uquia for the Hike to Mars.  The start of the walk required us to drive though the town and then on to a very, very rough road to a car park – I actually thought it was part of the walk.  Unfortunately I was not up to doing the full walk but at least we got a feel of the area.  

We planned to head away early the next day but needed a bit of a sleep in as a bunch of fellow guests (we were at least 25 years older than any of them) decided to have a bit of a party until 2am.  The plan was to visit the Salinas Grandes (large salt plains) on our way to Cafayate, about 5.5 hours south.  The Salinas Grande was a 40 minutes drive from the beautiful town of Purmamarca.  It was another incredible climb with more endless hairpins – this road was at least paved as it was Ruta 52 through to Chile.  The peak of the pass was around 4200m before dropping down into the salt plains.  Again it was incredible to imagine this vast plain was once at the bottom of the ocean. We had some fun with the camera and the endless landscape to take some perspective photos – at least Deryn knew what she was doing. The altitude again required some cocoa chewing. 

We had our fun and then headed back to Purmamarca for lunch.  It is a beautiful town and we both wished that we had stayed there instead of Tilcara. After a few empanadas (cheese and spinach – yum) we started on our 5.5 hour drive to Cafayate according to the route chosen by Sygic, our GPS.  

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We soon realised that we were taking a different route to Salta than that on the way up,  but were OK given we know there was 2 ways to get there. 75 minutes into our drive we found the road getting very narrow and most unlike a major route.  Deryn gave the navigator a bit of stick and even turned around before confirming we were in fact on the right road and turned around again.  The cop at the check point must have wondered what the hell was going on as we passed him for the third time.

Very quickly we were into dense mountainous bush on a road barely 1 vehicle wide, having to continually dodge all sorts of livestock – cows, horses, sheep, goats, dogs and even a piglet.  It was hard driving but so different to the spectacular but barren landscapes that we had been driving through. We finally reached Salta and headed south to Cafayate.  Yet again we were back in the mountains with the most incredible landscapes – I wanted to stop every 10 minutes to take photos but our desire to get to our hotel before dark prevented me from doing so.  We arrived at our Hotel Asturias at around 630pm and was showered and sitting in a local cafe for dinner by 7!

The hotel was lovely and the following morning we agreed that rather than endure another day of tough driving to Cachi and even tougher driving back to Salta, we would spend 3 nights here and return on the decent road back to Salta. I am writing this blog in a cafe in the main square of Cafayate with the sun beating down on me, sipping on a coffee listening to the local music filling the air, feeling very good about that decision. Or maybe its just because I have overcome my tummy bug.