The northwestern part of Argentina is like being in another country. Here you find a diverse terrain, a much slower pace of life, and a land and people influenced by ancient preHispanic civilization. Our first stop was the city of Salta, the provincial capital of 600,000 which has the best preserved colonial architecture. Salta lies at the North end of a large valley which is surrounded by green hillsides of mountains bigger than the Appalachians but certainly not the Andes. We spent most of our time wandering the narrow streets, looking at the old buildings and churches, and people-watching in the large central plaza. This is a bustling city with a great deal of retail in the blocks around the square and tour companies hawking their wares at every corner of the square. They have two pedestrian shopping streets that run for 4 or 5 blocks, which are packed with people up to 10 or 11 PM.
At the edge of the plaza stands a beautiful baroque cathedral that was built in 1858 and is considered Argentina's best-preserved colonial church. We were also taken by the beauty and ornateness of the Iglesia San Francisco. This church was rebuilt in 1759 after it was destroyed by fire. It has a 173' tower and ornately decorated white pillars that are in contrast to the terra cotta colored walls of the church. It also has an enclosed courtyard with beautiful flowers.
Salta has a vibrant nightlife with many restaurants and clubs. There is one area of town just north of the central plaza that has about three blocks of restaurants where they have live music much of which is folk music with dancing. We had dinner one night where we were treated to a show of Spanish folk dancing and also Indian folk dancing with the appropriate costumes for each.
The highlight of our Salta visit was time spent in the Andean Archaeological Museum (MAMM). The main focus of this museum, which was opened in 2004, is its exhibit of the recent excavations at Mount Llullaillaco, the highest volcanic peak in Argentina near the Chilean border. In 1999 a National Geographic team of archaeologists found three well preserved Andean mummies (over 500 years old). Many objects were found with the mummies which are also being displayed. Though only one mummy, that of a 15 year old girl, was on display, the photos, stories, and artifacts were fascinating. These people were here since about 800 A.D. and predate the Inca's by some 500-600 years.
We wanted to go to Jujuy, the next province North next to the Bolivian border, to visit two very old villages. We rented a car and could have taken the direct route at about 155 kilometers, but we were interested in taking a route which ended up being about 350 kilometers. It was quite a day. We climbed out of the green valley to find ourselves driving through miles and miles of mountain gorges. The road follows an old railroad line which was recently used for a tourist train called the Train into the Clouds. After three hours of mountain passes and high valleys we landed in San Antonio de los Cobres, a small mining town in the desert.
After a nice lunch of local empanadas, the staple everywhere, we found our car with a flat tire. After changing the tire with the help of the 10 year quartz salesman working the parking lot, we needed to find a gomeria to fix the flat. We were heading into 100 kilometers of desert and couldn't go without a spare. At midday on a Sunday this was cause for concern, but the locals kept sending us from one gomeria to another until we found one at home. I think the gentleman must have been 75 years old. He certainly knew what he was doing. With the bare minimum of tools, he did have a compressor, he set upon the task. He did a great job and we were on our way in no time. On we went into the desert. We were heading to the grand salt flats of Jujuy and then on to the villages of Purmamarca and eventually Humahuaca.
Much of this drive was on gravel roads, but we finished the day crossing a 13680 foot pass and dropping down 6500 feet into a huge gorge and eventually Purmamarca. Our mouths were hanging open most of the trip--the scenery is spectacular. Our descriptions of the multi colored mountains, canyons, desert, salt flats, small pueblos (towns), and the people will not do justice to actually seeing them. Please check out the slideshow on this. We were amazed at the thousands of cacti that grow on the sides of the mountains. The scenery is a bit like the Southwestern part of the USA. We find these mountains to be very dramatic.
Purmamarca is a very small pueblo (village). It is tucked at the base of mountains that are layered with colors generated by the minerals in the stone. Right behind the village the locals see seven colors arrayed on the close peaks. It is quite amazing. Selling goods to the tourists is the major industry here. There are a remarkable number of little restaurants, some with live indigenous music. Humahuaca is further north up the Rio Grande river valley. It is a little larger and has a prominent central square with a church that has a large steeple. Each day at noon doors on the side of the steeple open and a Franciscan friar comes out to give all present in the square a blessing. It draws all the tourists in town by noon and all in the square for the vendors pleasure.
After a couple of days here we headed down the Rio Grande river valley to Salta on the 155 km route. After coming down about a thousand feet we turned a corner to find ourselves looking at the top of a cloud which covered the valley we were heading down into. It was eerie as we drove through the cloud eventually finding ourselves under it and on our way to the city of Jujuy and Salta. Little did we know that mountains surrounding Salta extend quite a ways north, at least 50 kms. As we came down into the mountains we found that the two lane road narrowed to the width of a one lane road, which we found odd. But soon we found ourselves on 45 kms of switchback roads climbing over passes and around lakes in these very heavily treed mountains. It was like climbing through the Smokey Mountains on a one lane road with tight turns and open overhangs all over the place. Fortunately we came out of this just as Jane's car sickness was peaking.
Now that we were back into Salta we went to drop off the rented car and catch a bus for our trip to Cafayate. Our good friends, Pam and Joe Ollinger, were in Cafayate several years ago and told us such great things that we just couldn't pass up making it one of our spots. In fact we are stopping for a week, so let's hope they were right.
Well I am sure this was more than you wanted to know about NW Argentina, but it is so beautiful and interesting that we would recommend it to anyone. Thanks for coming.
