In my diary of two days ago, I shared pictures of the Provincial Capitol of Salta la Linda. Today, I'm sharing day two of our trip - a drive through the Puna, the dry grasslands of Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Most people take the Train a las Nubes, a 15 hour trip from Salta into the Puna and back. We chose to drive with a guide and end in the small town of Purmamarca instead. It was a good choice. The drive was long and the road, often unpaved, was dusty and bumpy, but it took half the time of the train and left us in a new location to explore the next day.
Our driver survived the trip by chewing coca leaves and drinking lots of water. It was cold and very, very dry. I also think the dolls hanging from the rearview window cast a spell that helped both he and I to stay awake. At times, the scenery, though stunning, was repetitive and my boys, tired from a 1AM dinner our first night and full day of sightseeing in Salta the day before, succumbed to the hypnotizing rhythm of a small vehicle driving on a gravel road.
Honestly, the whole trip from this point was full of moments of deja vu. I saw the desert Southwest in the mountains and Alaska in the glacial river. I couldn't get over the similarities to so many places I had already seen but were so far apart geographically that it was strange to see them all together in a day's drive in Argentina.
We began the trip by driving through the Valle de Lerma, directly following the route of the train. The tracks often provided interesting perspective for photos.
The road here often washes away during the rainy season so the government refuses to pave to it. It would cost too much money to constantly replace it. Even though the water was low, we could see its strength in the tracks left in the gravel:
During one photo stop on the road, we saw a lone rider, a true gaucho. Our guide told us that he probably lives in the mountains a few hours from the road. Occasionally families will ride in and meet friends and families from local towns at some point on this long stretch. They'll set up camp and have an asado together and maybe even stay a day or two before heading back in their respective directions. Or, they'll just meet to get supplies and head back home.
After the glacial river, we entered the Quebrada del Toro where the mountains started to gain color like those of our own desert Southwest and we regained a paved road. Notice the pack horses in the first photo... maybe they belonged to friends our gaucho above.
We stopped at the small town of Santa Rosa de Tastil. If you note the sign, they have a population of 60 and 24 for of them are students in the local school.
We bypassed the stands of local tourist goods and instead headed to a small museum. We met the owner, who had travelled beyond this small town and collected oddities from all over. He had a mummified body from the high mountains, fossils from several spots in South America, and a great collection of masks made by the locals of Northern Argentina. His building was a sight all in itself.
In a small building closer to the road, we also saw a huge loom through the window. Every community here helps support itself by making handcrafts, much of it from the wool of llamas but also from sheep.
What makes Santa Rosa de Tastil famous are the ruins next door. They are pre-Incan from the XIII century. As we walked among the trails, we realized how immense the settlement must have been - gigantic really, compared to the small town currently next door. The piles of stones marking former walls covered the hillsides.
From the heights of this ancient place, we could see a more modern sights - a corral and a small farm surviving from the streams running into the valley.
After our stop at this archaelogical site, we headed towards the Puna. Again, the terrain changed slightly and we started to see parts of Nevada.
Next stop, San Antonio de Los Cobres for lunch. We had slowly been gaining in elevation the entire trip and were now at 12,300 feet. This town of just over 4,000 is one of the highest in Argentina. This is an active mining town. The federal government recently built the public housing that you can see in the foreground.
Like every stop, this one included things for sale. The difference here was that these were children and they were offering rocks and cubes of salt and selling small figures of llamas made from llama wool. To protect themselves from the harsh environment during the lull times, they had built a small, shaded shack.
Our lunch was uneventful; tasty but not remarkable. We joined a half dozen other tour groups in one of the only two restaurants in town. Our driver was very concerned about getting there in time to reserve a spot as the second restaurant was known to be horrible and he wanted to eat a decent meal. He seemed well known and helped the staff take orders and serve before sitting down to his own meal with the other tour guides. I think it was one of the highlights of his day!
The town was a typical mining town in many respects and the buildings are very practical. We walked around after lunch and I purchased some herbs from a local vendor but otherwise the town had little to offer. After all, it's main purpose was not tourism and it just happened to be a convenient spot in between well known tourist destinations.
Driving out of town, we got one of our best views of what most of the town looked like, wide dusty roads and small cinder block buildings. I think the public housing was very welcome when it was built.
After lunch we headed into the Puna. The drive to our next stop was long and the terrain was very high desert like. The distances are deceiving and the road often looked like it could go on forever.
We would get glimpses of snow covered mountains... this place must get very cold in the winter. I believe this snow was left over from the last winter and it was fall here, not spring.
And we saw our first wildlife - a vicuña - but it was too fast for a photo. Instead, I got photos of a single llama from a herd that charged in front of us across the gravel road. Our driver had actually seen them running and had gunned the truck hoping to beat the llamas to the crossing. I was happy to see him have to slam on the brakes as the llamas poured out of the brush on to our path and quickly disappear into the brush on the other side.
During this part of the trip, we left Salta Province and entered Jujuy and saw one of the few signs on the entire road.
When we arrived at the salt flats, we were all ready to stretch our legs but weren't prepared for the glare of the mid-afternoon sun. We were tired, probably dehydrated though we had been sucking down water all day, and had expected a spot to use the bathroom. Well... the boys found places to go and I used the less than pristine port-a-potty for a price. And was thankful for the place to go.
The salt flats here are in production though no one was working as it was Good Friday. We got great views of the salt ponds and were able to see the crystals forming on the surface of the water. My oldest son is a budding photographer and he had a great time taking photos of rippling water and reflections from the sun.
The building in the background of this next photo supports the salt miners. It is actually built out of salt, you can see the piles of unused bricks in the foreground.
After our driver finished his afternoon siesta we headed onward to one of the highest mountain pass in Argentina, Abra de Potrerillo Pass, and definitely the highest my family has ever been, 4170 meters or 13681 feet.
Two of us were feeling the altitude in the forms of headaches. Despite the great day, we were looking forward to the end of our drive. But first, we had to descend through the Cuesta de Lipán gorge. Notice the winding road!
We ended our day in the small town of Purmamarca. It is famous for the multi-colored mountains and I will show you more photos of those in the next diary. We were happy to arrive at our hotel, take naps to help overcome the altitude sickness of my youngest son, before finding a place to eat dinner later that evening. We were pleasantly reminded that it was Good Friday as we left the hotel and ran into a procession headed to church.
And my photographer son took some final photos of the evening - a cross on the hill towering above the town and the evening sunset over the dark streets of the town.