La Quebrada de Humahuaca

Cafayate vinyards from the mountains

After Talampaya we spent the night on the bus as we made our way north to the province of Salta, Turing which trip the bus stopped twice to let 55 exchange students get off and take pictures of llamas. We stayed at a little provincial border town called Calafate, which boasts a vineyard that can manage to sell a liter of wine for 6 pesos (about US$1.50), and a farm that makes goat cheese. My friends and I spent our free day walking aimlessly into the mountains, trying to get as high as we could, then sitting for a good 2 hours before heading back down.

We moved on after one night to the city of Salta, which happens to be the capital of the province of Salta. Salta, which I have now visited 3 times, is without a doubt my favorite city in Argentina. It seems to be more of what people would expect from a South American city – White plastered buildings with terra cotta shingled roofs touring down the side of hills covered in sub-tropical rainforest. It’s pretty impressive. We spent a day of city tours and shopping, but got up and out by 6:30 the next morning to make the 500 km round trip through the Quebrada de Humahuaca and back. A quebrada is sort of like a valley. I have to admit, I don’t really understand the difference, but the Quebrada de Humahuaca is a long flat pass with mountains on either side that over about 600 kilometers slowly and steadily ascends into la Puna, the Andean Plateau at about 4300 meters where most of Bolivia sits. 

Adobe houses in Purmamarca

The Quebrada de Humahuaca is known for its colors, thus boasts features known as the ‘seven color mountain’ and the ‘painters pallet,’ where the muddy adobe mountains seam smeared with earthy White, red, blue, and almost green. All that is set as the backdrop for adobe Andean villages and colorful hilltop cemeteries (that demonstrate a pretty lively and potent mix between imported European Catholicism and traditional belief in the Pachamama, or mother Earth). In fact, throughout most of the Northern provinces, every hour or so you’ll pass a stone monument to the Pachamama, where travelers spit mouthfulls of a home made corn bear into a big stone basin and leave coca leaves as an offering for protection on their journey. It’s obvious that these beliefs are still very legitimate in this part of the World. 

The 'Painters Pallet' and cemetery to the right