ARGENTINA – JUJUY, SALTA & TUCUMAN

Argentina March 23-April 15, 2025

Day 1 Mon Mar 23
Bus Taraja to Villazon on the Bolivia-Argentina border. The Argentina border town is Quiaca. Only two smaller bus lines go directly to Villazon 40BS @21:30-01:30. The large bus lines going to Salta from Taraja all go through a different border crossing at Bermejo.
This road was frightening – narrow one-lane with pulloffs to let oncoming trucks and busses by. It was dark but there was a steep drop off to the side.
Immigration was easy with no stamp.
The bus arrived in the middle of the night and the terminal was closed. I slept in front of the door and got a taxi to the bus station.

Day 2 Mar 24
ARGENTINA – JUJUY
Bus Quiaca to Humahuaca 12,000. Bus to Tilcara 3000. 
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QUEBRADA DE HUMAHUACA WHS
An Andean valley is 155 kilometres long that runs north-south from the Altiplano, flanked by Eastern Cordillera and carved by the Rio Grande, a tributary of the Paraguay River. Quechua people.
The gorge was the scene of different ancestral cultures dating back 10,000 years, including the ” Omaguacas “, which gave the place its name. It served as a route for the Incas (15th to 16th centuries), an obligatory passage for expeditions and colonizers and an important commercial route during the Viceregal period. It linked distant and different territories and cultures, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Andes to the southern plains.
Its main economic activities are agriculture with llama and sheep farming, and handicrafts Andean potatoes stand out.
Associated with a string of fortified towns known as pucaras. Several churches and chapels and a vibrant vernacular architectural tradition.
The natural/ landscape experience is more interesting than the cultural aspect. Pre-Hispanic sites are difficult to find.  Buses run hourly along the valley road, stopping at each village to pick up passengers.
Inca Cueva site (relatively modern name) where signs ( petroglyphs, carved stones age is estimated at 10 millennia. Inca Cueva Hike. Not seen
Coctaca terraced agricultural lands but the extremely difficult unpaved road to drive, lots of cactuses, and a town that seemed uninhabited. Not seen. 
Humahuaca is a relatively large town catering mostly to backpackers. Lovely ruin of the Torre de Santa Barbara, and an enormous Heroes of the Independence Monument. colourful street art.
When I got off at Humahuaca, I left my computer, went to the monument and returned to the bus depot. The agent contacted the driver, but despite many vigorous attempts to check at each bus stop and finally at Salta, I never did get it back. From here on, all records are from notes. 
Purmamarca (population: 360) – very touristy with dirt streets, colonial architecture, cactus wood ceilings, and adobe walls. I didn’t stop here. Daily crafts fair in the main square in front of the Santa Rosa de Lima Church.
Seven Coloured Hill (Cerro de los Siete Colores) is behind the town.
Posta de Hornillos 16th-century travellers’ rest, now a museum
Paseo de los colorados spectacular colored rocks. Paleta del Pintor and the cemetery of Maimará. Museo Arqueológico Eduardo Casanova.
Uquía
Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula – all white, low and relatively unadorned, but is famous for its paintings of angels armed with colonial guns.
Quebrada de las Señoritas. Spectacular canyon with white and red rock pillars. Caves.
Cerro Las Señoritas Trek
Tropic of Capricorn Sundial. Not seen

Day 3 Mar 24
TILCARA picturesque, Wild West. I got my SIM card here – Claro SIM 10gb for 30 days 9,500.
Cuevas del Wayra. Ascend the wash and turn left towards the large eroded cliffs. Normally, a guide is required (12,000), but one of the hostel owners took us up. There are two caves, one a slot and the other deeper and darker.
ON Tilcara Hostel. It is owned by two brothers, one of whom is a 3-year-old; he is parenting alone. He makes dinner for the entire hostel each night. Two nights, 10,000 per night.

Day 4 Mar 25
Jardin Botanico de Altura. Almost all succulents. Also, the entry to the pucara. 12,000 combined. 
Pueäcará de Tilcara is a fortified village, completely restored, a dry stone, relatively large settlement, on top of a hill. more an ancient village than a defensive structure. Archaeologists rebuilt parts of the Pucará but with the wrong techniques, and a road that destroyed parts of the archaeological site. The archaeological museum is nice.
ON Tilcara Hostel for second night.

Garganta del Diablo is an impressively thin and steep gorge containing a small waterfall just southeast of the town.
Salinas Grandes de Jujuy (the second largest salt flats in the world after Uyuni, Bolivia) and Calilegua National Park. 
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ARGENTINA – SALTA
Day 5 Mar 26
Bus to Salta 25,000. I walked the 1.5 km to the hostel
Cathedral. 1876. Italian pink with cream trim. 3 naves and many domes. Great chapels and a lavish gilt altar.
ON Faerinhous Hostel

Day 6 Mar 27
Teleferico. 11.000 one way. There is a second line to a peak to the east. Walk down past a large artificial waterfall. There are nice ceramic mosaics of the Ways of the Cross at each switchback.
Museo Anthropolica. Covers the migration of H sapiens to Argentina 14,000 years ago. Pots, stone, weapons, cloth, weaving in good English. Free
Basilica San Francisco. 1882. Single nave with domes and medallions on the ceiling, columns in the chapels and an extravagant facade. Bell tower with 4 levels.
Museo Contemporary Art. The usual lousy art. Graphic art. charts. Free
Museo Fine Arts. Much folk art, many photographs in a wonderful restored building. Most art from 1855 to 1920. Free
Museo Guemes. He lived here as a child in 1821. 16 clay statues in a courtyard and a short film in Spanish about his assassination. Usually seen with a guide but I whined my way out of it and paid nothing.
Casa Modern. Many old bottles of wine in this famous bar. Quaint Formica bar, beer can collection, liquor and food.
High Altitude Museum. Has 3 Inca mummies, all girls, perfectly preserved, but only one is on exhibit at a time. Detailed description of their preservation, info on the Inca and their rituals. 12,000 (virtually the only museum that wasn’t free in all of Argentina).
Museum History of the North. Pots, funeral urns, axes, colonial furniture, money, religious art and Salta in 1582. Free
Iglesia Viva. An opulent “wedding cake” structure with many columns along roof line, white and 3-story bell towers. Closed in the early evening.

Day 7 Mar 28.
I walked to the bus depot. Bus to Tucamen 32,000
TUCAMEN
It was a short walk down to the centre and all the NM sites.
Cathedral. !685 and rebuilt in 1852. 2 bell towers. Closed in the afternoon. Badly needs paint.
Independence Square. Marble statue and multijet fountain. Surrounded by grand buildings on 3 sides.
Casa Historico Natural History. Some art, religious art, and the 1816 room, where independence was negotiated. 1000. In the corner of a large cloister with some interesting art galleries in the side buildings. Free
Convento San Francisco. Under renovation with a newly painted facade. One bell tower.
Provincial Folk Museum. A 1700s building with two small rooms. Free
Museo Casa Padilla. Paintings, sculpture, Asian decorative Arts, all from the 19th century and old photos, furniture. Lovely photos of ballet. On the Square. Free
Museo Mercedes Sosa Casa Natal (1935-2009). Family info with a family tree on the table and a video of her singing. The house has been completely renovated.
Museo de la Inductria. Bishop Columbus created the sugar industry in Tucuman. Many sugar manufacturing machines. Nothing is left of the original structures. Free

Bus to Sandiego del Estro leaving at 18:40.