Blogs from Iruya, Salta, Argentina, South America

Iruya--The Hidden Kingdom of Shangri-La From charming little Tilcara, I traveled an hour to the transport hub of Humahuaca where my suitcase was flung on top of another ancient bus. I was in Northern Argentina´s Quebrada de Humahuaca, a World Heritage Site, a land of indigenous adobes in multicolored canyons, and we were headed to the end of the road. After an hour, we turned off the asphalt and onto a dirt road and wheezed and switchbacked up to the cloud-shrouded 4000mt/13,000 ft pass of the red, green and violet gorge. Repeatedly, we came within inches of the precipice as we rounded the dozens of curves. No guardrails here--just white-painted rocks to mark the edge of the road. I was lucky to have a front-row, window seat on this thrilling, roller-coaster ride though we did have ... read more

Early one morning I went up the the Bolivian border, to La Quiaca. Here the buses have been demoted from the long-distance service out of BA to the shorter routes of Northwestern Argentina, so they're a bit older, shabbier, smell of diesel fuel in the seats at the back. Leaving Salta we crossed a broad plain of green fields. In the distance stood green, rumpled, fuzzy hills. The bus climbed and climbed and soon I began to feel breathless again, as I did in Cuzco while the green fuzziness turned to a smoother nap that became stoney as the hills turned to mountains. The mountains closed in on us and we came to the whorled land. The slopes stood in great sedimentary curves and arcs as if poured like thick batter that congealed quickly. On it ... read more

Iruya is a tiny village deep in the mountains of Northwest Argentina. The only roads leading there are from the province of Jujuy, but because of a bizarre boundary on the maps, it is actually in the province of Salta. We had wanted to visit Iruya ever since we watched the film Rio Arriba at MALBA in Buenos Aires last year. It looked such a beautiful place surrounded by spectacular countryside. The cinematography really was THAT good and it inspired this short trip from Humahuaca. It's not an easy journey there and we were certainly pleased to have left the Uno parked outside our hotel whilst we journeyed by bus. The bus was full, and not just of tourists either, and during the trip you place a tremendous amount of faith and trust in your driver. ... read more