Salta & around

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Salta is the capital city of the Argentine province of Salta, located on the Valle de Lerma 1152 meters above sea level.

Nicknamed in Spanish as Salta la Linda ("Salta the Beauty"), it is visited by a great many tourists because of its colonial architecture, a number of museums, but also because it's the starting point of the "Train to the Clouds" (Tren a las nubes) and to red-soiled Cafayate, as well as to other nearby tourist destinations. Throughout the province, trekking and rafting, climbing and bungee jumping are also practiced. From Salta we made trips to Valle de la luna and Tren a las nubes.



To the West of Salta, the Puna's arid high plain with salty lakes (Arizaro, Pocitos) has few inhabitants, and its main city is San Antonio de los Cobres.

High snowy Andean peaks lower to the North-east and hold valleys such as Quebrada del Toro, Valles Calchaquíes and the Lerma Valley. This is the most tightly inhabited area, and where the Salta city is found. The climate of the area is of hot summers (average of 23 °C with peaks of 40 °C) and cold winters with temperatures below freezing point.

To the east, near the Gran Chaco area, the more humid subtropical climate is home to the Yungas jungle in the El Rey National Park.


Salta Province is located at a geological active region, and suffers from occasional earthquakes. Fairly destructive occurred in 1692 and 1948.

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Photos

Hostel Patras
need a ride?

Salta's market
shopping

valle de la Luna
The whims of erosive forces have sculpted strange formations in the sandstone such as in the locality called "Ciudad Perdida".

Ischigualasto Provincial Park
Because this remote valley's bizarre eroded formations and soaring cliffs harbor the only unbroken record yet discovered that spans the entire Triassic period, when dinosaurs first appeared (and suddenly took over the world for the next 160 million years), and when mammals, too, made their much more modest debut.

Talampaya national park
Talampaya is in the low sierras of western La Rioja and contains important geological formations such as the canyon with vertical red sandstone walls some 150m high, formed by the Talampaya River. "Huayquerias" as they are called, support nothing but sparse and small fleshy-leaved plants.

moon
i'm so small

Tren a Las Nubes
Train of the Clouds is open all Saturdays from April to November. The rest of the year it is replaced by the Safari to the Clouds (4x4 trucks), Salinas Grandes y Purmamarca are included in the journey. This was the trip we made. We went to the viaduct La Polvorilla, ascending up to 4,220 metres above the sea level. We traveled 220 km crossing valleys, canyons and the Puna and went through places like the Quebrada del Toro, the zigzag of Alisal station and the La Polvorilla viaduct.

Salinas Grandes
The vast difference in height and climate in Jujuy produces desert areas such as the Salinas Grandes salt mines.

Salinas Grandes
my new salty friend

Quebrada de Humahuaca
Quebrada de Humahuaca cannon of heights between 1,000 and 3,500 meters.

Llama
another new friend!

school
right there, in the clouds.

kids
caramelos, por favor!

San Salvador de Jujuy
The population of the city, and of the province in general, has a much more aboriginal character than the in rest of the country, reflected in the predominant Quechua, Aymara and Chiriguano people and cultures.