Yala - Lakes, Mountains and Tranquility

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And so to the last leg of this memorable winter holiday in the Northwest of Argentina. We didn't want to do the whole trip from Humahuaca to Salta in one go, nor did we want to go back to the city of San Salvador de Jujuy. On the map we found the "Termas de Reyes" thermal springs and thought it would be nice to stay somewhere around there. That's how we ended up in Yala.

Ruta 9 saw us retracing our steps for an hour before leaving the Quebrada de Humahuaca behind us at the small town of Volcan. In the old railway buildings is a nice visitors' centre, obviously of more interest when entering the area rather than leaving it! Still, it's well worth a visit whichever way you are driving.

A little further down the road to S.S.de Jujuy is Yala. It's right on Ruta 9 yet we still had difficulties finding our accommodation. "La Sala de Yala" is an old estancia-style hostal which, once you have the name right (it was wrong in the tourist leaflet!) was easy to find! It was beautiful in there and the dogs greeted us enthusiastically every time we arrived.

After checking in we drove up to the lagunas de Yala which was a tougher drive than anticipated. The road was mostly ripio and one section was steep uphill with a series of tight bends. Russ enjoyed the challenge of the drive as usual! The scenery had changed from the dry quebrada into the luscious jungle of the Yungas. Just as we were thinking it wise not to push the Uno much further, we reached Lago Rodero. The view was magnificent. We had lunch sat admiring the scene and were soon joined by the cutest dog from the nearby hostel. We watched as wild horses trotted by on their way to graze in the fields. Then we walked around the lake. We passed a group of fisherman, and noticed one of them was drying out his bright blue underpants on the door of his bright yellow car. We think maybe he fell in earlier!

A short drive further on is Lago Comedero where we sat and drank mate and coffee. It was very relaxing and the birdlife was nice too. Horses and cattle grazed by the side of this idyllic lake. We then tried to drive all the way to the Termas but the road had been closed due to a landslide. So, it was back along the ripio road we came up then time to relax in our hostal.

The following day we drove up the new asphalt road to the Termas. We were not overly impressed and have seen nicer thermal baths in other places. The posh, expensive hotel has a good view of the valley but to be honest, it didn't look worth the price tag.

We then continued along Ruta 9 to El Carmen. There we went on a wild goose chase in search of Dique La Cienaga and put on a lot of extra kms! After a bit of off-road driving we gave up and made our way back to Ruta 9. That's where we should have been all along. The sign at El Carmen saying "ciudad de los diques" was a bit misleading as, if you go into town, you miss all the reservoirs!

Just before we found the dique we passed a shrine to Gauchito Gil. These shrines are now found by the roadside all over Argentina and can be identified by the red flags fluttering in the wind.

Follow the link to read more about the legendary character (a Saint in the eyes of Argentines, but not the Vatican!) who protects travellers on the road.

So we finally made it to Dique La Cienaga and parked up. We walked down to the nearby Dique Las Maderas to have a look before going to the restaurant at the fishing club of La Cienaga. We were very lucky in that the sun was shining, there was only a light breeze, and there was an empty table outside with a fabulous view over the lake. We feasted on rabas (fried squid rings) and deep fried pejerrey, with a lovely salad and proper British-style chips (that's french fries / papas fritas to those who don't know better!!!). We were so impressed with the food that we ordered the house dessert, and not to share either! It was a fresh fruit salad with ice cream and chocolate sauce. We thought it proper to indulge ourselves on the last day of our holiday!!!!

Feeling rather full, we started the last leg of our drive back to Salta. Ruta 9 sounds like a major road, but it suddenly became narrow and twisty as it went through the Yungas. It was brilliant as it was asphalt all the way with enough space at the side to let oncoming traffic pass without feeling in danger of plunging down the precipice! The road snaked around the jungle for about 25km and gave us some amazing views.

At the other side the Yungas we re-entered the province of Salta and had a quick look at La Caldera. We may return in the future for a weekend in the campo as we found a lovely hotel. It is at the end of the No 6 bus from Salta heading North which makes it even better for us.

So, that was the end of our holiday. It was quite an adventure in part of Argentina which few tourists get to see. Yes, we went to some touristy spots too, but at times we hardly saw a soul. These 10 days represent one of the most memorable trips we have taken in our 2 years (almost) in Argentina.

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Photos

Lakes and Mountains
Marvellous scenes

Room With A View
And a huge price tag to boot! Nice setting though.

Lunch by the lake
and a toast to our holiday!

Fish 'n' Chips
We'll be back for more!

The Yungas
We loved the dense forest of the Yungas.

Gauchito Gil
The roads we took Juno the Uno on, someone must have been watching over us. Maybe it was Gauchito Gil!

Emergency Stop!
Without a care in the world, this enormous pig wandered out in front of us.

Juno the Uno needs a bath!
But Edgar, Yohana and Alexis enjoyed writing their names in the dirt. Wonder whose kids they were!