Arojamiento Nati Humahuaca

... before reaching the town there was a little house along the side of the road with two guys holding up a rope that stretched across the road. We stopped, of course. One of them came walking slowly up to us and starting saying something about having to pay a toll. You have to understand that we just went through hell on their "roads" and the amount of damage to our tires and our bikes was pretty costly. This guy ...

... for the night was Iruya. This tiny village is off the beaten track, and getting there was quite an adventure.

After cruising up the main highway for twenty minutes (the sealed road feeling luxurious after a morning of dirt and rock roads) we turned off to begin the climb to a 4000m pass (¨the pass of the condor¨ - we didn´t see any) that Iruya is on the other side of. The climb on the Humahuaca side isn´t too bad - steady, but gravel roads of course.

Humahuaca and Iruya, Northern Argentina, Argentina panzaverde

... where to look - well, the road was my priority of course!

Our first stop was Tilcara. We had heard and read a lot about Tilcara, famed for its pre-Incan ruins of the Pucará fortress and town. When we got there, we both got a feeling that there was something not quite right there, neither of us could quite put a finger on what that was. We had a look around the market in the main square and found some lovely souvenirs, which had a not ...

... des fermes partout avec des cultures sur les pentes des montagnes et tenues par de vieilles indiennes habillees de tricots aux couleurs vives et de chapeaux. On rentre vers 17h et apres une bonne sieste sous un orage, nous allons mager un Guiso de Quinoa (sorte de grosse soupe au quinoa) pour moi avant de retourner se coucher dans notre "squatt"

... verschiedenen Farben und man hat auch eine super Aussicht auf die Umgebung. Wir holpern zurueck zum Ort und gehen Mittagessen und fahren danach zu den "Pinturas" (Malereien). Anschliessend fahrn wir noch weiter ins 2,5 stuendig entfernte Juyjuy, wo wir die Nacht verbringen. Dimarts XIII - I - MMIX Anirem des de Purmamarca a Humahuaca que queda un xic més al nord. Passarem per pobles petitets com Tilcara, Uquía, etc ...

... compris, lui répète ma question. Et le serveur de lui répondre sèchement que cela ne le regarde pas! Finalement, je n'ai pas cherché plus loin, j'ai pris ma bouteille de coca, j'ai payé les 10 pesos que je lui devais et je suis parti m'acheter un pain et une boîte de conserve de poissons que j'ai mangés à l'hostel. Ce ne fût pas le meilleur repas de mon voyage! Tout ceci me fît dire que je n'allais pas rester longtemps par ici...

... rocky and the villages peter out, as does the road, which turns from a lovely smooth tarmac surface to compacted gravel. The road then climbs uphill and the bends in the road become tighter and tighter as we continue northwards. The scenery is now very dry and very rocky and the road gets ever narrower. There are no other cars around and I would have normally wondered if I had got us lost, but as there are were no turn offs, I have to assume that this is the right way ...

... in reverse, jumped out, and began assaulting a construction worker as a result of a small rock hitting the bus. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but I was certainly ill at ease knowing we had a loose cannon like that driving us up a mountain. Soon, dense fog set in, darkness descended, and Nathan made the comment that we seemed on a bus to the underworld. Seriously, I thought we would cross the river Styx at any moment. We finally made it to Iruya, which miraculously had ...

... for my camera as something new amazed me. The last section of road to Iruya was serpentine. As we travelled down the slope of a mountainside, the road weaved back and forth, back and forth on itself until we were in the valley looking up at Iruya, nestled in the folds of the hillside. The church stood out, big and white against the grey-green rock and the surrounding terracotta roofs ...

... knee legnth skirts, brown alpaca socks pulled up high so no legs can peek through, a cardigan sweater over their blouse, distinguished hats, hair in a long grey braid down their backs. baby with the crusty nose falls asleep on her fathers shoulder, in one hand he has her, in the other her baby doll. the ticket taker makes jokes to the driver the whole way, then laughs big slurping for air laughs, which look like his dentists nightmare of teeth, that his lips could never quite cover ...