Wednesday 15th January: Salta to la Quebrada de Humahuaca (Tilcara)
I know we started off on our journey on Saturday, but today felt like the real beginning of our holidays as we had our SUV delivered and we got to head off into the distance.
We hired our vehicle from Marina Semisa as Joan had seen them recommended on another blog. They were prompt in their delivery at 9am, but there wasn't a big petrol can (bidon) so the lad who delivered our car asked for one to be delivered. We paid extra to pay by credit card and also got first party cover as we have been stung twice before. Once when a Peruvian mining truck ran into us whilst stationary and another company that claimed we had done £750 worth of damage to the car when it was just dirty.
Jorge, our host in Salta, came to bid us farewell and we pointed out that we had stayed three nights but paid for two. He said he knew this but didn't like to say so we settled our tab.
Getting out of cities is always a problem. Joan had a rough idea that we should be driving east to General Guelmes, but there were no signs to help us. We tried to buy good maps of the area before we left home but it seems everyone uses GPS on their phone now. However neither of our phones are functioning here. We took what we thought was the best route but from the position of the sun, it was clear we were heading south, not north, As we were preparing to turn round we came across a roundabout and it was actually signposted back to Salta but more importantly, Guelmes.
There are two routes north from Salta. The old route is the Ruta 9, but it climbs over mountains with switch-back, narrow roads. It is picturesque but not a road you need to take on your first day of getting accustomed to driving. We chose the flat route up to SS de Jujuy, which was boring but a lot less challenging.
Earlier in the day we had read about hitchhikers. In our travels we have picked some up, especially in remote places. We have also, on more than one occasion, been grateful for a lift when our holiday trips have gone wrong. We did once pick up a backpacker from Hell who we could not shake off. See our 2010 blog!
We were warned not to pick up hitchhikers lest they be drug mules from Bolivia, especially young women. It seems, if you are stopped at a police checkpoint (which are frequent here), the woman runs off but leaves the drugs in your vehicle for you to explain.
The road north was mainly dual carriageway with single carriageway sections. What you need to understand, this is a major road like between Sheffield and Leeds. Road side vendors sold snacks and cheese. Either sides of the road there were lush fields of corn.
We reached Jujuy (pronounced Who-Who-Wi) and the hills on either side started to close in. Initially they were verdant and wooded but as we headed further north the hills became less fertile and covered in candelabra cacti. Past Jujuy we rejoined the Ruta 9, and began to climb. We knew we were climbing as our ears popped. We drove up alongside a wide but dry river and the railway between Jujuy and our destination, Tilcara.
We had told our host that we wold be arriving in Tilcara about 6 pm but we were 4 hours early. The reason we came to Tilcara was to see the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a gorge with brightly coloured and striped hills. Instagram influencers love them.
We decided to "do" the gorge today to leave tomorrow free to do other things. We headed up to the town of Humahuaca only to realise we had been already travelling through the gorge for miles. Interestingly the landscape was familiar to us as the road eventually leads to Bolivia (about 100 km) to Tupiza, where we visited in 2018.
The light was not good and there were thunderstorms brewing up, so we turned back to Tilcara and tried to take photos of the gorge but the sun was in the wrong position.
Back at Tilcara, with a dodgy map and a bit of common sense we found the home we are renting. As our phones don't work here, we asked for the internet login so we could log into the house's internet from the street and WhatsApp the caretaker. This worked amazingly well.
The house is magical, with great views of the Quebrada. We get breakfast in the package and we had sourdough bread, vegan cake (buden) and almond milk as well as other lactose free treats.
We hadn't eaten since our early breakfast, so Joan used Happy Cow to find restaurants to eat at. It's quite a groovy place, a bit like San Pedro de Atacama, with backpackers and tourists (including us) filling the narrow streets.
The restaurant Joan had identified for dinner opened late so we mooched around town. in the main square there were many stalls selling identical souvenirs.
Impatient we settled for another restaurant recommended by Happy Cow. Kevin ordered an empanada de queso (cheese pasty) with house potatoes. Joan ordered a quinoa burger.
We waited. Snacks were brought. We ordered more beer as we waited. Eventually a waitress explained the kitchen was out of gas. We saw the gas bottles changed and, not much later, out came the food.
Kevin's empanada was the size of a snail but he did have a huge bowl of cheesy potatoes. Not the treat he had expected.
Joan's burger, despite saying she has a lactose intolerence and is vegan, came with cheese. It was sent back to the kitchen and brought out again with cheese scraped off, but now with eggs! Eventually she got a quinoa burger with salad.
Grateful for some food, we bought some wine and headed home to write this blog xx
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