Jujuy 2018

Experience: We used public transport in the Quebrada de Humahuaca and combined our stay with day hikes and one overnight walk. The region has a flavour of the American South West combined with the Indian traditions of South America. Although the area has attained UNESCO world heritage status, it is mainly visited by Argentine tourists.

We had visited the area 20 years earlier and at that time, we did a trek between Humuaca to Vallee Grande.

We entered Argentina via coach from San Pedro de Atacama and got off the bus mid-afternoon at Purmamarca. We had made a reservation at a central hotel and changed some dollars for pesos at reception (ATM's were an expensive way to get pesos). Purmamarca is nice smaller town with a colonial centre and indigenous articles for sale at the main square. We had limited time in Purmamarca so we wandered the Seven Colors Hill in the late afternoon (it is apparently more impressive in the mornings).

We took a direct bus from Purmamarca the following morning to Iruya and stayed at the Hostal Milmahusi. Iruya itself is a sleepy mountain town with all sorts of local characters. Technically, it is in Salta province. Our plan was to walk to nearby San Isidro and stay there, so we looked around Iruya to buy some basic food supplies for the trip; it was interesting visiting the sparse shops. Originally, we had planned to do a 2 night hike (onto San Juan the 2nd night) but our schedule had been shortened by a night. Victor at Hostal Milmahusi suggested returning from San Isidro via Panti Pampa (on the Iruya-San Juan trail), which turned out to be an excellent route (Victor knows the area well and sometimes leads walking tours for agencies).

The hike to San Isidro essentially follows a road, so it is hard to get lost and not that special. We stayed at (and recommend) Hospedaje Beto (just below the main village) of San Isidro. The walks above San Isidro in any direction are more interesting than the access road. Local people seemed friendly, but are sensitive about having their photos taken, so you'll need to ask, even if you are some distance away from them.

I had loaded the maps of the area on the gaia.gps app, and the trail that we used to get up to Panti Pampa appeared on the map, which was reassuring because there were a few ambiguous sections of the trail. The route provided beautiful views over the San Isidro valley and then as we descended towards Iruya, even more spectacular views. If a person was looking for a nice day hike out of Iruya, I would recommend the hike towards San Juan up to the viewpoint over Iruya. Once we returned to Iruya, we headed back up to Comedor Tina for another delicious lunch.

The following morning, we took the early bus out of Iruya to the town Humahuaca. After dropping our bags off at our hostel, we wandered the old town and the Saturday market. Later in the day, we walked up to the ridge, east of town, which turned out to be quite a nice hike. We didn’t go to the “famous” Hornocal, as we had been there 2 decades earlier, and we could actually see it in the distance on our afternoon hike.

The primary reason for our stay in Humahuaca, was to hike the Inca Cueva area. I had seen some interesting photos on the internet and found enough information about it, so we caught an early Northbound bus and got off on the roadside. The first hour or so of the hike was fairly open, but then the quebrada narrowed and the scenery improved immensely. It was a fabulous walk, featuring red rock, vizcachas, parakeets and the rock paintings themselves. The rock art is protected by a fence, but a guardian who lives nearby was happy to open the locked gate and show us around. We paid a small entrance fee and he appreciated a tip as well. It was a beautiful Sunday and we didn’t encounter any other visitors. It is a remarkable area and highly recommended!

The following morning, we took a cab to Uquiaa and headed for the hills behind the church to visit the Quebrada de Las Señoritas, which was also worth a visit. We then returned to Humahuaca by bus, had breakfast, collected our luggage and took another bus South to Tilcara. We were going to relax and check out the townsite, but the hotel staff advised us that the local Inca ruins (Pucará de Tilcara) were free that day, so we wandered over to check them out. There were a surprising number of Argentine tourists on the site. The ruins offer nice views of the valley but were not particularly atmospheric (not Machu Picchu, that’s for sure). El Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat) is another of the local attractions. It had a steady stream of tourists and offered a nice approach walk but it didn’t measure up to some of the other natural features in the region. Tilcara itself was the most touristy town of the Quebrada de Humahuaca. There were quite a number of restaurants, but we ate twice at the same place because the food was so good (especially the ravioli): Bienmesabe, Belgrano 655, Tilcara.

On our last day in the Humahuaca valley, we squeezed in a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the Pucará Puella. We took a taxi to Jueya and then walked across the valley to Inca ruins and were met by the custodian who gave us a long Inca history lesson (in Spanish, of course) before preceding into the Pucará. The ruins themselves were not particularly impressive, however the massive cactus forest was incredible and well worth the visit. From Tilcara, we took a bus to San Salvador de Jujuy, passing by Maimara (we met another tourist who stayed there and really enjoyed it). San Salvador is a fair sized city and we did wander around it, but it was not particularly remarkable. We had the misfortune of experiencing labour strife at Aerolineas Argentina, so instead of flying to Buenos Aires, we took a 23 hour bus to the capital.