CARLOS WENT OUT OF HIS WAY to show us some of his Jujuy (hoo-hoo-ay) Province. Yesterday we drove 300 kilometers from Chicoana to Salinas Grandes, stopping only for lunch in Purmamarca at the spectacular Hotel El Manantial del Silencio, undeniably the best place we’ve eaten in Argentina. When we drove to Purmamarca last week we brought our own lunch and didn’t continue on, having no idea of the road conditions.
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Every day is Market Day in Purmamarca
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Hill of Seven Colors
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Purmamarca Charm
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This way to Purmamarca
Paved the road may be but it still takes more than an hour to cover the sixty-five kilometers—even without stopping for photos. Or birds. You are sure to be stuck behind a lumbering bus or an overloaded truck spewing diesel smoke with no where to pass. To make matters worse RN 52 tops out on Abra de Potrerillos at 4170 meters, just under 13,700 feet! And I haven’t even mentioned the towering clouds that could open up with a thunderstorm without notice.
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Cuesta de Lipan
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Abra de Potrerillos, 13,700 feet above sea level
On the downhill side just before the salt flats we saw a herd of about 20 vicuña, the national animal of Peru. Like the larger guanaco—and unlike llamas and alpacas—vicuñas are wild. They are known for their fine hair, so soft it was referred to as “thread of the gods.”
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Salinas Grandes
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Salinas Grandes
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Argentine Flag and mountains from Salinas Grandes
Salinas Grandes covers more than 200 square kilometers and lies at 3450 meters above sea level. It is famous not only as a tourist attraction but for the salt, potassium and more recently the lithium it produces. After a pee stop and a few photos we got back in Carlos’s truck for the equally long ride back to our hotel in Lozano where dinner was waiting for us.