Argentina - Argentinië

La Mitica Ruta 40 (the Mythical Route 40) is the nickname of “Ruta 40”. The highway, partly unpaved and loaded with hairpin bends, runs from the far north to the southernmost tip of Argentina. Endless desert plains, crystal clear lakes, glaciers, lush vineyards and the peaks of the Andes accompany the road. Route 40's highest point is almost 5.000 meters in Abra del Acay in Salta Province The 5.224 kilometers long “Ruta 40” connects the village La Quiaca in northern Argentina with the southern town of Rio Gallegos (at Punta Loyola) on the Strait of Magellan in Patagonia. The rugged roadtrip goes through eleven provinces and two provincial capitals, over twentyfour important rivers and along twenty natural parks !!! We only did the part of “Ruta 40” between Cachi and Cafayate. Although just 150 km it took us almost a whole day of driving on an almost completely unpaved road, which looked like a washboard in several places. "Ruta 40" - at least our part - is sometimes a wide straight road, many times very narrow and winding. Sometimes we drove along the edge of ravines, then again through a lovely green landscape. It was always hilly and went up and down all the time. Stones, dust and grit are everywhere. Despite all that, it was a great experience with a ride through a very impressive landscape - with the stretch through the Quebrada de las Flechas ( www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48888910 ) as the absolute highlight - and along quaint small rural villages.

The Quebrada de las Conchas (Shell’s Gorge) - also called Quebrada de Cafayate - is located between Salta city and the town of Cafayate. The gorge is well known for its reddish coloured carved rock formations and curious shapes, caused by natural erosion during millions of years. Through the ravine runs the Conchas River with its sometimes remarkable green banks. Following Ruta Nacional 68 one passes landscapes of very varied colours rock formations of great variety. Some of them have fancy names like ‘Toad’, ‘Obelisk’, ‘Monk’ or ‘Devil’s Dragon’. One of the most famous and visited is the so called El Anfiteatro (PiP 5). This ‘amphitheater’ owes its name to the acoustics of the place, thanks to the deep cleft in the mountain; its rock walls rise about 50 meters high.

Maimará is a small village in the heart of the Quebrada de Humahuaca , a UNESCO world Heritage site. The main characteristic of its landscape are the multicolored hills of the so called Paleta del Pintor (Painter’s Palette), an impressive geological formation made up of multicoloured - brownish, reddish, orangish, yelowish, ocher and pastel colours - hills reminiscent of a painting palette. A series of folds that correspond to the tertiary and quaternary periods.

The Cementerio Nuestra Senora del Carmen is located just outside Maimará, along Ruta 9 to Tilcara. Without any doubt it is the most remarkable and unusual cemetery of the Humahuaca Valley. The cemetery is situated around a hill top and offers vaults with curious architecture, picturesque tombs, a lot of crosses, indefinite sculptures and colourful dried and artificial flowers. From the slope of the cemetery one has a wonderful view towards the Paleta del Pintor with its wonderful colours ( www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/49367588 ).

Humahuaca is a small town located in the colourful Quebrada de Humahuaca and not that far from the border with Bolivia. Near the main square - located on a hill - it features its landmark: the Monumento a los Héroes de la Independencia . This “Heroes of the Independence Monument” is an imposing sculpture group – work of Ernesto Soto Avendaño - was built to pay homage to the Northern Argentinian Army that fought a total of fourteen battles in Humahuaca during Argentine War of Independence (1819 – 1818). The monument (1950) is made from over 70 tons of bronze and represents the image of indigenous Pedro Socompa, who brought the news of independence. Others believe it’s actually Diego Viltipoco, the indigenous chief, who aided General Belgrano during the war. One can reach the monument by climbing a rather steep stairs. From the top one has a splendid panoramic view of Humahuaca and the surrounding mountains.

Puerto Madero - also known as Puerto Madero Waterfront - is the easternmost district of Buenos Aires, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank. At the end of the 19th century, businessman Eduardo Madero was commissioned to ensure that large cargo ships could reach the port of Buenos Aires. In 1897 this new harbour was opened, but already ten years later the slow development and the appearance of larger ships made Puerto Madero superfluous. Puerto Madero is not only the story of the port, but also the development that the area has gone through since the 1990s. Local and foreign investors made it into an innovative and attractive part of the city. World-famous architects were allowed to redesign the area. Skyscrapers, luxury hotels and restaurants, offices and exclusive culture centers were built in Puerto Madero. Puerto Madero still features the marina of Buenos Aires with luxury yachts from the jet set. Along the docks old harbour cranes recall the times when Puerto Madero was a port. The elegant Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge) is definitely worth a picture (PiP 2). Puerto Madero has two nautical museums, one of them is housed in the Sarmiento , built in the 1890s ad a training vessel for the Argentine Navy (PiP 3)

A pucará is a defensive hilltop site or fortress built by the prehispanic and historic inhabitants of the central Andean area. Around the year 1000 there was a line of twenty-two of these aboriginal fortresses that were deployed on the hills along the Quebrada de Humahuaca. The pucará of Tilcara (PiP4) is the best-known archaeological site of northwest Argentina, but often full of tourists. Less than 10 km’s away we found another pucará which we heard about in our accommodation. This pucará de Juella is located at 2.750 meters on a plateau outside the hamlet of Juella. This fortress was inhabited until the 12th century and is not altered or reconstructed. The ruins - often nothing more than fallen rocks or deposits of the pucará - are surrounded by a forest of cardones . It was quite difficult to find the pucará , as it was not signposted and we even had to cross a fast-flowing river (PiP3). On the other bank of that river we found a local, who - for a couple of pesos - pointed us in the right direction.

The Palacio Noel (Noel Palace) is a stunning mansion with neo-colonial and baroque influences. The mansion with its plain white walls, lace-like window grilles, dark wooden bow-windows and wrought-iron balconies was designed by architect Martin Noel, following his return to Argentina in 1914. The construction was completed in 1922. It has a wonderful Andalucian style courtyard with fountains, niches in and Moorish-tiled benches. The residence, which he shared with his brother, was sold to the city of Buenos Aries in 1936. In 1947 it became (and still is) the home of the Museo de Arte Hispanoamericano Isaac Fernández Blanco , featuring an important collection of Spanish-American art. Noel Palace was renamed in its founder’s honor at that time. We were unlucky to visit Noel Palace on a day when the museum was closed. But a friendly staff member let us in, so we could see the building and the courtyard anyway. A wonderful green oasis surrounded by modern apartments and skyscrapers, just a stone's throw from the busy Retiro railway station.

Salinas Grandes is a salt plain with a surface of approximately 220 km2 on the border of the provinces of Jujuy and Salta in northwest Argentina. The salar lies at an elevation of about 3.500 meters above sea level. The origin of Salinas Grandes dates from an extended period of time between 5 and 10 million years ago, when the basin was covered with water with a large amount of salts coming from volcanic activity. The gradual evaporation of such continental saline waters gave rise to this salt having a crust of salt up to 0,5 meters thick. During our visit we saw that salt was still being extracted. Old rusty trucks drove across the plain to bring the extracted salt to a central location. In a kind of settlement with a house of salt blocks, the white and shiny salt was packed in bags by hand under a burning sun !!