Argentina - Argentinië

From my travel journal (2009) translated with “www.DeepL.com”: We leave Purmamarca and follow Ruta 52. Outside the town there are still beautiful coloured rock formations and lots of flowers (PiP1). As we climb higher and higher, the landscape slowly changes and has just sparse vegetation, with only cacti at the end. At Lipan the road has the first series of hairpin bends (PiP2) of the Cuesta de Lipán (main picture). The surroundings and the views of the Andes mountains are getting more and more impressive. We climb in our car with a reasonable speed, but a few large trucks are crawling up the mountain road. Busses however are more in a hurry and pass us at the most impossible places. After thirty bends and hairpins we arrive on a kind of plateau. Not much later we reach Abra de Potrerillos, a pass at the unbelievable altitude of 4,170 metres above sea level. It is cloudy and therefore freezing cold. With three cars it's a bit busier than on the road. An indigenous woman has displayed her things, hoping to sell something (PiP3). How she got here and where she came from is not clear to us. When we start the descent, the clouds quickly become less and the view better. We look out on a kind of plateau and on several Andes peaks, most of them are covered with snow. In the distance is a small white spot (PiP4): without doubt the salt flats of the Salinas Grandes. We descend with a few big bends and drive through a kind of gorge to a long straight road (PiP5) with always a view on the dazzling white salt plain. It takes a while before we really reach the salt lake (PiP6). But at last there are the Salinas Grandes , as far as the eye can see and that still at an altitude of almost 3,500 meters ….. ….. The way back is on the same road and we climb above 4.000 meters again. The weather is better now and on the pass it is even sunny. We buy a piece of rock from the lonely indigenous woman and make some (new) pictures. At the Cuesta de Lipan low hanging clouds make the descent even more straining. After an incredible adventure of seven hours we are back Purmamarca.

The Convento de San Bernardo (Convent of St. Bernard) is a Catholic monastery. The building is one of the oldest in the city and was built in the late 16th or early 17th century. It was initially built as an hermitage for San Bernardo , Salta’s first patron saint. The building must have been destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, since every record from the beginnings of the 18th century has been lost. But the records show that it was in 1726 that a new building was funded to function as a hospital. As years went by, the building was subject to many reforms and it was later designated to other uses until 1846 when it was gifted to the Carmelite sisters. They turned the old hermitage and the hospital into the Convento de San Bernardo , as it stands nowadays. The convent has a wonderful carved entrance door, made by indigenous craftsmen in the year of 1762 from a carob tree. Only Carmelite nuns may enter the convent. Visitors can approach the adobe building and buy made pastries made by the nuns. The complex was declared a National Historical Monument in 1941.

Cabra Corral is the biggest artificial lake in northwestern Argentina. The dam - the largest water construction in the area with a height of 93 meters - was built between 1966 and 1972. The water of the lake is used for power generation and drinking water supply. The dam combines waters from the rivers of the Calchaquí Valley, creating a lake of 115 square km with millions of liters of water. The project was named after the title used on folders of the project by an American company. It became Cabra Corral instead of Corral de Cabras (Goat Yard), as the area was truly called. Located about 75 km south of the city of Salta Cabral Corral has become an important recreational destination with many activities, like swimming, kayaking, fishing and bungee jumping. We stayed in a hotel on the lakeside after a few days of only dust and red rocks and that was refreshing and a completely different world.

The city of Salta is located in the Lerma Valley - more than 1.150 meters above sea level - at the foothills of the Andes mountains. Salta la Linda (which means "Salta the Beautiful"), is a major tourist destination in northwest Argentina. It features colonial architecture, including the 18th century Cabildo , the 19th century Cathedral and the wonderful Iglesia San Francisco . These buildings and some museums are located around or nearby the Plaza 9 de Julio (main square). Salta is starting point for exploring the scenic northwest part of the country. Salta was founded in 1582 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma, who intended the settlement to be an outpost between Lima and Buenos Aires. During the Argentine War of Independence (1810 – 1818) the city became a commercial and military strategic point. Between 1816 and 1821 Salta was led by local military leader General Martín Miguel de Güemes, who defended the city and surrounding area from Spanish forces coming from further north. Salta emerged from the war politically in disarray and financially bankrupt. However, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the arrival of Italian, Spanish and Arab immigrants revived trade and agriculture all over the area, while further enhancing the city's multicultural flavor. Main picture: Salta, seen from Cerro San Bernardo, accessible by cable car or on foot. PiP1: Plaza 9 de Julio PiP2: monument of General Martin Miguel de Güemes

San Lorenzo (or officially Villa San Lorenzo) is an enchanting green village located in the Lerma Valley at the foor of the mountains of Salta. It’s a tranquil village with a relaxed atmosphere about 10 kilometers away from the colonial city of Salta , which is easily accessible by car or bus. It has a small center; don’t know if it is the same as during our visit, but you can get an impression in PiP1. Many inhabitants of Salta have built their (weekend) houses or mansions in this green enchanting suburb with its unusual subtropical micro climate. San Lorenzo has typical leafy roads lined with impressive trees. See main image and PiP2. The Quebrada de San Lorenzo (PiP3) is located just outside the village. This gorge offers walks through a green landscape with a crystal clear river and lush vegetation in a mountainside Yungas forest (a mix of mountain jungle and Andean forests).

The Perito Moreno Glacier - named after explorer Francisco Moreno - is located in Los Glaciares National Park, about 80 km’s from El Calafate. The glacier is part of the so called Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This ice field is one of the largest reserves of fresh water on earth. The glacier has a length of 30 km’s and its terminus is 5 km’s wide. We were on a boat trip and it is overwhelming to see this ice wall of 60 metres above the water of Lago Argentino with its crevices, clefts, peaks and sometimes deep turquoise colours. Constantly you hear the noise of large pieces of ice collapsing as the glacier slowly advances. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the few Patagonian glaciers that is still growing. On the left side of the picture you can see the glacier terminus 'touching' the mainland and damming a part of Lago Argentino (‘Brazo Rico’). The water level on that part of the lake will rise high above the level on the other side of the ice dam. Every year (or couple of years) the pressure of the dammed water breaks through the ice barrier causing a spectacular rupture, sending a massive outpouring of water from Brazo Rico into Lago Argentino.