We knew when we chose Salta, Argentina, as a long stay destination in this leg that part of the draw was its proximity to spectacular nature that we’d need to get out of the city to enjoy. But we didn’t realize just how spectacular the nature would be. When we arrived at our Salta Airbnb, our host, Fernando, was eager for us to visit Jujuy, the neighboring state. In my little bit of research, I’d hoped to be able to visit on a couple of day trips by public bus, but Fernando said it usually had to be part of a tour. In researching the tour options, which would require at least two 13-hour tours, I decided that renting a car, though more expensive than the tours, would be a more pleasant way to see Jujuy. So we planned an overnight trip for the start of our third week in Salta. I booked a two-day rental from Hertz at their NOA Alto Mall location a few blocks from our place. Because we wanted to get an early start, we picked up the car at 8 p.m. the night before departure and returned it a little before 7 p.m. the evening we got back.
Our trip got off to a weird start because we woke up the morning we planned to leave to find the electricity was off in the apartment. After a little investigation it seemed to be related to the water heater issue I mentioned in my Salta: We’re Home post. By flipping off the breaker for the outlets, we were at least able to have the lights on so we could finish packing up to depart at 7 a.m. While we were gone, Fernando brought a technician to the house to deal with the water heater and electricity. He was an excellent, responsive host.
Day 1 – Tilcara and Hornocal
While we left slightly later than intended, we made good time on the 2.5-hour journey to the start of the mountain villages that are one of the draws of Jujuy. We’d elected to get a small SUV for the journey for additional comfort, but a sedan would have been fine (however, our other Salta road trip, to Cafayate, definitely required an SUV; post about that coming soon). The morning was very foggy and a little chilly but also provided a good atmospher for the drive.
We stopped at a roadside artisan market outside the town of Volcán for restrooms (which weren’t great) and to pick up some coca leaves and coca candy to help with altitude sickness. Chad enjoyed the candy but I don’t think we really had many altitude symptoms. The towns are between 7,000 and 8,000 feet (2000-2500 meters), so not too bad, but each day we also went above 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) so we wanted to be prepared. I’d researched a few things to check out in some of the towns, so we briefly drove through a couple towns (Los Hornillos and Maimará) to see if they were worth stopping in, but we were eager to reach the farthest one, Tilcara, where we could drop our stuff off at our hotel (review below).
When we arrived, we learned the entire town of Tilcara had been without electricity for a couple of hours, which meant we wouldn’t be able to check in. However, the very nice manager/owner offered to store our luggage while they finished cleaning a room for us and the power was back on when we returned in the late afternoon. We enjoyed a walk around the town trying to figure out what we wanted to do and how to order it and then ate the picnic I’d packed for us at the outdoor tables in the hotel parking lot (which was nicer than it sounds).
After dropping off our bags in our newly cleaned room, we set out around 1 p.m. for the town of Humahuaca about 45 minutes from Tilcara. The Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca ravine) is a UNESCO World Heritage site for being part of a major Inca cultural route and offering spectacular natural beauty. The main draw for tourists is to visit Serranía de Hornocal, a mountain peak also known as the “Cerro de los 14 Colores” (Hill of 14 Colors).
It’s a long, winding, unpaved road up the mountain to the main view, so we knew we’d want to find a local tour to take us up there. As we drove into the main part of town, there was a guy on the street with a tour card offering exactly what we were looking for – an affordable group tour at 3 p.m. with 4×4 vehicles to go up the mountain. He led us to a parking area owned by the tour company to leave our car and we went to their small office in the bus station to pay for the tour, 25,000 peso per person (about $17). We paid cash and I didn’t notice a credit card option. Since we had time before the start of the tour, we went to find an coffee for Chad and then explored the town a little. It was very touristy but nice.
A little before 3 p.m, we went back to the office to be assigned into our 4×4 vehicles. We were paired with a group of four Argentinians from Rosario who were very nice. One of the women spoke English and was very kind about explaining things to us, though her English was rusty. The guide drove us up the mountain to a parking area from which we could see the colored mountain range or make a short hike for a closer view. There were lots of warnings (see sign in photo below) about making the hike, which would require a steep ascent back up to the parking area at the 4,350 meter (14,000 feet) altitude. But we made it no problem with just one break to sit and breath a minute on the way back up.
The colored mountains were very impressive, even more so than the Rainbow Mountain we’d visited in Peru. In fact, we debated whether to make the effort to go out for the tour because we’d already had the Peru experience but this was quite different and we thought more impressive. The Rainbow Mountain in Peru is really cool and more dramatic, and a different kind of fun with the long hike up to it (which we’d done with a private guide; see post here), but Hornocal felt much bigger and more majestic. In addition to the scenery, we saw several herds of vicuña (small wild llama relative) on the drive and along the short hike. Overall we were really glad we went to see it and especially glad we let someone else do the driving. The whole tour took about 2.5 hours – 45 minutes each way to the parking area and about an hour at Hornocal.
When we returned to town we got right in our car and returned to Tilcara where we relaxed for a while before heading out to dinner. We decided on a restaurant called Recuerdo de Tilcara, which had decent reviews and didn’t close between lunch and dinner, which meant we wouldn’t have to wait for an 8 p.m. opening time. They also had a live band playing traditional songs (including pan flute!), which was very fun. The crowd was lively and many of the people from Argentina and Brazil sang along. The band asked each table where they were from and we were the only ones not from South America or Europe. Our meal was tasty too – empanadas, lentil stew, and a humita, which is similar to a tamale but the dough is made with fresh corn rather than dried. I’m glad we tried it, since it is very local and on most menus, but we didn’t really care for the texture and like tamales much better.
Day 2 – Purmarca and Salinas Grandes
The next morning, we got up and ready around 8. We ended up skipping the hotel breakfast and instead tried the tortillas for sale on the street corner, which were essentially like quesadillas. Very tasty and a hearty start to the day.
The other major attraction in this part of Jujuy is Salinas Grandes, a huge salt desert. This too was one I read was recommended to hire a tour to drive you because it requires going up and down a very winding road at very high altitude. We wouldn’t have time to do the tour from Tilcara, which would be a full-day, but the tour operator we talked to said we could drive our car to Purmarca and they would pick us up there and return us in plenty of time for our drive back to Salta. We decided to do that for simplicity but I think we may have been better off just booking a tour in Purmamarca. It was a lot of waiting and we got the worst seats on the bus because we were the last ones on. And actually, the road was pretty good and seemed safe enough, so I think Chad could have easily driven it.
Actually, we didn’t really love Salinas Grandes, despite its reputation as a must-visit attraction. It was impressive to see all the salt, but most of the tour was a photo opportunity and we’re not really into that. We’d have been better off spending our second day exploring the towns and local hikes, especially the hike around the Cerro de los Siete Colores (Hill of 7 Colors) in Purmamarca. But you never know, though in the future, when the tour shows a lot of gimmicky photo ops, that will be a clue for us that we may not be the right audience.
We returned to Purmamarca around 3 p.m. in time to have a late lunch at a restaurant called El Porito Terraza-Resto, which was a second floor terrace with a great view of the El Porito hill. Our empanadas and quinoa risotto were pretty good and Chad encouraged me to get a glass of wine since I was a little grumbly about the tour. After lunch we drove the 2.5 hours back to Salta and returned the rental car a little before 7 p.m.
Budget and Summary
The trip to Jujuy was really worthwhile, though more expensive than I’d budgeted when I thought we could do it via public transit or even day tours from Salta. Not including meals we spent $330: $150 on the rental car (including full coverage insurance), $50 on gas, $40 on the hotel, and $90 on the tours. But since the tours from Salta included 5-6 hours of bus riding and the car gave us more freedom, I feel like it was the right choice. I just wished we’d been had an additional 24 hours there to spend more time in the little towns, especially Maimara and Purmamarca, and do some hiking on our own. But between Chad’s current work schedule and the expense of the rental car and hotel, a second night and third day didn’t really make sense. And we were very happy to get to see all that we did.
Hotel La Herencia – Very nice room, though the hotel seems short-staffed – Liked · We were able to check into our room a bit early despite there being no electricity in the town at the time. We ended up doing our registration right before leaving the next morning. The hotel seems to be run by one man plus someone to clean the rooms. He was very kind but always very busy with guests. There was plenty of parking behind the hotel and even a couple of tables where we enjoyed a picnic while waiting for the room to be ready for us. The room was a good size and had a great view of the mountains. Disliked · Our room didn’t have soap initially but we were able to track down the manager and get some. We did not try the complimentary breakfast because the service was too slow due to it being only the manager preparing and serving it and too many other guests had arrived before us even though we came just a few minutes after it opened at 8 a.m. We waited 10 or 15 minutes and finally gave up.