San Antonio de los Cobres and around
San Antonio de los Cobres is a mining town in the province of Salta where I stayed for a few days to visit the surrounding area. It was an excellent base camp and despite being described as a dusty village, I think San Antonio is one of the most interesting and pretty villages in the Argentine puna (compared to Antofalla, Tolar Grande, El Peñón).
The village, with a population of around 5,000, lies at an altitude of 3,654 metres. As a result, the climate is cold and very arid.
In itself, the village has no tourist attractions, but it does have some old relics of the mining industry and some houses have been decorated with pretty paintings.
Route 40 to Susques
Cerro Tuzgle
Cerro Tuzgle is a dormant volcano rising to an altitude of 5,486 metres. The most recent lava flow dates from around 300,000 years ago.
La juguetería
Locals have named this section of the road la juguetería which translates as 'the toy shop'.
It's a funny name, but I imagine that the isolated rock formations could be the toy collection of a family of giants.
Viaduct La Polvorilla
La Polvorilla viaduct is part of the old railway route that linked Salta at an altitude of 1,152 metres, passing through it on its way to Chile. Construction began in 1921 and the viaduct was completed in 1932. At 4,220 metres, it was the highest viaduct on the entire route.
In the 1960s it was given the name Tren de ls Nubes and by 1971, it was being used more for tourist purposes. Today, the train is still used by tourists, but it is now a bus that takes passengers to San Antonio de Las Cobres from where they take a train journey of around twenty kilometres to pass over the viaduct and then return to San Antonio.
Abra del Acay
The Abra del Acay is a mountain pass crossed by the legendary Route 40. The road culminates at an altitude of 4,972 metres.
This pass is also known as nido del viento blanco, the 'nest of the white wind'. When I passed through, the wind was indeed very strong and also very cold. I had difficulty walking because the wind made me lose my balance and I was also short of breath due to the lack of oxygen.
