Humahuaca and Uquia

Humahuaca is a gem of a town and like all the others in this area it is thriving on tourism.  One of the main attractions to the area is to ride up in a 4 x 4 to 14,271 feet to view the Serrinia de Hornocal.  We intended to take the tour but after the three hour ride back from Iruya we didn’t feel like getting back into a vehicle and driving on another dirt road for another hour…and it would have cost 15 usd per person.  Instead we stayed in town and had a lovely dinner at a place with live music.  It was so precious.  There seems to be so much Argentinian pride for northern folklore music with the whole restaurant clapping along in a unique beat that everyone seemed to know it except us.  Beautiful music, people, and food.

We also intended to stay here for two nights but ended up just doing one.  After being in the dry, windy, bright mountains for seven days we wanted a break so we decided to head to Salta the next day on a 14:00 bus.  

Since we had most of the day we had enough time to hop on a bus and go seven miles south to Uquia to do the La Quedabra de las Senoritas hike.  Getting off the bus you walk through town on a dirt road for about 15 minutes until you see the gated entrance and the parking lot. There, the guide explains the two routes available, one is about 90 minutes and the other is longer at three hours and both require a guide to preserve the area.  We only had enough time for the short walk which provided plenty of breathtaking sights.

The guide let us go on ahead on the way back because we had a bus to catch. Our timing was perfect, we waited at the bus stop only about five minutes when a bus came along that we could take back up to Humahuaca.  

Back in town, we collected our bags from the hotel and dug into a dozen empanadas and a limonada at El Patio de La Abuela before boarding the bus to Salta.