Humahuaca  

Our first destination is PURMAMARCA (alternative path to the Inca Road), a town which has earned a reputation for its Cerro de los Siete Colores (Hill of Seven Colors) which can be viewed from the village streets and the handicraft market bordering the main square.

POSTA DE HORNILLOS is a historical site of the province where the Transportation Museum stands and where national heroes who struggled for independence rest.

Next, we will visit MAIMARA, a village at the foot of the dreamy Paleta del Pintor (Artist's Palette). To the surprise of visitors, its cemetery on the hill can be spotted from the route.

TILCARA is famous for its local festivities (Carnival and Holy Week), the Archaeological Museum and the Pucara (aborigine stronghold) with its partially rebuilt ruins from the pre-Columbian times. Within the Purcara, which depicts the lifestyle and development of such times, visitors can appreciate myriad cacti specimens at the Museo Botanico de Altura (Botanical Garden).

Further to the North, at Huacalera, we will go through the Capricorn Tropic, identified by a white monolith. 'On Heroes and Tombs', by Ernesto Sabato immortalizes the historical episode when General Lavalle passed by with his troops carrying his chief’s corpse to Bolivia.

UQUIA is famous for its church built in the 17th century, which has an altarpiece laminated in gold. Interestingly, it is one of the two churches in Argentina decorated with nine Cuzco School paintings of Los Angeles Arcabuceros (angels holding guns), testimony of the colonial architecture.

HUMAHUACA, the village the Gorge is named after, has the greatest population. With its narrow pebble streets and iron street lamps in every corner, this village is also the highest point in our entire journey at 2,940 masl. Main highlights include: the imposing Independence Monument, the Church and the Town Hall with a tower from which San Francisco Solano comes out every day sharply at noon to give his blessing.

On the way back to Salta, along National Route 9, we will visit San Salvador city, the capital of JUJUY province also known as the 'silver cup' and famous for the 1812 Exodus. Apart from its intrinsic charm, the main tourist attractions center around the General Belgrano Park: the works of Lola Mora, the greatest Argentinean sculptor, the Cathedral, the City Hall and the House of Government.