Berny's photos

Entrance to the rock formation "Garganta del Diablo Salta" at Ruta 68 - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Heading south on Ruta Nacional 68 along the valley of Rio Las Conchas. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Rusty bridge over the "Rio de las Chochas", leading to the former railway station Alemania (1916-1977). - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Flood at the "Rio de las Conchas", in the background railway bridge across the tributary "Rio Alemania". - scanned slide, Minolta X700

...but he did it and the bridge survived - see PiP ;-) scanned slide, Minolta X700

The Salta–Antofagasta railway, also named Huaytiquina, is a single track railway line that links Argentina and Chile passing through the Andes. It is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge railway with a total length of 941 km (571 in Argentina and 330 in Chile), connecting the cities of Salta and Antofagasta on the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Puna de Atacama and Atacama Desert. The construction of the railway started in 1921, the viaduct La Polvorilla, the highest of the line, was finished on 7 November 1932. It is now the final destination of the "tren de las nubes". The viaduct was the highest and most northern point of our trip. From here we returned back south, heading all the way down to Ushuaia. See PiP's - scanned slide, Minolta X700

The Concordia river is crossing the old mining deposits.

Old silver mine from the early 19th century above the Ruta 40. The mine was closed for the first time after an explosion, which killed 15 workers, who are buried on the cemetery of San Antonio de los Cobres. 90 years after this accident the mine opened again as "El Socavón de los Muertos", but the galleries were flooded by a water inrush and the mine closed again in 1986. Compared to 2000, today the mine is completely abandoned: meinweltbuch.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_1742.jpg . The Link shows the blue building. There is a railway station of the "tren de las nubes" nearby. scanned slide, Minolta X700

RN40 is with 5301 km the longest route in Argentina and one of the longest in the world alongside such routes as US Route 66, Canada's Trans-Canada Highway, and Australia's Stuart Highway. At its traditional southern end near the city of Río Gallegos, it starts at sea level. It then crosses 20 national parks, 18 major rivers, and 27 passes in the Andes. Route 40's highest point is with 4972 m (16404 ft) the pass "Abra del Acay" in Salta Province. This image (elevation about 4100 m) shows our first contact with this road, first driving west from San Antonio de los Cobres and then north to a famous viaduct of the "tren de las nubes". We intended to drive south from this viaduct across the 4972 m high pass, which is actually the highest drivable road point outside of Asia. But the weather was against us, the pass was closed and we had to drive back all the way down to Salta, using again Ruta 51. We should have asked for more information probably. Later on the journey we recognized, "closed" can also mean, they don't want bloody tourists on the road ;-) scanned slide, Minolta X700

HFF and a sunny safe weekend, my friends! Visitors of this "Difunta Correa shrine" at the famous Ruta 40 mainly pray to survive on the lonesome roads and deposit water bottles, believing, this helps not to die of thurst in the wilderness. Difunta Correa (the late Correa, actually María Antonia Deolinda y Correa) was a woman who allegedly died of thirst in 1841 while looking for her husband in the desert of Argentina. However, thanks to the mother's milk, her child had not died. It has been found laying suckling on the dead mother's breast. scanned slide, Minolta X700

Evening in the village of San Antonio de los Cobres (3775 m), where we stayed for the 1st night after starting the trip in Salta. The small town with a population of about 5500 is the capital of the Los Andes Department of the Salta Province. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Arriving in the rather poor village of San Antonio de los Cobres (3775 m), where we stayed for the 1st night after starting the trip in Salta. The small town with a population of about 5500 is the capital of the Los Andes Department of the Salta Province. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Arriving in the rather poor village of San Antonio de los Cobres (3775 m), where we stayed for the 1st night after starting the trip in Salta. The small town with a population of about 5500 is the capital of the Los Andes Department of the Salta Province. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

elevation 3830 m - scanned slide, Minolta X700