Berny's photos

After a heavy rainfall this section was covered with extremely slippery mud. We waited until the truck slid down the slope in front of us. Elevation is 3830 m here. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

The Abra Blanca pass with 4080 m above sea level is the highest point of Ruta 51 between Salta and San Antonio de Los Cobres. The road has been built in 1915, when it was the highest drivable road in the world. The pass is called the entrance to the Puna, a unique Andes landscape. - scanned slide, Minolta X700 While we had no problems with the altitude at that time, the following night in San Antonio de Los Cobres should be terrible. Massive headache and a continuous pulse rate of about 150 let us call it "Sleepless in San Antonio". We simply drove up too quick at that day after starting with the flight from Buenos Aires to Salta at zero metres and the altitude there feels higher than elsewhere, people told us. By the way, the weather changed from one hour to another.

Cemetery at Ruta 51 near the village Santa Rosa De Tastil (elevation 3107 m).. scanned slide, Minolta X700

scanned slide, Minolta X700

A little village (El Alfarcito, Quebrada del Toro) at the Ruta 51, endangered by a wild creek nearby. Elevation is about 2810 m here. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

On the way from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

The photo is taken from the old Ruta 51, the new one is situated on the other side of the river. The elevation of the mountains is about 2900 m. - scanned slide, Minolkta X700

On the old Ruta 51 (the pathway changed since then) to San Antonio de los Cobres, elevation about 2500 m. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Puerta de Arca at Ruta 51, driving from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres scanned slide, Minolta X700

Lost truck on the way from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres. scanned slide - Minolta X700

The Ruta 51 from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres was quite an adventure in 2000, but is now in the meantime mostly paved. More safety - less adventure ;-) - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Driving from about 1000 m to 4200 m elevation on Ruta 51 makes the climate and vegetation change several times. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

Railway bridge across Rio Rosario near Ruta 51 from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres. The railway is called "Tren de las nubes" (train to the clouds) and leads up to an elevation of 4220 m at the Polvorilla viaduct. The railroad was built in 1948 (construction started in 1921!) with a length of 217 km nowerdays. The Train to the Clouds originally left from Salta, and even left from Salta for a while as a tourist attraction too. It was 573 km in its earlier days, and joined Salta and Socompa pass in Chile. But after years of repairs and a few accidents, the train now leaves from San Antonio de Los Cobres only. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

From Salta (1000 m) we drove on the Ruta Nacional 51 west into the Andes, up to an altitude of about 4200 m. The first stage lead through the flooded valley of Rio Rosario. As you can see, the river has still enough space for inundation here. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

After a flight from Buenos Aires to Salta we picked up our rental car here and startet our 7600 km long trip all the way south to Ushuaia. The car was a brand new Renault Kangoo, not just the appropriate type of car for these roads. The church has been built in 1796. - scannes slide, Minolta X700