Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: province of Salta

From my travel journal (2009) translated with “www.DeepL.com”: We leave Purmamarca and follow Ruta 52. Outside the town there are still beautiful coloured rock formations and lots of flowers (PiP1). As we climb higher and higher, the landscape slowly changes and has just sparse vegetation, with only cacti at the end. At Lipan the road has the first series of hairpin bends (PiP2) of the Cuesta de Lipán (main picture). The surroundings and the views of the Andes mountains are getting more and more impressive. We climb in our car with a reasonable speed, but a few large trucks are crawling up the mountain road. Busses however are more in a hurry and pass us at the most impossible places. After thirty bends and hairpins we arrive on a kind of plateau. Not much later we reach Abra de Potrerillos, a pass at the unbelievable altitude of 4,170 metres above sea level. It is cloudy and therefore freezing cold. With three cars it's a bit busier than on the road. An indigenous woman has displayed her things, hoping to sell something (PiP3). How she got here and where she came from is not clear to us. When we start the descent, the clouds quickly become less and the view better. We look out on a kind of plateau and on several Andes peaks, most of them are covered with snow. In the distance is a small white spot (PiP4): without doubt the salt flats of the Salinas Grandes. We descend with a few big bends and drive through a kind of gorge to a long straight road (PiP5) with always a view on the dazzling white salt plain. It takes a while before we really reach the salt lake (PiP6). But at last there are the Salinas Grandes , as far as the eye can see and that still at an altitude of almost 3,500 meters ….. ….. The way back is on the same road and we climb above 4.000 meters again. The weather is better now and on the pass it is even sunny. We buy a piece of rock from the lonely indigenous woman and make some (new) pictures. At the Cuesta de Lipan low hanging clouds make the descent even more straining. After an incredible adventure of seven hours we are back Purmamarca.

The Quebrada de las Conchas (Shell’s Gorge) - also called Quebrada de Cafayate - is located between Salta city and the town of Cafayate. The gorge is well known for its reddish coloured carved rock formations and curious shapes, caused by natural erosion during millions of years. Through the ravine runs the Conchas River with its sometimes remarkable green banks. Following Ruta Nacional 68 one passes landscapes of very varied colours rock formations of great variety. Some of them have fancy names like ‘Toad’, ‘Obelisk’, ‘Monk’ or ‘Devil’s Dragon’. One of the most famous and visited is the so called El Anfiteatro (PiP 5). This ‘amphitheater’ owes its name to the acoustics of the place, thanks to the deep cleft in the mountain; its rock walls rise about 50 meters high.

We were lucky to drive a part of the famous Ruta 40 - from Cachi to Cafayate - in March. That turned out to be the harvest season of the red peppers. On several places along the road they were lying on the fields. We heard from locals that the region features the necessary aridity and the ideal level of sunlight for the cultivation of this kind of peppers.

The Iglesia de San José (San José Church) was built in mid 18th century as a private religious place for the Aramburu family, the former owners of the lands where it is now located. Later they gave it to serve as a church to the town. The church has a typical colonial architecture with adobe walls on a pebble foundation. It does not have a tower, but the three bells are located in the upper part of the façade. The church underwent an important modification in 1890, when a neoclassical portico was added. Inside there is an extensive nave 35 meters long and two transverse chapels very close to the main altar. The altar features traditional decorations; an image of Christ on polychrome is the fundamental piece. Much of the elements (beams, altar, confessionals) are made of cactus-wood. Iglesia de San José is located at the historical town square Plaza 9 de Julio with the white painted town hall. The church was declared a National Historic Monument in 1945.