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

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.

Humahuaca is a small town located in the colourful Quebrada de Humahuaca and not that far from the border with Bolivia. Near the main square - located on a hill - it features its landmark: the Monumento a los Héroes de la Independencia . This “Heroes of the Independence Monument” is an imposing sculpture group – work of Ernesto Soto Avendaño - was built to pay homage to the Northern Argentinian Army that fought a total of fourteen battles in Humahuaca during Argentine War of Independence (1819 – 1818). The monument (1950) is made from over 70 tons of bronze and represents the image of indigenous Pedro Socompa, who brought the news of independence. Others believe it’s actually Diego Viltipoco, the indigenous chief, who aided General Belgrano during the war. One can reach the monument by climbing a rather steep stairs. From the top one has a splendid panoramic view of Humahuaca and the surrounding mountains.

The Cementerio Nuestra Senora del Carmen is located just outside Maimará, along Ruta 9 to Tilcara. Without any doubt it is the most remarkable and unusual cemetery of the Humahuaca Valley. The cemetery is situated around a hill top and offers vaults with curious architecture, picturesque tombs, a lot of crosses, indefinite sculptures and colourful dried and artificial flowers. From the slope of the cemetery one has a wonderful view towards the Paleta del Pintor with its wonderful colours ( www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/49367588 ).

Maimará is a small village in the heart of the Quebrada de Humahuaca , a UNESCO world Heritage site. The main characteristic of its landscape are the multicolored hills of the so called Paleta del Pintor (Painter’s Palette), an impressive geological formation made up of multicoloured - brownish, reddish, orangish, yelowish, ocher and pastel colours - hills reminiscent of a painting palette. A series of folds that correspond to the tertiary and quaternary periods.