Quedraba de Toro to Santa Rosa de Tastil....

Seven in the morning, and a half ton truck with covered truck bed picks us up at Aldaba Hotel in Salta. It is still drizzly and foggy, and quite chilly. We head out of the city, along #51 which follows the Quebrada de Toro, a long steep sided break in the mountains surrounding Salta. The road follows - somewhat - the rails of the Tren de las Nubes, which climbs up to 4200 meters above sea level, ending in San Antonio de los Cobres a couple of hunded kilometers away. On its tortuous climb, the train covers 220 km (the return journey takes 15 hours), crosses 29 bridges, crawls through 21 tunnels, traverses 13 viaducts, and does all that through semi deserted rugged terrain in hundreds of zig-zags.

It does not run between September and April (summer) as the danger of land slides, collapses, unstable mountain sides etc make the journey too dangerous.

Driving ever uphill through low lying clouds, we ever so often passed underneath one of the viaducts truly 'en las nubes', in the clouds.



One of the many viaducts of the Tren de las Nubes.
For the readers, who like to see more of this train, click on the little triangle in the picture below...and there you go.



The road along the Quedabra de Toro is advertised as 'paved', however things are not always as they are claimed. Heavy transport takes up most of the width of the gravel road at times, and it gets somewhat 'tight' in places.

In the middle of nowhere, still in the clouds, a working 'Tren de las Nubes'  repairing tracks and hopefully checking all those viaducts...

The highest of the viaducts, not visible from our windy road to higher ground....

Entering the cloud layer on a stretch of pavement....

The real Los Cardones

Breaking through into the sunshine...

Altitude now is as high, that even Los Cardones, cacti, are slowly disappearing from sight.

First stop, Santa Rosa de Tastil, a tiny village with church, school, medical outpost, one cafe and a few local street vendors.

Despite the altitude, flowers bloom amongst the scattered houses.

Wealth of the indigenous people - some goats, providers of delicious goat cheese - good with local honey. The sheep dog claims the shadiest spot for his noon siesta...

On-ramp to the 'highway' in Santa Rosa de Tastil...

The cocina, kitchen, of the local cafe...

Cactus wood ceiling, wooden chairs with hide seats, a couple of football team flags, a wooden bicycle...the cafe!

A love letter on a two peso bill: From a seed grows the flower, from a look - love!

Cactus wood bicycle...happy travelling.

Local girl selling her wares...

Woven articles reflect local fauna: llamas and condors...

Chapel Santa Rosa de Lima in Santa Rosa de Tastil.

The village is situated just a couple of kilometers distant from an impressive archaeological site, where ruins of an ancient Inca town (more than 3000 inhabitants) were discovered only a few years ago.
More of that later...