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Humahuaca - visiting El Hornocal at 4,350m

Published: 12.06.2017

When we wanted to take the bus to Humahuaca on Wednesday morning, we had ordered a taxi for 6:30 am and once again we had the problem that it didn't come. So we called the hostel manager, because we couldn't reach the taxi company either. Ultimately, the taxi arrived at 6:45 🚕 and we were once again 5 minutes before the departure at the bus stop🚍. Next time, we should order the taxi 15 minutes earlier than the time...

Journey from Salta to Humahuaca
Journey from Salta to Humahuaca
Mountains eroded by water
Mountains eroded by water
There are big cacti everywhere here
🌵🌵

After 5 hours of beautiful landscapes, we arrived at the bus terminal in Humahuaca. In the next street (Calle Buenos Aires), the hostels lined up next to each other. The hostel manager from Salta had also reserved accommodation for us here and negotiated a slightly cheaper price. For €18 per night, we now sleep in a small room behind a restaurant, without windows but with our own bathroom🚿 The shower is simply a shower head on the wall that floods the entire bathroom, as there is neither a curtain nor a depression to stop the water.

Breakfast is ready!
Breakfast is ready!🍜

There is also no WiFi, so we have to see how we find the next accommodation.


Humahuaca is a small tourist town where the curbstones are flipped up from 7 p.m. But since the weather was nice, it was quite pretty. Many small streets, a pretty church, and a statue on a hill.
Humahuaca - Church
Humahuaca- Town Hall
Humahuaca - Church at night
Humahuaca - Town Hall at night
Humahuaca - Church
Humahuaca - Church

And huge cacti, about 7m tall 🌵🌵

Humahuaca - huge cacti: where is Tom?
Humahuaca - huge cacti: where is Tom?
Humahuaca - huge cacti
Humahuaca - huge cacti
Humahuaca - huge cacti, hide and seek
Humahuaca - huge cacti, hide and seek
Around 11 am on the second day, cars were supposed to drive to El Hornocal at over 4,300m altitude - the place to be when you come to Humahuaca, the ultimate tourist destination.
El Hornocal at 4,350m
El Hornocal at 4,350m

So we were at the bridge where the vehicles were supposed to gather at around 11. But it didn't turn out that way.. After a lot of going back and forth across the bridge, we finally found out that 2 p.m.is a better time because the sun is at a more favorable position at that time. A round trip costs 50€ (800 pesos) per car, which is split among the passengers.

When we came back around 2:30, fortunately, there were two French people waiting for more passengers and so we drove together up the mountain. It was a winding and very bumpy ride with the Ford Ranger from 2,900m to 4,350m in 40 minutes.
The road from the village on the mountain to El Hornocal
The road from the village on the mountain to El Hornocal

Despite having all-wheel drive, the car was bouncing quite a bit. When we arrived at the entrance of the viewpoint, an admission fee of 70 cents (10 pesos) per person was collected.

Entrance to El Hornocal
Entrance to El Hornocal

When we arrived at the parking lot, we already had a fantastic view.

Parking lot at Hornocol
Parking lot at Hornocol
View from the parking lot
View from the parking lot

The driver would wait for us for 40 minutes, then we would go back down into the valley. So many photos were taken until we went a little closer to the mountains. The path went steeply downhill - something we felt on the way back when it went extremely steeply uphill.

At the end of the path at El Hornocol
At the end of the path at El Hornocol
At the end of the path at El Hornocol

Since the French people had a GoPro and we had our 360-degree camera, many photos and videos were taken to properly appreciate this phenomenal view 📸📸
Time passed faster than expected and we still had the return journey ahead of us.
Especially on a 4,000m climb that felt like 100% (maybe only 50% to be realistic), it's like running a marathon. The fact that the climb was about 400m long didn't help us control our breathing either. It was super exhausting 😲! But it was worth it 😁
Path to the viewpoint
Path to the viewpoint - doesn't look as steep here as it was!
Otherwise, you could buy empanadas, hot dogs 🌭, and other local dishes for little money at the bus terminal.

The next day, we took a day trip to Iruya, a mountain village that is 3 hours away from Humahuaca.
Road to Iruya
View from the bus to Iruya
We again drove on unpaved roads until we reached the small village, but it is the largest in the immediate area. Here there is a church that looks picturesque with the mountains in the background.
Iruya - Church
Iruya - Church
Iruya - View from the church
Iruya - View from the church

Generally, the sky is mostly cloudless here due to its location behind the Andes. Tom's gaze was magically drawn to a soccer game on the other side of the valley and he had to stop and watch ⚽ Nevertheless, it is impressive how some people can play soccer normally at 2,600m, while one of us is already panting up a small mountain.

Iruya - steep ascent
Iruya - steep ascent 😥
Iruya - narrow streets
Iruya - narrow streets

Our lunch in a restaurant at the main square was very cheap 💸
Iruya - Restaurant at the main square
Iruya - Restaurant at the main square
Iruya

After 2 hours, the bus was already heading back. So we had spent 6 hours on the bus for 2 hours on site. But we still had to do something for the rest of the day before moving on.

Next stop: Tupiza, Bolivia



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Argentina
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