Quebrada de Humahuaca – into the heart of northwest Argentina

(back in the land of real internet...)

The symbolism was everywhere. Riding off the altiplano and down into Argentina was like following the rainbow that ended in a pot of gold. From the border town of La Quiaca, Ruta 9 (Route 9 – Argentina has a real highway system with numbers and everything) glides across the altiplano for a hundred or so kms, up over a small bump to about 3800 m elevation, then dives down through the mountains to the arid foothills of Salta at about 1100  m. As we pedalled across the final stretches of the altiplano, black storm clouds loomed in every direction but one: straight ahead. We managed to stay just ahead of the storm front and finally, upon topping out, knew we were home free as we escaped downhill and into the blue skies and warm winds of the Quebrada de Humahuaca – the long narrow valley that carries one down from the Bolivian altiplano into the heart of northwest Argentina.

Yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the valley is home to Argentina’s indigenous elements and represents a spill-over from Bolivia. Physically, the valley is a huge change from our lives on the altiplano.  As a mix between Arizona and the Okanagan, the valley is reminiscent of the deserts of the old west. Twisted and contoured multi-coloured rock-faces line the valley providing fantastic scenery for days of riding. The dominant image though is the fabulous Cardón Giant Cactus which is a ginormous cactus native to South America. Very cool.

The best part of the journey though, being on a bike, is the fact that the route is all downhill...for days! Coasting down for hours at a time, it’s like a train ride and we’re just looking out the window at the scenery going by. A stupendous change from the drudgery of the altiplano. The other best part, of course, is the sun and the heat. It’s hot! Amy “bring on the heat” Robillard is like a kid in a candy store. Dropping 500 to 1000 m a day means each day just gets hotter. At the moment, we’ve landed in the city of Jujuy (pronounced who whoey) at about 1200 m. It’s mid-summer hot here! 30+ degrees and humid. We haven’t sweated like this since leaving the Caribbean so many months ago. We had to find all of our hot-weather clothes again...where did I bury my flip flops? And this down jacket...why am I carrying this?  Oh ya, Bolivia. J

So let’s see...more changes. We’re out of the indigenous areas and into Spain now. The roads are paved, there are sidewalks, and street lights. Garbage is mostly confined to garbage cans, as opposed to everywhere else. The smell of stale urine has disappeared. Houses are complete and look like humans live in them. Bathrooms are clean and have bidets (loving the bidets!). The internet is fast. You can drink the water. People walk the streets like they are in love, with things to do and places to go. Long story short: we’re back in civilization.

Civilization at a fraction of the cost though. Crazy stuff is going on down here. Apparently the Argentine economy is in a tailspin with out-of-control inflation and a sinking peso. The result is that there is essentially a dual economy going on. One is the official bank rate, the other is the black market. The U.S. dollar is king. Everyone wants dollars, because holding your money in pesos just means the value of your money goes down, quickly. The official bank rate is about 6 pesos to the dollar; the current black market rate is about 11, and rising! What that means for us is that getting our money from the usual sources like ATMs and banks cuts our dollars in half; or conversely, changing money on the street via the mercado negro gets us twice the pesos. The catch is that you have to have U.S. cash. We had been warned about this situation by other travellers in Bolivia who had just come from Argentina. We loaded up on U.S. dollars via ATMs in Sucre (Bolivia) that provide the option of dispensing U.S. dollars (not exactly sure why, but no complaints here). So along with our passports, the money belt contains a 2-inch pile of U.S. twenties.

The result of all of this money stuff: Argentina is now cheap! Everything is 50% off. Not sure how long it’s all going to last, but we’re loving it. Bottles of decent malbec are 2 to 3 bucks, a litre of beer costs a buck and a half, and a downtown room with a view is 20 bucks. A hundred-dollar bag of groceries in Canada costs 20 bucks here, including 2 bottles of wine. It just may be cheaper than Bolivia...without the explosive diarrhea!

An interesting situation for us, as cycle-tourists, is the daily schedule differences between us and them. Unlike the to-bed-early-get-up-early inhabitants of the Andes (which suits us perfectly), Argentines are night owls. They get up late (breakfast is served at 8 or 9 am) and go to bed late. Dinner starts around 9 or 10 pm, with long dinner conversations lasting until midnight or later. "Going out" means after midnight until sunrise. Going to a bar before midnight labels you as a total newbie. Needless to say, we don't admit to our standard bedtime of 9 pm. Then there’s the siesta. We were told not to expect anything to be open between 1 and 6 pm. It’s true! Mid-afternoons here are like middle of the night. Everyone shuts things down and hides until the evening rush. It’s amazing. A street that has tumbleweed rolling down it at 3 pm, lights up like a Christmas tree at 7 pm and is wall to wall people again. The problem for us is that we get up early to ride, then arrive at our destination in the early afternoon – just in time for everything to shut down. We haven’t yet figured out what the optimal strategy is, but we will. Life in Argentina. Gotta love it.

OK, onwards and southwards along Ruta 9. Jujuy, while a decent place to get accustomed to Argentine life, is just a stop. Tomorrow we head for Salta –the beating heart of the northwest. By all accounts, a beautiful place with beautiful things. Looking forward to it. Hasta luego chicos.