Travel Guide San Antonio De Los Cobres

The small isolated village is known as the major stop of the famous Cloud Train (Tren a las Nubes), which leaves from Salta. It is also in this region that the highest peak of the Argentine Northwest, Cerro Llulaillaco (6,723 m) is located. An expedition financed by the National Geographic Society discovered there in 1999 three Inca mummies perfectly preserved thanks to the climatic conditions (they are exposed in the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña in Salta). It is also located at the crossroads of two mythical roads, the Ruta 40, which runs along the Andes from the north to the south of Argentina, and the Route 51, which leaves from Salta and crosses the region to the Chilean border.Car route: Like the tourist train, when you leave Salta, you will travel through the Quebrada del Toro, then the Quebrada de Tastil. After the latter, with a much drier climate and more desert-like landscapes, we leave the railway line that we will find only after the village of San Antonio de los Cobres. Once in the village, we leave Route 51 to take the mythical Route 40 through the puna, going up to the north. Crossing the Abra Blanca pass (the highest point of the route, at 4,080 m), we enter the Puna and discover the highest volcano in the world, the Nevado de Acay, which culminates at 5,950 m where the longest river in the country is born: the Calchaqui River. Arrived at the village of Susques, a road goes down towards Purmamarca while passing by the famous Salinas Grandes. We finish the descent in the middle of the Quebrada de Humahuaca valley and its land of seven colors.