Wed Jan 27: The road trip to Susques was quite beautiful and the road was very good, with very little traffic. The Paseo de los Coloradas was breathtaking and the road that climbed into the Andes, Questa de Lipan, was serpent-like. We crossed the Salina Grandes at 4170m
The satellite shot shows the steep climb up to the Salinas and their size
Up and up we went to over 4000 meters, then drop a little the other side to the Salinas
We reach the Salinas Grandes. The road to Susques runs right across the Salinas. And half was across,would you believe it, a tourist stop. Being tourists, we stopped too.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
You got the best of the clear lighting obviously when the sun was out
The Salinas Grandes are at 11,000 feet, about 3,500 meters. Thousands of years ago there was a great lake here. Now all that’s left are hundreds of square miles of salt. An article I read said, “Everyone drives off here to stand on the salt and think about infinity.” Cannot say we risked driving onto the salt pan, but certainly thought about infinity.
So far as the eye can see there is only brilliant white for which you need sunglasses and sun cream to protect yourself from the strong UV-rays. Unreal scenery.
The Salinas Grandes are vast and level and the salt crust has formed hexagonal fields: a bit like the way the basalt of Giants Causeway cooled in hexagonal columns. Salinas Grandes (as the name implies) is the largest salt pan in Argentina and occupies an area similar to Luxembourg. The quality of light reflected off the salt is amazing.
Having taken the statutory photos, we drove on to Susques. This really was the end of the world!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Susques is the border crossing to Chile. After independence from the Spanish Crown this Atacama region stayed with Bolivia, and in 1884, after the so-called Pacific War, between Peru, Bolivia on one side against Chile on the other, the region passed to the Chileans. At that time there were only about 300 indians left living scattered in the area, which only came together during the local religious festivities. After the arbitration in the border limitation conflict with Chile, the town of Susques ended up on the Argentinean side of the border.
The church, which has been declared a National Historic Monument, dates back to 1598, when the local people themselves raised it. It is different from most churches in the region in its thatched roof and its tower. Inside there are wonderful paintings of the Cuzco School and an antique picture of Bethlehem. The bells you can hear pealing in the tower were brought from Chuquisaca. Of all the churches I have seen in my life, this was the most moving. Inside the floor was just dirt, but the building was maintained by and for the local people. Tourists just never get this far. We say two other groups, a family of 3 from Chile, and a couple, in the whole time we were in Susques.
The climate is dry and cold, typical of the Puna highlands, and vegetation is poor: represented only by tola, mallow and the so-called añagua. Wildlife is represented by vicuñas, condors, vizcachas and fox. The economy of the area is centred on livestock breeding and mining: there are deposits of gold, silver, copper, iron and tin, as well as salt and borax.
It is the only route to cross into Chile through the Jama pass. Susques has a customs checkpoint before you enter Chile.. Once in Chile, the closest town is San Pedro de Atacama, located yet another 165 kilometres from the pass.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We found one restaurant here. It was run by a very friendly local man who had gone off to see the world, and returned home to run his own restaurant. The specialty was soup heated by dropping a sizzling hot rock into it, see above. Plus us with the Chilean family, and the charming restaurant owner.
 |
 |
 |
 |
After that we dropped back down to Purmamarca, along the same road that we had ascended - having managed to miss the dirt track that ran east along the Salinas to San Antonio de los Cobres.
The bears playing Cowboys and Indians among the cactus
From Purmamarca we took the fast route back to Salta, and booked in again to the Candela Hotel