Yavi / La Quiaca
Getting to La Quiaca may result in "apunamiento", a common condition produced by the lack of oxygen. La Quiaca belongs to "La Puna", the high plateau from Bolivia. Nevertheless its high altitude, over 50,000 birds live at the biggest water reservoir in the area: Pozuelos Lake. Recommended for birdwat-ching. Yavi, east of La Quiaca, used to be a truly "encomienda" town, from where Spanish Adelantados would administer the whole region. This picturesque town (275 habs, 3700 mts above sea level) is the site where one of the most important Churches of the time had been built
Green valleys in the outskirts of San Salvador slowly turn into an arid, vast ravine known as Humauaca. Covered with houses built from dry clay, the landscape becomes astonishing. A trip to the town of humauaca crosses the phenomenal ravine through small villages like Purmamarca, whose Cathedral was built in 1648. There is a local craft market all year round and every Aug 30th a religious ceremonies take place where natives dance "samilantes, sikuris and Misa-chicos". Structures called "Pucaras" (fortified structures) can be seen.
San Salvador is known as "La tacita de Plata" for its tiny size and its proximity to Humauaca ravine. It settled 3 times due to constant assaults by natives. In 1593 San Salvador had 45 habs, but by 1607 there were only 9 left.
Jujuy features a vast archeological bed where rupestrian art, paintings and engravings on rocks are a testimony to human groups that inhabited the area 9000 years ago. The Incas settled along the Andes and their influence is very noticeable in Jujuy. The blend of pre-hispanic cultures with the more recent colonization by the Spanish crown has left a remarkable historical treasure, present in buildings, religious celebrations, art and music.
Quebrada de Humahuaca follows the line of a major cultural route, the Camino Inca, along the spectacular valley of the Rio Grande, from its source in the cold high desert plateau of the High Andean lands to its confluence with the Rio Leone some 150 km to the south. The valley shows evidence of its use as a major trade route over the years. It boast real traces of prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities, of the Inca Empire and of the fight for independence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
