Lost and Found: Iruya

The mythic city of Iruya hangs at the end of my imagination, thanks to a handful of travelers I've met southward bound. "Are you going to Iruya?" they'd ask hopefully. And then the inevitable ecstatic sigh ensues, "Ahhh Iruya" they repeat.

Needless to say, Iruya was number one on my list to the north. A tiny little colonial town squished onto an unlikely hilltop, walking up and down Iruya's streets is like training for a marathon, part based on their steepness and part on the town's altitude.

La Casona del Molino: Salta's Last Greatest Peña

Northern Argentina's local folk music is called peña, and involves guitars and charangas (the mini guitar historically made out an armadillo's shell), deep drums made from hollowed out tree trunks and a combo of sheep and goat skin, and sometimes bamboo flutes. Notoriously the capital of peña, Salta in general has become rather touristy and the peñas reflect that. Nowadays many are more than borderline tacky, featuring over-the-top photo slide shows, bad flute covers of western pop music, and strangely clad dancers.

Middle of Somewhere (Part II): Los Molinos

Argentina's Route 40 that stretches north to south across the entire country, is virtually impassable without an all-terrain vehicle between the two little towns of Angastaco and Los Molinos in Salta. This dirt road sports fierce curves, sandy trenches, and river or two that directly bisect it. As such, no public bus goes between the two towns. Luckily enough for me however, a group of school children from Angastaco goes to school in Molinos during the week. I happened to be in Angastaco on a Friday meaning that all of the town's sturdy pick-up trucks were off to the little town of Molinos to fetch the 30 some-odd kids coming home for the weekend.

Middle of Somewhere: Angostaca

A two-hour bus ride from Cafayate, along a winded dirt road through devastating landscape, leaves me at the corner of the dusty little plaza in Angostaca, Salta. Population: 1,200. Number of restaurants: 3. Hotels: 2. Gas Stations: 1. No: Internet, Cell Service etc... The kind of town where even the dogs know you're not from around.

Excursion

The excursion offers a simple solution to a tourist's logistical complication of how and where and when. For this reason, you're bound to encounter a inharmonious combination of people with unique motivations and goals for their travels. This was my observation on my first excursion ever.

First, there is an Italian couple in their early twenties, feverishly enamored with one-another yet indifferent to the stunning scenery. He spends most of the tour inventing new angles at which to capture his love on film, while she works on her blasé stare into the distance. In the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat), a tremendous rock formation created by an ancient waterfall, she lies down and stretches across the rocks on her side, posing for her eager camera man.