Fairy Tale Land of the Incas.

A rainbow of colors in the mountains: When camping holidays in the north of Argentina, the Andes show a particularly spectacular side. Wilde Lamaherden, white salt lakes, and colorful mountains enchant the visitors - and a train ride takes you directly into the clouds.

 

Purmamarca - Star Clear and cold is the night in 2200 meters altitude. In the moonlight, the silhouettes of the giant cactuses on the nearby ridge to see. Between the village church and cemetery there is the small campground of Purmamarca, a 2000-souls-village in the Quebrada de Humahuaca. The 150 kilometers long, low vegetation ravine in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, since 2003 belongs to the Unesco World Heritage Site. "Very bizarre, in such an area to sleep and wake up," says Susanne Schulze from Erfurt, the backpackers here than is on their impressions.

Cerro de los Siete Colores - to German: mountain of the seven colors - namely the thousands of visitors annually scanned mountain village. Who the intensity of various minerals formed landscape in full color photograph wants to be up early.

The ascent is not permitted, but a path all around, the brick on the erosion of brittle rock as the dominating root, makes a rapid believe in a fairy-tale landscape to be: "A mountain like a rainbow, it completely out of the sand. Forms, sometimes as Klecker castles look like a giant child in a giant beach could have built, "says the 26-year-old Susanne.

Purmamarca is located on a section through the Andes, the Incas used to have in order to have the regions of their empire to connect. The indigenous character of this part of northern Argentina in the Andean village yet to be felt, not least as to the facial features of the inhabitants are not difficult to ascertain. Even today burials found on the mountain out to the cemetery oriented according to traditional rites.

From Purmamarca are from the north only about three hours to Bolivia. The path through the sometimes moon-like landscapes Puna Plateau worth: The Maps and Iruya Tilcara and Humahuaca regional capital inviting.

About the passport in the desert

Power one of Purmamarca to Lamaherden past, while to the west, so charmed, not least the white of the salt lakes before the Jama Pass at 4200 meters above sea level in the Atacama Desert in Chile hineinführt, one of the driest areas of the earth applies.

A good place for adventure travelers, the tent aufzuschlagen, is San Pedro de Atacama, although there the temperature differences between day and night are greater than those between summer and winter. From there, it is then not far to Antofagasta on the Pacific. In order to acclimatize to the thin air of the Puna Plateau help, as some locals assure the chewing of coca leaf, from Bolivia, and vegetable markets to be sold legally. In most other provinces of Argentina, they are prohibited.

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A visit to the neighboring province of Salta almost inevitable that the means from the language of the Quechua Indians came Salta name yet so much as "the Beautiful". A good starting point is the eponymous capital, with its 500,000 inhabitants. Worth seeing is the old town with its churches and monasteries. From the mountain of San Bernardo, over 1070 levels with a little stamina, and easily accessible by foot or by cable car can be climbed, it is the view of the city and the adjacent subtropical woods.

Also culinarily Salta has much to offer, but the city said that nowhere else in the Argentina Empanadas stuffed dumplings called taste as good as here. Salta has a beautiful campground with private swimming lake. The fee for the camp is like everywhere else in the region economically, it is for a tent and a person per night around 1.50 euros.

Journey into the clouds

Tourist Saltas flagship is the "Tren a las Nubes," the "train in the clouds." He squirms out from the capital to pass through cactus canyons landscapes, at the edges of the glacier giants like Nevado de Acay (5716 meters) and the Nevado de Chani (5896 meters) enthrone. The goal of the 217 kilometers long journey is the viaduct La Polvorilla to 4220 meters above sea level.

On the way the train passed, the problems due to the concession from 2005 to 2008 could not proceed, 29 bridges, 21 tunnels and Behelfskonstruktionen like "zig-zag course", without some of the body would not cope. Very cheap is not fun: Depending on the season, from 120 to 140 U.S. dollars (95 to 110 euros) for the approximately 16-hour tour to berappen. Camping facilities are available in the landscape is not, and "wild camping" is strongly discouraged.

190 kilometers south of Salta is located as another destination for the famous white-Torrontés town Cafayate, home to two campsites overnight opportunities. From here it's only about 40 kilometers to the famous, already in the province of Tucuman situated ruins of the fortifications of the Quilmes Indians.