Iruya
Andean Village At About 2,780 Metres Clinging To A Mountainside, Reached By A Gravel Road Over A 4,000 Metre Pass From The Quebrada De Humahuaca · Iruya, Salta
Iruya is a village of stone and adobe houses stacked up a steep mountainside above the meeting of two rivers, in a corner of Salta province that can only be reached by road from Jujuy. The journey is the adventure: from the Humahuaca valley a gravel road climbs to the Abra del Condor pass at about four thousand metres, crossing the border between the provinces, then drops in hairpins into a canyon of red and ochre rock and along a riverbed that becomes the road for the final stretch. The village has a yellow and blue church, narrow stepped lanes, a few guesthouses and a sense of remoteness that the more visited towns of the Quebrada have lost. The people are Kolla, and life still follows farming and religious festivals. From Iruya, walks lead across the river to viewpoints and further to the even more isolated village of San Isidro, several hours on foot along the riverbed. It is not for everyone: the bus is slow, the altitude is high, and summer rain can close the road for days. For those who go, it is often the highlight of the north.
Iruya, Salta, Iruya, Salta, A4633, Argentina
The village is open at all times. Buses from Humahuaca run a few times a day. The road can be cut by rain and river floods in summer.