Iruja, Jujuy, Argentina (far NW)

22:50S   65:10W   2750masl     4 hrs N by bus from Tilcara

Bolivia does not start at the border. Here in the far north of the Argentinian Andes, it is not difficult to think you are in Bolivia: women wear bright colours that they somehow manage to keep clean in the dust, and carry their babies wrapped in a blanket on their backs; and the zig zag roads up over the mountain passes are only single lane, have switchback curves that are too tight for the bus to get around in a single sweep, are prone to falling off the mountainsides in landslides during the heavy summer rains, and do not have guardrails (although on the particularly narrow sections that are balanced on the edge of huge precipices, they do paint stones on the side of the road white every 10m or so to stop you driving over the edge).

It`s a spectacular drop down into the Iruja Gorge from the 4000m pass above Humahuaca. The massive cliff faces are painted in a colourful selection of reds, oranges, greys, creams and yellows. The church, with its blue roof, is a welcoming sight against a backdrop of towering yellow cliff. The road beyond Iruja follows the valley floor and takes a new route each year depending on what the river has done during the rains. Most travel is on foot, horse or donkey, so you can hike where you like without having a guide (although people are amazed that you might do so).

The walk to San Isidro is very pretty, as is the hike down the Iruja valley to Aguas Blancas. The ancient ruins of Titiconte can be found without a guide if you know what to look for, and probably wouldn`t impress you if you didn`t.