The Ruta 40 guide · Guide
The northern end of Ruta 40
Where Argentina's longest road begins, on the Bolivian border at 3,442 m — La Quiaca, the Puna crossing to Susques and the descent to the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Ruta 40 starts at La Quiaca, a border town on the Jujuy altiplano at 3,442 m, directly across a bridge from Villazón in Bolivia. The milestone marking the northern end is the obligatory photograph, and almost everyone who takes it is about to drive south for several thousand kilometres.
La Quiaca
There is not much town: a grid of low buildings, a wind that never stops, and a market. Most travellers walk across to Villazón for an hour — the crossing is straightforward on foot with a passport — and come back with coca leaves and woven goods.
The Manca Fiesta, held each October, is the reason to time a visit. It is a pottery and barter fair that has been running for generations, and it fills the town.
Give yourself a day here before going higher. La Quiaca is already high enough that altitude will tell you whether you have acclimatised.
South across the Puna
From La Quiaca, Ruta 40 runs south through Abra Pampa and on across open Puna towards Susques. This is the emptiest driving in the Northwest: tussock grass, vicuñas, distant volcanoes, and villages an hour apart.
The road meets the Salinas Grandes where Ruta 40 crosses RN 52. The salt flat spans the Jujuy–Salta border and is worked commercially; local communities run guided walks out to the extraction pools, which is the right way to see it. Go in the morning, before the wind gets up.
Down to the Quebrada
From Salinas Grandes, RN 52 drops east over the Cuesta de Lipán — 4,170 m at the Abra de Potrerillos — and falls more than 1,500 m into Purmamarca, at the foot of the Cerro de los Siete Colores. From there the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape, runs north through Tilcara to Humahuaca itself.
This is the standard way to combine the two: Ruta 40 for the emptiness of the Puna, the Quebrada for the villages, the markets and the pre-Columbian sites.
Before you go up
The whole of this section sits above 3,400 m, and much of it above 4,000 m. Arrive from Salta or Jujuy over two days rather than one, drink more water than feels necessary, eat lightly and avoid alcohol the first night. If you are flying into Jujuy and driving straight to La Quiaca, build in a stop at Purmamarca or Tilcara on the way.
Fuel in La Quiaca and Abra Pampa. After that, Susques is the next dependable station.