Leaving the Salinas Grandes (the Great Salt Flats) we turned onto Highway 52, 'coming up to the highest point yet' in our tour of the Argentinian Andes.
The hills were a purplish taupe.
The lands turned red where the earth cut away.
Because we had to cover such a large distance on difficult roads there was very little stopping, and all our photos had to be grabbed looking out the bus windows, frequently unsatisfying. 
A sign on the road: Altos del Morado (Purple Heights). Ruta 52 Jujuy (the ultimate town on this journey). Altura S(obre) N(ivel) de M(ar) 4170m. 
The bus finally stopped and everyone took turns posing under a sign announcing that we were at 4170 Mts (13677 ft above sea level). This was the highest point on our trip through the Andes on the way to Purmamarca in the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Within 30 km we had dropped down to 2000 metres, and the clouds came in with a vengeance, and the fog too.
The road was barely visible, kind of scary considering it was nothing but hairpin turns at this point. 
A sign appeared: CONTINUA SECTORES DE CAMINO SINUOSO CON FUERTE PENDIENTE. Once the clouds cleared we realized that we were quickly passing by both spectacular sights along with that camino sinuoso. All the passengers on the bus complained loudly, and finally the bus stopped allowing us to get this panorama of the view below us. 
The land has turned back to that subtle purple-red that gave the name to the 'Purple Heights'.
At the lower levels the road was shimmering in the heat. I saw a mountain floating in the middle of the highway on a blue sea of distant mountains; my first mirage. This portion of the trip started in Salta, went along the route 'to the clouds' as far as the Ruinas de Tastil. From here we visited salt flats at Salinas Grandes, followed by going up to the highest point on our trip through Argentina so far, and came down into the colourful town of Purmamarca.
More of our 2008 trip to Argentina.
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