15-18 April. From Chilecito we continued north, winding through valley after valley and a string of charming small towns where life appears pleasantly simple.
Early morning start from Fiambala we passed the giant statues guarding the town gateway, passed sleeping parakeets perched on the wires, and into the sunrise breaking the horizon. The road leading us out through a red rock canyon as we made our way out to Balcon de Pissis.
BALCÓN DE PISSIS
Today we made a side trip to Balcón de Pissis—loosely translated as a viewpoint over Mount Pissis—but it is much, much more. Perched at over 4,500 meters in Catamarca Province, it’s less a viewpoint and more an amphitheatre of extremes.
We spent the morning following active mining roads in excellent condition. As we climbed the long switchbacks, the altitude made itself known—without time to acclimatize, we all felt a little lightheaded.
Reaching the lookout, there was an audible gasp from all of us. Pulling up to the edge, the view quite literally took our breath away. Possibly the most intoxicating vista of the entire trip, and we have it all to ourselves.
The land opened into a surreal panorama of salt flats, frozen lagoons, and some of the tallest volcanoes on Earth. Dominating the horizon is Nevado Ojos del Salado, rising to nearly 6,900 meters, its flanks streaked with snow and ash. Nearby, giants like Monte Pissis and Cerro Bonetecomplete the skyline.
Below, lagoons shimmered in improbable shades—turquoise, jade, and rust-red—each fed by mineral-rich meltwater. It felt like a different kind of Eden: one almost entirely without life, and somehow just as beautiful.
Of course, it was blowing. The air thin, cold, and dry—remote even by Andean standards, where the scale of the landscape dwarfs everything human.
We’d planned to drive down and explore the lagoons, maybe even spend the night, but Jaxon was really not feeling well and I felt a headache creeping in . We decided to retrace our steps and head back to lower elevations to sleep. We’ve learned the hard way that high altitude and sleep don’t mix well for us. And discovering at 10pm your kid is in distress would not be a fun thing.
Still, we felt privileged just to have glimpsed sheer beauty and grandeur of this place.
BELÉN
Back out to the main road we made our way on pavement to the large town of Belén. Here we slowed down for a couple of days to get schoolwork done. The kids are nearing the end of their school year and needed time to finish and submit assignments. We camped at the sports grounds on the edge of town, which welcomes travellers with no charge. Expecting noise—it was a Saturday night—we were surprised by how quiet it was and slept soundly.
Jaxon made friends with a couple of local dogs while doing his school work.
The following evening, after a full day of schoolwork and catching up on bits and pieces, we missed the shopping window and had to wait out the five-hour siesta while the entire town shut down. When everything reopened at 6 p.m., we filled a supermarket trolley and headed out again, looking for a quiet place to camp without luck, we eventually landed in the town square of a small, quiet village where Charley spent a couple of hours chatting with local kids. They spoke slowly and simply, making themselves easy to understand.
Another peaceful night, and we were rolling by 8 a.m. Sunday morning—just before the church bells rang.
A few kilometres up the road, we stopped to explore some strange rock formations that appeared to be climbing out of the ground.
A little further up the road we stopped to climb a giant sand dune, randomly sitting in a rock canyon. The sand was cold, almost freezing our feet. At 3,300m the altitude factor added to the workout intensity. My heart rate climbed faster than I could. The kids scrambled up effortlessly.
LAGUNA BLANCA
Down another long gravel road, out to yet another lagoon. These lagoons usually look better from above. This one was big and rather shallow. Few Flamingos were feeding on the edges. Vicuna roamed casually. Just stopped here for an hour to have lunch.
Laguna Blanca was an in and out drive. Picking up the road again we made our way to El Peñon and the start of our Puna Desert drive.