Get away from the heat and the crowds of big city Mendoza and head south into the province on a sparkling new Ruta 40. A little off the beaten track, the Malargue region is a dramatic world of volcanic landscapes, hot springs and unspoilt mountain scenery.

I don’t find Argentinian towns much fun at the best of times. Add crazy drivers, summer heat and holidays and it is time to see the other side of Argentina, a side far removed from the crowds, non stop partying and asados, usually accompanied by loud techno music well into the small hours.

Malargue is 326 km south of Mendoza on Ruta 40, the iconic road which stretches for over 5000 km from Ushuia to the Bolivian border. Driving south from Pareditas it really starts to feel like a road trip. A new Ruta 40 unfurls in front of you, the old parallel one consigned to ripio and the foothills. 

Admittedly this first undulating stretch is fairly ordinary, the earth scrubby and arid, but as the Rio Diamante gets closer, so too does the scenery improve. Suddenly there is a volcano on your left, jutting starkly from the plain, and then the dramatic Diamante river gorge. Soon more hills emerge, many giving away their origins by their conical shape.

There is relatively little traffic here. Occasionally one sees a die-hard cyclist tackling Ruta 40, living his nights under road bridges and behind abandoned houses, ticking the kilometres off painfully in the ceaseless winds.

But we are in Malargue long before him, enjoying the surprisingly peaceful surrounds of one of the best value Municiple campsites in Argentina, at a bargain basement AR$180 all in. The town consists largely of just one main street, but it is a tidy street and the town has a pleasant feel to it. It is a good base for planning trips to some of the many delights around its edges.

Volcan Malacara

Our sightseeing started with the Volcan Malacara. Argentina never makes things easy and this was no exception: buy the entrance ticket (AR$420) from the Aires de Libertad travel agent in town, appear the next day and join a convoy out to the site where you pay yet more money (AR$220) for the guide. Then there is a further drive to where the tour actually starts, until the 20 minutes walk to the centre of the volcano begins to feel like an anti climax.

But it shouldn’t be: Malacara is what is known as a hydromagmatic volcano, which means that the magma came into contact with water which caused its internal rupture and created the gullies and chimneys that you see today which are about 30 m high. An easy walk with just some minor scrambling leads into a couple of these cones and it is quite impressive to stand in the middle and look up at their soaring height.

A viewpoint on the hill near the volcano gave a great overall view of the area. Llancanelo Lagoon was clearly visible but it is so dry now that there are no birds in residence. The distant volcanoes of the Payunia region could be seen and the outline of the high Andes. And the little white bobble in the scrub: the European Space Agencies Radio Telescope DS3 or Deep Space 3, of which there are only three in the world: this one, one in Spain and another in Australia. For such an important piece of kit, it looked surprisingly small and insignificant.

Caverna de las Brujas

The ticket for these caves is purchased at the tourist office in Malargue and costs AR$283, with a further AR$300 to the guide on site. As they lie about 70 km south of the town, this system means they are not very convenient if you are coming from the south! At least we were allowed to drive out there in our own car and for the first time on Ruta 40, I saw a sign warning us of a big spotted cat crossing – but sadly not the cat!

There is some beautiful scenery with great white slabs of rock scattered around near the site – it would be a wonderful hiking area. Now however our attention was turned to the caves. A cheerful rather wide guide led us off slowly. Having been lectured on not going in the caves if one suffered from hyper-tension or claustrophobia, I was more worried for her health than mine. We ascended the hill very slowly with frequent stops in order for her to catch her breath. A young girl with long black fingernails and braided hair spoke very good English and translated for us.

For nearly an hour we lingered in the first cavern, a large dusty space, sitting down to listen to the story of the witches and the history of Argentina in relation to the cave. To put it succinctly, this was a marine cave, created by the sea millions of years ago when the region was under water. As for the witches, they were women fleeing tribal prosecution whose wails could be heard from within; the entrance light still casts their shadows on the ceiling.

Then things got bizarre. Simon and I had been looking at each other while the guide waffled on, wondering if we were ever going to get beyond this rather nondescript cave, when suddenly she disappeared with a wriggle. We found ourselves following on hands and knees into the further reaches of the cave; precarious ladders were climbed, we crawled and contorted ourselves in narrow spaces between huge boulders and pulled ourselves up steep gullies with tangling ropes.

Some of the passages looked quite dangerous: if you missed your footing on a ladder here, there was only a dark void below. It would be a wonderful place to lose a child and even they seemed a bit nervous about the whole thing. The rather dirty formations paled into insignificance and indeed were often used for handholds, but all were present.

After 2.5 hours we emerged back into warm daylight and I asked our little translator: 

“Does Argentina have ‘health and safety’?” For the first time she looked blank which rather answered the question. She posed for a photo with us and trotted off, eight out of ten of her fingernails still mercifully intact.

The scenery is splendid, the tour is an unexpected adventure: it’s brilliant, don’t miss it!

Parque Provincial Payunia

We were limited on time by this stage and only Choique had a tour going out to Payunia the day we wanted. This was a jolly red Land Rover, but life on the back two seats definitely wasn’t jolly: we spent most of the next 12 hours bouncing around whilst having to keep our heads bent in order to get a view out of the rather low windows. To add insult to injury they were AR$800 more than the average price of AR$32,000 (cheaper for cash!).

However we would have struggled with our 2WD, so to anyone wanting to do the trip, I would suggest going with another operator in a truck with big windows (ie. Karen), or rent your own 4×4 for the day and do it leisurely – the 12 hour trip is a big day.

The positive aspect of the day was that this is a place that is well worth it. The 4,500-sq-km reserve claims to have the highest concentration of volcanoes in the world, alongside Kamchatka in Russia – this works out at more than 10.6 volcanoes per 100-sq-km, or about 900 in total, including Payun Matru with an 8 km diameter crater and semi-permanent lake. It has every type of volcano known to man, as well as the world’s longest lava flow, which flowed out of the Santa Maria volcano and is 118 km long. 

On the animal front, there is a wide diversity: pumas, armadillos, condors, foxes, eagles, rattlesnakes and guanacos. Ironically our first sighting was of an armadillo – or piche as they are called locally – on the road, who narrowly escaped death when Simon alerted the driver. They can scuttle away surprisingly quickly and are amusing whiskery little things. We also saw lots of guanacos; there is usually at least one of the herd keeping watch on a high point and being obligingly photogenic.

 Once we got past the mini oil wells and entered the reserve, we were in another world of high mountain plains and surreal landscapes; this area is called the Pampa Negra and the plateau is around 2,133 m. The earth was black and we emerged from the Landrover to walk on tiny crisp black pumice pebbles. All around were jumbled volcanic peaks, including many small ones on the flanks of larger ones.  The smooth charcoal slopes were dotted with glossy black lava bombs: boulders that had been blown out of the volcanos and scattered randomly. Another intriguing stone had emerged as a liquid but then solidified into weird shapes.

Yellow grasses dotted some of the flanks, clinging on tenaciously to life, and had spread more widely on the upland plains. There were some thorny bushes and mini bonsai-like trees and I even found a lizard by one lone rock. Later at the Los Colores lookout, we were astounded at the burnt blush of the nearby volcanoes: payunia means ‘copper-coloured’.

Lunch was under a shade shelter at the end of the road at Molles Real, then we retraced our steps a little before veering off to the Morado Volcano. There is a short walk round the flank to a dramatic viewpoint where you can look right into the heart of the cone, blown out on one side where a wide stream of petrified lava can be seen flowing down the hillside. 

Another bumpy ride further and we finally emerged on Ruta 40 where we stopped to look at La Pasarela, where the Rio Grande has carved a steep narrow sided black canyon out of the lava. Below the main road, the old road crossed the chasm on a small flat bridge. It was to be our last stop of the tour, other than a final one by a shady creek bed where our guide handed around Coke and dolce de leche pastries.

By the time we were back in Malargue at 8 pm we were both feeling rather shattered and extremely glad to clamber out of the Land Rover for the final time.

Castillos de Pincheira

The action of wind and water has produced this natural rock formation that resembles a tall castle with towers. Named after a bandit who used to hide out in the area, the Castillos are an easy 27 km drive on gravel roads to the west of Malargue.

Access is through a nice campsite (AR$ 250 each so you might as well stay there) with lots of shady trees, green grass and a couple of lakes with a variety of birdlife. There is also a swimming pool and our admission allowed us to stay for the day. It was a pleasantly cool spot to curl up in the heat of the afternoon.

It is an easy 1.5 hour walk, crossing a scary swing bridge to the other side of the river, then climbing steadily to a small cave. From there a rough scramble brings you out on top, from where the track follows the edges and ascends to a cross, with superb views over the green valley below. A wander along the ridge and then the walk dropped us back to river level again.

Banos Termales Cajon Grande

I am not sure if these should come under the Malargue heading or not, but they are as close to there as anywhere, other than Chile.  They are 135 km from the town: head south to the Rio Grande on Ruta 40 then hang a right westwards towards the Paso Pehuenche at 2,553 m. You actually leave this road about 30 km before the Chilean border and head up a scenic valley to the hot springs area, nestled under a high bluff. 

We had to go through Argentine immigration at Las Loicas, a small village some 30 km from Ruta 40, even though we had no intention of crossing into Chile: it is certainly an easy way to get another 90 days in your passport.

The springs consist of a series of small stone basins set along and above the river with a nice open air natural feel to them. The grass car park was busy with scattered campers (AR$200 each) and we put our tent up next to the quietest looking occupants. It was such a hot day that we waited until after the 8 pm sunset to actually immerse ourselves as it was simply too hot before and we weren’t quite brave enough for the river. Amazingly we had the idyllic pools all to ourselves as the locals seemed to be busy with their asados.

We laid back and watched as the volcanic peaks faded and the stars emerged to finally give a deep velvety sky, the traces of the milky way very vivid in the unpolluted atmosphere. Sometimes all one needs in life is a hot spring!

The following day we could not resist driving up to the Paso Pehuenche border at 2,553 m, a wild landscape of bare hills above fertile valleys. We explored a waterfall and a little valley, not knowing whether we were in Chile or Argentina, before heading back to immigration in Las Loicas. The officer remembered us – I didn’t dare mention that we had disobeyed his orders and set a minor foot into Chile!

Valle Hermoso

We had one final place to visit: lying some 27 km beyond Las Lenas, Argentina’s posh ski resort, the Valle Hermoso does not give up its delights lightly. The gravel road is rough and slow; you go up and you go down, bouncing around hairpin bends in clouds of bull dust until you emerge in what indeed is a very beautiful valley.

Hemmed in by mountains, it is quite wide with smaller hills to the edges whose peaks give lovely views. We were in the realm of gauchos again and herds of horses. There is a large lagoon popular with fishermen but where there are people there is usually noise in Argentina; we continued another km and found a beautiful wild campsite just beside a stream. We arrived just in time to see the fiery sunset colours on the pale jagged peaks above the lagoon before a quiet starry night and perfect peace descended on us.

There is not much to do here other than fish or hike or ride, but it would be easy to while away the time. There is a small official campsite next to the lagoon with a small restaurant. We did some hikes and found wonderful wild flowers, including one which looked like a splendid pink orchid.

When we drove out, we stopped at the lookout point above the valley which gives superb views in all directions.  Andean condors flew overhead and one landed nearby; they are huge, rather ugly birds with splashes of white and look much more elegant in the air.

Pozos de las Animas

There are a couple of things of interest in the valley below Las Lenas: the lagoon mentioned below and these two massive side-by-side sinkholes. If you are passing, they are free and right beside the road – I found them quite attractive with their deep green waters . They originate as collapsed caverns created by water incursion and one is almost perfectly round. When the wind blows, they are said to moan eerily, hence their name Wells of the Souls, but unfortunately they were unobligingly quiet the day we visited.

Just down the road at the little hamlet of Les Molles is the old Hotel Termas Lahuen-Co which has tempting thermal baths, but fresh from Cajon Grande, we did not call in.

Laguna de la Nina Encantada

Expecting a steep walk up the hill, this little lagoon is actually only a 400 m return walk, approached over a sturdy swing bridge. Entrance is AR$90 and it is kept very spick and span which is a nice change.

It is actually a collapsed cavern again but the rock is very pale and the water is a beautiful deep blue colour. Rainbow trout swim languidly and it is surrounded by vegetation giving a luxuriant feel. There wasn’t much to see but it was very charming. The enchanted girl was an Indian maiden called Elcha who fell in love with an unsuitable man; they ran away together and ended up hiding in the lake.

The lagoon brought to an end our sightseeing wanderings around Malargue and somewhat sadly we turned our car northwards towards Mendoza. We stopped just up the road at El Sosneado to buy one of the delicious jamon sandwiches at the Ruta 40 roadhouse, an authentic old building with an equally charismatic owner. We had met him when we had set off with Juan on our horse riding trip exploring the gorgeous Atuel Valley and the Miracle of Los Andes aeroplane crash, another of our Malargue highlights.  There had been so many in this rather unknown area of Argentina – it really should be on every traveller’s itinerary.

NOTES

£1 = 97 Argentine peso (September 2020)