The trip to Alta Gracia, where Che spend part of his childhood, turned out to be a bit less straightforward than I expected.

I set out to find the minibus stop, only to be confused by helpful Cordobeses who all told me something different. In the end I gave up and set out to the main bus terminal, only to be passed by a Sarmiento bus saying 'Alta Gracia'. I contemplated hopping into a taxi and shout, Hollywood style, 'follow that bus', but there was no taxi to be seen and anyway, I couldn't remember the Spanish for 'follow'.

So a normal bus took me to Alta Gracia, which is a lovely town with a nice green square, and a huge Jesuit building at the other end. I went into the church (Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señore de la Merced) but on the inside it was very dark and depressing. I picked up a map from the lady at the tourist office in the Reloj Publico, the clock tower, but a few minutes later it started pouring down, so I took shelter in the (pink) municipal building.

When it was clear the rain was not going to stop, I put on my rainjacket and set off, no doubt looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame with my rucksack underneath my coat... I passed the Sierras Hotel, where rich families from Buenos Aires, including Che's relatives, used to come on holiday. It's completely delapidated now, but there are talks to restore it. Through the rain, I could vaguely see the surrounding hilly landscape, and on a sunny day, I'm sure it must be quite nice.

I plodded on and arrived at Villa Nydia, now Museo Che, completely drenched, so I waited a little under the porch before going in, because I didn't want to leave a trail all over Che's ancestral home.

I was virtually alone, so I took my time. Villa Nydia was Che's home in the late thirties and early fourties. The (quite well-off) Guevara Lynch family moved there to alleviate little Ernesto's (Ernestito or 'Tete') asthma, as the climate in Alta Gracia was drier than in humid Buenos Aires (Ha!)

There are lots of photos of Ernestito and his friends and family, and from the testimonials the young Ernesto seems to emerge as the leader of the pack, the one to come up with ideas for games. They even dug entire trenches to play 'war'.

There was also a room dedicated to Ernesto Guevara's trips abroad, one of which is featured in the film Los Diarios de Motocicleta (the Motorcycle Diaries) which is a great film and the main actor looks eerily like the young Che Guevara.

The last room features Che with his children and first and second wife. There are also reproductions of the last letters he sent to his parents and his children, which were very moving. There was also the letter he sent to Fidel, to inform him he was leaving Cuba and going to fight in Bolivia. It made me wonder if he would be shocked to see what his good friend Fidel has done to the ideals he so strongly believed in.

Che was shot in Bolivia, which is the next country on m itinerary. Lots of people in Argentina feel he should have been buried here, not in Cuba. He's a red thread through Latin America, leaving his mark on so many of the countries here. Every day, I still count at least two Che t-shirts.

It's a great little museum, as I told two people on my way back. They were still dry, and obviously thinking whether it was worth getting so wet for. I think it was.

I got back from Alta Gracia, packed my bag and settled my hotel bill (at 3$ per night, the best bargain so far!) The long distance bus to Salta awaited...