Cordoba
Day 103, Sat Dec 11 Cordoba
It was a very comfortable 10 hour bus ride to Cordoba from Buenos Aires. My seat was next to a fairly big man, which did restrict my movements, but the seats were extremly comfortable and I slept most of the way.
While Cordoba is the second largest city in the country, it is dwarfed by Buenos Aires. It is a University town, and that to me was the most alluring thing about the city. The architecture, for me, is not quite as impressive as BA. It is a nice city, well worth the visit.
The hostel in Cordoba I stayed in, Che Salguero, is run by a bunch of University students. They do a really good job. I checked in and after bfast, went out on a walk. There was quite a buzzle for a Saturday. After a wee bit of a walk in the morniing, I settled in a nice little park with a book (Youth by Coetzee) for a couple of hours. I enjoy reading in a park, in the shade of trees, watching people walk by, play, sit, make out… Followed that with more walks around the city and a movie! My first movie in 3 months.
The highlight of the day was the street market along Feria de los Artes that started around 18:30, with some live music.
I made a change to my routine. Normally when I get to a town, I orient myself before heading out to explore. I walk down a couple of main streets or look at the map and figure out where the main streets lie. This time, I decided to just walk before looking at the map or orient myself. Bad idea.. I had no idea about the layout of the city and managed to get lost quite a few times during my stay!
Day 104, Sun Dec 12 Cordoba
Based on the recommendation of one of the owners at the hostel, I headed out to visit Quebrada del Condorito. An early start to the day, since I needed to be at the station to catch the bus at 08:00, for a two hour bus journey.
Spent the day on a 6 hour hike, watching condors. The condors teach their young to fly herem and it was quite enjoyable to watch them fly. I had a couple of them come about 10m from me.
The weather surprised me. I had expected it to be cool, since I was up in a mountain, but I hadnt expected the wind, which made it extremely cold. It was quite all right during the hike, but waiting for the bus back to Cordoba was quite a tough experience. 1.5 hour wait at the bus stop, huddle together against the wind. It was a good thing I had company – I made friends with 3 Swedish girls and an Argentine couple I met on the hike.
Day 105, Mon Dec 13 Cordoba
I took the day off! I didnt do much the day. Walked around a little bit and then decided to watch a movie. The movie was really bad. I cant remember the title; I managed to fall asleep in the middle of the movie. It was nice to get away from the heat for a little while!
After lunch, I headed to the hostel to watch Arsenal play Manchester United, with a group of Irish and Engligh guys. Despite my (fairly vocal) support, Arsenal lost the match!
Day 106, Tue Dec 14 Cordoba
Walked around the city, visiting spots previously missed – Paseo del Buen Pastor, Gothic church.
I met a friend from the Navimag at city centre and headed out to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch. We spent the afternoon catching up and walking around quite aimlessly, as we tried to make plans for the next couple of days.
Went to the new Harry Potter movie to escape the heat.
Day 107, Wed Dec 15 Cordoba
Sandra, my friend from Navimag, and I headed out to La Cumbrecita, which is a very touristy German/ Swiss town about 2.5 hours outside Cordoba city. We had to take a connection at Villa Belgrano. We made the connection with about a minute to spare.
Cumbrecita was small and a pleasant town, but a bit of a let down. The waterfall was nice, and we tried swimming in it, but the water was too cold. Spent a hour or so at the waterfalls, before heading out to explore the other locations marked on the map. The town takes all of 30 minutes to see! We headed back to the waterfalls and decided to take an earlier bus. That would give us a couple of hours to explore Belgrano. Had some ice cream that was amazing! Selva Negra flavour (black forest).
Belgrano is another German town. The main street makes you wonder where you are! The buildings and the names are German. The best thing in the town for me was a German bakery store that sold some black bread and some nice cakes!
Dinner was at an Arabic restaurant where the food was great and the service, non existent. The owner didnt thaw till we paid the bill and left, at which time he finally cracked a smile!
Day 108, Thu Dec 16 Cordoba
Sandra and I wandered around town, visiting spots that either had missed. Manzana de los Luces, the block of enlightment, with its university and church was the highlight of the day.
We had dinner and sat around chatting for a long time, before realising that Sandra had about 30 minutes to get to the station. We headed to her hostel, grabbed her bags and almost ran to the station! Made it with about 5 minutes to spare, with the bus driver complaining that she almost missed the bus!
Tags: Travel
Damu