Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Tucumán

I had a second day in Córdoba on Monday, and I then caught an overnight bus to Tucumán, which is another big city in north-west Argentina. I decided I was a bit tired of busy city-centre hostels, so I'm staying in a hostel called Casa Calchaquí, which is in a small town called Yerba Buena, about five miles west of Tucumán. I've even got a private room for the first time, and it's about a million times more relaxing here than at that crazy hostel in Córdoba, as you can see.

However, that was yesterday, because at about 9pm last night there was a massive thunderstorm, which in the space of an hour turned the roads into rivers, and soaked me as I went out to get some dinner. As a result the temperature has plummeted, and today it's hardly got above 15C, whereas yesterday it was 28C.

In retrospect it was probably a mistake to stay at this hostel, because although it's very pleasant, there's hardly anyone else staying here, and it's made me feel quite isolated, stuck out here in a modern suburb of Tucumán, a long bus ride from town, and with nothing here except for a few expensive restaurants. Lesson learned, from now on I'll stick to the crazy town-centre hostels.

Anyway, while the sun was shining yesterday I did get a chance to see some of the sights of Tucumán, including the Catedral, the Casa de Gobierno and the Casa de la Independencia, which is Argentina's equivalent of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Tomorrow I head into the mountains for the first time, starting in Tafí del Valle.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Tim. I hope you had a good time in the mountains. I'm sorry about the weather cramping your style. I dig the facial hair! Nic xxx

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  2. Wow, could you see the mountains from where you were? You must have been close to where they start looking at the map.

    The map is so good now with the lines on! Those bus journeys! I can see where you found time to grow the beard!

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  3. Nic, I'm still having a good time in the mountains, thanks. The weather has improved a lot now!

    Jamie, I could see the mountains from where I was in Tucumán, and I've seen a lot more of them in the last couple of days.

    The beard is coming along quite well - I'll keep growing it for a while longer yet, at least until I get completely fed up with it.

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