Dense sub-tropical forest...what a shame we couldn't camp in it! It looked sooo green and beautiful...compared to the dryness of our last campsite that was only down the road!
Stunning views to the river below.
The sign reads 'The end of the world'. It certainly felt like it when we saw the drop off the edge of the single track road!
The monument...strange, and an inappropriate distraction at a prime crash site. Lo.
After such a verdant, lush and scenic journey we arrived in industrial Rio Hondo (Spanish for Weston Super Mare, circa 1980). It was entirely my idea to come here to visit the termas...thermal baths. Oh dear.... When we arrived at the bus terminal Wiji was all set to get on another bus outa there...but hey I said, sure it looks like the kinda place where everyone is inbred (Cullompton) and maybe we will be murdered and eaten...but lets just look at the campsites....So we did.
They were enormous! The weather was fully sunny, we were in all our cold weather clothes from Tafi del Valle, sweating as we gawped our way around the three sites. They were full of massive old beautiful busses and vans and really old square orange and brown tents, garden furniture a go-go...to the max in fact. Sadly we couldn't really start taking picks because everyone was staring at us...the sweaty Brits with the massive backpacks! This was Argentine camping holiday central.
There was virtually no space in any of the three campsites, but in the second one we found a space on the bank of the Rio Hondo, and after a litter pick and a unresolved discussion over a pipe into the river that may have been from the toilet block, we put up our tiny tent...much to the amusement of others and all their furniture, caravans, massive tents, pergodas, camping games equipment, etc, etc.
We were soon set up and about to make a cuppa when we realsised that we were on someone elses concrete table...big mistake, we had to quickly relocate to the dusty ground to tea making and decided that maybe it was time to go into town!
God lord! Check out the retro signage! I actually quite enjoyed it in a voyeuristic, 'can't look away but should kind of way'.
There were some fantastic basket weavers selling and making their wares on the street.
Rio Hondo...also famous for its chocolate. A shop window front giving us a glimpse into the actual factory line. Hair nets and uniforms that make the 'Gerbers' get up look good! Lol!
Making a chocolate flake...use a spatular to spread a thin layer of choccy onto a marble slab, next re-spread it in the opposite direction...repeat untill choccy rouches up into a flake pattern. Don't eat, its for the shop! Mindblowing.
Looks lovely, doesn't it? It tasted like lardy chocolate...even worse than cadburys...greasier infact. Even Wiji couldn't eat it! We gave our small carefully picked selection away to a street child, not really that generous!
Maté drinking to the max, in the park, on the move...who didn't have a maté cup and metal thermas at all times on the go? Only us! We were the only tourists!
Dancing in the street...old people going for it Argentine styleee with a live very loud band.
That seemed to be it for the town, apart from a massive casino and a lot of neon as it got dark. We had an ok meal, where mine was a veggie lasagna...but naturally had chicken in it, of course. Then we went back to the campsite. The on mass, multi-generational family groups were still wallowing in the 'thermal pools'. This really wasn't what I had in mind at all. I was thinking au-natural, spring in quiet location...relaxing of course being an esential element. However fat hairy dads and screaming small children filling the pools with wee was the reality. We were united in our decision to give the 'baths' a miss...this was confirmed in absolute when we saw how horrific the toilets were.
In our tent, in the dark we decided that we could catch the 2:30am bus out of the Rio Honda overnight to Cordoba...why not make a great escape?! So we packed up and walked through the dark deserted streets late at night to a deserted bus terminal on the other side of town. Immedately we saw a bus pull up for Cordoba...it was full. So here we waited with some dogs who were going through the bins. Then a man turned up who wanted to persuade us to let him drive us...oh really, no thanks, well give the express mugging a miss cheers. Across the street we noticed that a man was sat on a bicycle holding a truncheon, strange, strange place.
Of course our the bus never came and as we waited we queried the sheer madness of our plan...was it even a plan or just sheer desperation? We had to admit temporary madness and go to the nearby hotel. Lucky for us they had a nice cheap room and it was 3am, so we figured that if we got up early we could get a bus out pronto.
No such luck for early buses, it seemed everyone was going to Cordoba, but later that day we got a bus via Santiago del Estero. We had to spend some time here because buses were so mentally packed before we could get gone to Cordoba in the afternoon. It was nice enough and we had some brekkie and updated the blog in a smoggy, run down caff, full of 11 year old boys playing violent war games...nice.
On the way out of Santiago del Estero...finally. One of the Celiba trees with its odd fruit.
We arrived at about 8pm in Cordoba, only to find that there was very little in the way of accomodation. We ended up enjoying the real original 1960's splendor of the Sussex Hotel, (pronounced sue-sex.) There was a lot of smoked glass, and sadly yet again twin beds...but we did enjoy the very cheap minibar before crashing out!
On a walk around the next day, the Cathedral Inglesia in Cordoba took over two centuries to build.
The interior was painted by Emilio Caraffa, a famour Cordobes painter.
More of the Celiba tree...the fruit expoding open to reveal fluffy seeds!
The domes of Inglesia Catedral and the orange tree lined small plaza behind it.
Wandering around massive Cordoba to find Lomitos 348, a 'classic Argentinian caff', apparently. It was the Town Cafe, without anything for me to really eat, except chips!
Cast concrete from several carved clay sections...quite interesting, but in a dodgy area.
Much later that evening the antiques market and craft stalls opened around 7:30pm. The streets were rammed with Argentines buying the crafts and eating the lovely cakes! I saw quite a few pieces of Murano glass, even I knew I had to resist!
The view of the main plaza from our window in the Sussex Hotel.
We decided to visit La Mamma for its genuine, family run Italian food. It was amazing!
My mushroom and masarla lasagna doesn't maybe photograph that well, but it really was absolutely delicious! Wiji had the four pasta selection. Mmmm.
Early morning Cordoba. The Sussex Hotel used to have a breakfast room on the eleventh floor, we visited it in the dodgy elevator sadly to find that it was derelict! Boo, it would have been so great to do a buffet breakfast with the panoramic views...we could see a very gooey green roof top pool across the way...all a bit tragic.
Before leaving we couldn't resist trying out the highly recommended 'Amor por hora', love by the hour hotels. So we got a taxi to the Eros Hotel, that delivered us off the highway to a to an individual private garage entrance. We saw no one, but as we entered the room the phone rang and Wiji discussed time and what we wanted, and had to pay through a hatch.
Jacuzzi included, rude not to! All immaculately clean.
It was a hilarious experience of the Argentine underworld of illicit adultery, and all so perfectly organised!
We then ordered a taxi to pick us up and we rushed off to meet our 10:30pm bus to Mendoza, Cama stylee...meaning lounge bed, for a full comfort overnight experience!
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