Mendoza - Salta

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The bus ride from Mendoza to Cordoba wasn't very fun so all 3 of us were exhausted on arrival. After spending the morning waiting to check in and relaxing, we set out to visit one of the big art museums called Carrafa where there was a huge international photography exhibition. Tha evening we were joined by an Argentine friend that Chris and I met in Brazil who talked us into going out with him and his friends to watch a local band called La Barra. So after a few pre-drinks at his house we ventured out and discovered the nightlife of Corodoba, which is a huge university city, from a local's point of view. We were introduced to the favourite music choice here (not really our cup of tea but very fun for the experience!) and also the most popular drink: Fernet and Coke. The following day we got up and checked out of the hostel and visited the local park before our friend came to pick us up, having insisted that if we were in his city we must stay with him! We decided that we would cook him a meal that night to say thanks and decided to cook roast chicken with potato gratin. Fortunately for everyone I stayed out of the kitchen, though a few hiccups happened in there, including the chicken being put in the overn upside down and the "stuffing" tasting like horse feed. He seemed reluctant but after tasting it we were all quite happy!

On the Tuesday morning we headed out with the intention of doing some sightseeing. We visited the Museo de la Memoria (Museum of Memory), a very interesting exhibition regarding the military system and disappearances in the 70s. After some empanadas for lunch followed by huge ice creams we ventured to the Natural Sciences museum that had some awesome bones and fossils. That evening our friend offered to cook for us (unsurprisingly), serving us a fantastic pasta dish. We hit the hay early as he had recommended us to visit Villa General Belgrano, a German settlement about 2 hours north of Cordoba. We set off in good time with only one bag between the 3 and got to the town at about midday, were we found a campsite a bit of a way out of town to stay the night. After some lunch we did a walk up to a viewpoint, which was qite a trek up some very steep steps but gave us a fantastic overlook of the little town. We then did another walk following the river through the town before deciding we all deserved a drink. The great thing was that Villa General Belgrano isn't just a German settlement, they also manufacture artesenal beer, so we sampled a few bottles in the beer gardens including a very tasty honey beer. After a very cosy night's sleep of 3 in a 2 man tent we set out to do another walk and also do a tour of a beer factory before busing back to Cordoba. After a bit of a chill we went out with our mate for dinner in a bar where we met up with his friends and went to a nightclub, having another taster of Cordoban parties!
Friday morning was a late start but we we made it out to visit another museum with fantastic exhibitions in a beautiful old mansion in the middle of the town and then headed back to pack up and say our goodbyes before getting the nightbus to Salta.

We arrived in Salta on Saturday and ended up in a really nice hostel with a great swimming pool. That afternoon we resisted taking the gondola up to a viewpoint and climbed 1070 steps up to it. A dog that looked like a bear decided to join us and we really thought he wouldn't make it up the stairs being so chubby, but he managed it and then spent the whole afternoon following us, even waiting outside our hostel until we ventured out again, eventually losing us at the bus stop. We cooked an English curry (courtesy of Kim) and then joined in the party out our hostel that finally died down at about 3 in the morning when people went out or had gone to bed. The weather wasn't good on the Sunday and due to the night before we were feeling quite lazy, only venturing to get bus tickets (where Beardog found us again), baking a banana cake and going to visit the centre. We had a huge asado (bbq) with a group we met at the hostel, which one of the employees offered to cook (and the locals do it really well!). Today the weather has not been grand but we still visited the little town San Lorenzo, about 30 minutes away, where we did a fantastic walk called Camino de Quebrada that led us though beautiful rainforest.

We are now back in the hostel eagerly awaiting the clock to strike midnight when we catch our bus to Quiaca from where we will cross the northern border into Bolivia.

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