Matt Damon's wife's birth town

Leaving Cordoba (and my illness) behind, I arrived in the city of Salta which can be found in the north west of Argentina at the foothills of the Andes mountains.

The first thing I spotted when I left my hostel to go for a wander was that the mullet haircut is well and truly alive in Salta. Every male (and some females including my good self after my disastrous haircut in Santiago, Chile) was sporting this 1980s hairdo. They also were a mixture of indigenous and non indigenous in appearance which was somewhat different to the more European like areas Id visited in the South. 

As you can imagine,I would have blended in perfectly had it not have been for my milky bar white skin...

Ugly haircuts aside, Salta is a pretty place, with lots of Hispanic looking churches and cathedrals owing to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. 

Plaza 9 de Julio

Iglesia Catedral

Spaniards even left a street named after their country!

Iglesia San Francisco

That morning we visited the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MAC) which had a rather interesting photography exhibition about indigenous fiestas and carnivals. However it only reminded me once again how I wished I had gone to the carnival in Rio or El Salvador, or any carnival for that matter! I guess its another excuse to return to South America... : D

Not impressed with her outfit...

Equally unimpressed with her hat...

This picture was shot in Cuba - that's Havana in the background

In the afternoon we went up San Bernardo Hill via the teleférico which is a Swiss made cable car. It was a pleasant ride up, that is until the cable cars decided to stop half way up! After a few minutes (and some rather sweaty palms...) it set off again. The views from the top were spectacular even despite the weather being overcast and a bit drizzly. 

The entrance to the teleférico

Inside

I wished Id got that cable car as mine had perspex windows which are terrible for taking photos through :(

We did : )

Vista from the top

Birds on a wire

Afterwards we ate lunch in a local parilla restaurant. After my epic illness, I stuck to my usual lomo milanesa  which turned out to be the size of the table it was so big. I managed to eat half and then promptly gave up and had to take the rest back to the hostel with me for dinner. Waste not, want not!

The hostel we were staying at was nice albeit a little on the quite side for my liking. Literally there were hardly any people staying there. Had I not already reserved my stay there then I would have moved, but given it was clean and in the centre of town then I stayed. The owners were also very sweet and helpful so I mustn't grumble. 

Today we visited the Museo de Alto Montaña  (Museum of High Altitude Archaeology) which one of my Spanish friends Espi had recommended I visit. Given it was $40 Argentine pesos to get in I was expecting it to be amazing! Thankfully it was really interesting and I would have bought the entire contents of the museum shop had I not been going to Bolivia where most of the items were going to be a lot cheaper...

The museum focuses on three children (two girls and a boy) who were found buried frozen on the now dorment volcano Mount Llullaillaco which is situated in the province of Salta in 1999. Nothing unusual there I hear you say, until you realise that these three children were sacrificed as part of a ritual offering by the Incas. Basically they were drugged with Chicha which is fermented corn and buried alive. The premise was that by sacrificing these children (whom were normally chosen due to their looks and breading) they would protect the surrounding towns by watching over them ensuring good harvests etc.. 

They were found 6700 metres above sea level together with all their ritual objects, which 

were also in perfect condition. Each object represented aspects of the social and religious life in the Inca world. For example the boy had a miniature llama which represented a shepherd which is a typical male job.

Illustration showing how each child was found and the items with them

The bodies, of which only one of the girls was on display in the musuem, had all been preserved since their discovery by using cryopreservation. This is basically a conservation technique using low temperatures.

It was weird looking at the preserved body of the little girl who apparently they estimate was six years old. Her face was black in places where after her burial, during some moment in the last few centuries, a bolt of lightning struck her. Fascinating.

We weren't really allowed to take pics but I snuck these ones in (without flash obviously!) shhh!...

typical headdress

typical necklace

Leaving the musuem, we were hungry so we went to the Mercado de Empanadas which is basically a market selling empanadas which are stuffed pastry baked or fried. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. They are made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. The stuffing can consist of a variety of meats, cheese, vegetables or fruits among others. I even had one made with dulche de leche in Buenos Aires!

The empanadas in Salta are called Salteñas. I have to say the ones we ate at the market were OK but I had tasted a better empanada in a restaurant just off the main square in Salta...ooooh controversial!

We decided to go to the artisan market afterwards which we were told was between twelve and fifteen blocks (every one we asked kept giving us different responses) up the road. We caught a bus there and arrived to watch a Carnaval in full swing! It was entertaining to watch them all dancing dressed in typical regional outfits. Much better than the actual market which turned out to be a bit disappointing.

Salteñan ring a ring a roses...

The bus ride back to the centre of town seemed to take forever, and as soon as the roads started appearing with no street signs we enquired as to why we hadn't reached our destination yet. We were told that the bus had already gone through the centre of town and was now en route to the outskirts of the city?! Gah!!! After another thirty minutes driving we came to the final stop and had to disembark and wait for the next bus to leave. The journey all in all robbed two hours of our lives. Thankfully the driver was sympathetic to our gringo stupidity and let us get on board without paying again. The ride back was much quicker and more direct for some reason, maybe because out driver was chewing coca leaves which he had stopped en route at a shop to buy! Amongst other things, chewing coca leaves acts as an appetite suppressant, helps with altitude sickness, provides energy and improves digestion. It also mildly numbs your cheek. Ive been told it doesnt provide any sort of high although Im sure Mr bus driver would disagree...

Im now writing this blog a few hours before I jump on a bus at midnight tonight and head north to La Quica which is at the end of the road route 9 in Argentina before you get into Bolivia. I will then disembark the bus, walk the ten minutes or so across the border into Villazón which is in Bolivia. Here Ill go through passport control before changing my Argentine pesos into Bolivian pesos and then finding a bus which will take me a few hours further north to the town of Tupiza. 

Provided all the above goes to plan (you never know, this is South America we´re talking about...) I will stay the night in Tupiza before finding a reputable tour company to visit the Uyuni Salt flats.

So there you go, those are my next travel moves. In all honesty I am a little scared of going to Bolivia. Mostly because I am leaving my beloved developed countries behind and entering the home of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But also because well, it is Bolivia and my foreign office email updates keep arriving in my inbox going on about transport strikes and floods and other miserable things which Im hoping don't impact me but invariably Im sure they will. Pessemistic, moi? Im British, duh. 

Trivia: Salta is the birth town of Luciana Bozán Barroso who is married to the actor Matt Damon. Don´t say I don't teach you anything...

Animal farm

...Continued


Before you ask, the reason for all the blog updates recently, is that I have had quite bit of spare time on my hands what with being ill so I thought I put it to good use!


Anyway, on with my experience...

The friends of my aunt and uncle, turned out to be a family (Paola & Andres) with two young kids, aged five (Manuel) and three years (Lorenzo) old. They lived in a remote farm house in a small town called San Marcos Sierras - basically Hippyville. Seriously, there was even a Hippy Museum in the town!


When I say the family lived remotely, I need to paraphrase this. It took us a good ten minutes just to drive up the track to their house and when we got there you couldn't see any houses for miles.

The two geese that lived in the garden

La casa

Having been traveling now for almost three months, I felt as though I was proving myself as someone capable of living outside of a city and coping with things that the countryside throws at you. I now know I have had a false sense of what is the "countryside". My exposure to the "countryside" in South America has yet (properly) exposed me to any scary creepy crawlies nor meant I was alone for more than five minutes given I was traveling with others. I am ashamed to say that based on my experiences at the house of Paola & Andres and as per my blog title, it has hit home that I am, and shall therefore remain (I imagine...) a city girl throughout the rest of my time in South America.


Let me explain the reason behind my above statement. As we got out of the car outside the house, their five dogs all came charging towards me almost knocking me over. I am not a dog lover. There I said it. I like them from afar, not up close where I can smell their doggyness.


Walking into the house I noticed that all the windows had meshes on them to protect from insects (I would later be grateful for these beautiful inventions...) and it lacked air con. It was boiling. Oppressively hot. Maybe I still had a temperature from my illness but I don't know how anyone could live in a place without at least one room with air con? I stress this point as it means you wouldn't need to have the windows open to let air in, especially at night. Having the windows open allow for noises from outside to penetrate in. Horrible insect noises and weird creaks and sounds that sound like someone is outside the window. Ive made my point. Not only am I not a big fan of dogs, I also HATE insects and am not overly keen on the dark, especially when there are weird noises to be found...


During my time at the house, we encountered a scorpion (a small one but still scary!), several spiders (some that jumped!) loads of big fat moths, tiny flies, stick insects, tiny frogs, mosquitoes and the list goes on. Some of these were inside the house, but most of them thankfully outside because of the meshes on the windows. Phew!


The parents, Paola and Andres were lovely, very welcoming and they, especially Paola took great care of me. She ensured I was fed and where possible kept me away from the kids so I could recuperate in peace. The children, whilst adorably cute, were absolute little monsters. Ive never known any children to misbehave as much as they did! Their energy was never ending and the noise they made was deafening. You can tell I don't have any children of my own yet...


After I started to feel a little less reliant on the bathroom, the family took me to a nearby town called La Cumbre which is where Paolas brother lived. It was his birthday and all his friends and the family were having an asado (BBQ) to celebrate.


En route to the La Cumbre, there was an electrical thunderstorm. Ive never seen anything like it. Even from the car (wedged in between two baby seats) I could see the whole sky light up every time the lightning struck. The way it lit the sky up in the distance looked like how I imagine the blitz to have done during the second world war.


The smell upon arriving at the house was amazing. The asado in the garden was in full gear and it looked amazing. We timed our arrival well as pretty soon the meat was dished out. Alas given my constitution, I was only allowed white rice. it was torturous, especially when the birthday cake came out later that evening : (

Delicious food!!

Lorenzo going in for some birthday cake action...

Thankfully, a few days later, when I was feeling much better, we went to another asado. This time it was held at a local campsite which one of the family friends were looking after as a favour. The meat was being cooked on the biggest asado Ive ever set eyes on. It was huge!

The Asado

The chef A.K.A the papa of the guy who invited us all to the campsite 

Unfortunately being in the middle of the country, we were surrounded by flies. They were everywhere. Getting in all the food and drink and generally being a nuisance. Nightmare. We tried every trick to get rid of them but failed. Pesky insects...

The fly situation wasn't helped by the fact that our table was near the toilet...

That afternoon, the rain came down a second time in a few days. It needs to be mentioned here that the Argentines talk about the weather a lot. Especially about rain. I guess because it doesn't tend to rain that often, so when it does everyone goes a little crazy chatting about it. Especially for those living in the country where water is needed for crops etc. This rainstorm was immense. It managed to flood all the local tracks leading up to the house. Thankfully the family had a pick up truck which we used to get into town otherwise we would have been stranded!

View from the back of the pick up truck in the rain

The old school coche in front of ours which was struggling to get through all the water 

Not the greatest picture but if you squint you can see the biggest rainbow ever!

All in all I was at the family home for almost a week. There were a lot of sleepless nights given my fears (and my irritable tummy) but it was interesting to see how life goes on in the country. 


I'm off to Salta in northern Argentina now before I head onto Bolivia. Hopefully this experience in San Marcos Sierras has prepared me for my time in Bolivia where I expect to encounter even more insects and funny noises in the night...!

Love sick in Cordoba

We arrived in Cordoba to even hotter weather than in San Luis (Yes I know most of you have had arctic conditions back home recently but there is a limit with hot weather especially when it leaves you struggling to breath...).

Even the local canines couldn't hack the heat...

Thankfully our hostel for the night had a little surprise for us to take our mind off the heat. We had booked a standard private double room and were expecting our usual bunk bed scenario, however the room, or should I say, apartment that we were given was a little different to say the least.


It was huge. With a capital H. Literally our very own apartment downstairs from the hostel with its own lock and key. Neither of us could work out why wed been given an apartment rather than a usual room, but given we were paying the same price we weren't going to complain! Counting the beds we established that it could sleep seven people and house another hoard of them sleeping on the floor if necessary. Perfect party place, if only wed have known enough people...

two beds...

A third bed...

Two more beds and some random small wooden stage in the corner?!

The apartment

Our double bed with easyjet bed sheets...

The kitchen. Where none of the appliances worked. The bathroom is to the right

With our stomachs rumbling we set off for a spot of lunch and a wander around the area. I found Cordoba to be much prettier and smaller than Buenos Aires which had been the last big Argentinian city Id been to (Mendoza, I don't count you as a city...). Cordoba had more in the way of churches and colonial architecture, and, most importantly, it felt much safer. There were police - of every type, tourist, guardia civil etc - everywhere.

No idea who this statue is of...

This building reminded me of Paris for some reason...

View looking out of the main doors of the cathedral

The cathedral

The side of the cathedral 

The cathedral from the main square

That evening, we ate at the hostel as they were putting on a free chop suey. Now, I wouldn't have usually gone with this as an option (not a big fan of it), but we were both tired and couldn't be bothered to leave the hostel. Besides there was a quite impressive roof terrace at the top of the building from which we could have a few beers and chill out. It was here that we met a lovely Californian couple called Hayley and Gabe who were travelling around Central and South America and then onto the Far East. We ended up eating the chop suey together and generally discussing everything and anything as you do when you are travelling.

View from the roof terrace looking south

View from the roof terrace still looking south but just a little bit to the right : )

The next day, both of us awoke to not so settled tummies - I knew eating hostel food was a bad idea! - but they seemed to settle towards the end of the day...


It was time to check out of the hostel as the BF has secretly booked the Azur Real Boutique Hotel for the remaining two nights of our stay in Cordoba. Yipee! I must explain my excitement behind the prospect of staying in a hotel. Id been staying in hostels, with the exception of a couple of days with my friends Tom and Manuela when I started in Rio and a few weeks with the Piombi family in BA, oh and the one night I spent in hospital in Iguaçu, since Id started traveling in December last year. Given that most of my work colleagues back home had thought Id succumb to staying in a hotel within days of traveling, I think Ive done pretty well : D


We walked the short distance from the hostel to the hotel, which from the outside looked like nothing special. However the minute we entered the small door into the cool lobby we were faced with an elevator that looked straight out of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator...but more cylindrical! We failed to fit all our luggage and ourselves into the tight space that made up the elevator, so I went up first followed shortly afterwards by the BF.

Not much to look at from the outside, the hotel is just to the right of the picture above the bus

The Great Glass Elevator!

Oh before I forget, I must mention that prior to seeing the elevator, we had been more preoccupied with the smell of the lobby. I mean this in a good way. It smelt amazing, like walking into a Diptique candle shop (legendary French perfumer and maker of luxury extortionately priced scented candles for those of you not in the know). The fragrance continued throughout the rest of the hotel and we were later told that it was a mixture or orange and black pepper essence. Id have never have guessed that in a million years! Delightful.


Once we reached the reception we got a better view of the rest of the hotel which was a rich mix of old and new design all imaginatively blended together. A complete oasis from the bustling city that lay just a few metres beneath us.


No wonder it made Conde Nasts Hot List 2010 and won the Travellers Choice award for being the number one hotel in Cordoba according to Trip Advisor. You did well BF, well done! : D


The bedroom, especially the bed was perfect. I have a thing for hotel beds - I aim to one day replicate one at home (obviously once I get myself an abode as I am currently homeless...) as they're always the comfiest mattresses I ever sleep on. I also love the immaculate white linen, something I never seem to be able to maintain given Id probably get make up on it or dye it a funny colour in the wash...


Anyway, needless to say I was very happy and relaxed in my new surroundings, so much so I had to be dragged out for a walk by the BF as I wouldn't get out of the emperor sized bed which seemed to swallow me up!


That evening the BF took me to a Galician restaurant for dinner, given my mama is from Galicia in Spain, I was looking forward to the menu as they are famed for their seafood. Plus seeing as all Ive been eating in South America is meat my body was crying out for some other form of food.


Dinner started off well, with the most delicious tomato salsa to dip our bread into. I requested the recipe from the waiter but he said that it was a secret! We guessed it was a mixture of tomato, garlic, onion, olive oil, parsley, anchovy and maybe something else...?


This was following by big fat juicy prawns fried in garlic and swimming in a oily tomato salsa which tasted like nothing wed ever eaten before. We both licked the plate clean.


After such an amazing start to the meal, the main was the biggest let down. It was a medley of fresh fish but none were cooked very well and they lacked flavour and the presentation was non existent. Such a shame! Our waiter was also pretty useless, spilling everything everywhere and generally being incompetent. As for our wine, well I wont even get started on that as it tasted rank and came in the most bizarre stubby ugly looking bottle...


Needless to say we didn't leave a tip.


En route back to the hotel, in amongst all the beautifully lit up historic buildings, we walked past a magnificent site which the BF made me capture on film...

The cathedral lit up at night

Another one of Cordoba´s "sites" which wasn't lit up but was clearly visible...

The following day was Valentines day. It started off amazingly and then of all the days in the year to get ill. I did. Massively.


We ate a tasty breakfast in the hotel and then decided to chill out on the roof terrace by the plunge pool (its a hard life...). In amongst relaxing, I started to get cramps in my stomach which just got worse as the day progressed. We couldn't work out whether it was still the chop suey from the other night, the lunch we had the day before (chicken) or the seafood dinner we eaten the night before...

The roof terrace

Either way I was unable to consume any dinner and throughout the night I couldn't sleep due to my high temperature and body shivering from fever. Poor BF tried his hardest to make me feel better (and also get some sleep himself as his flight home was at 7am the following morning) but it was no use. At 5am he called the hotel doctor who given the time of day and also that were working to Latin American time, wouldn't turn up for another two hours. 


Lucky for him, but unlucky for me, the BF left me just as my illness began to get worse :(


Finally the doctor arrived and told me she thought I had gastroenteritis. I was actually quite glad of this prognosis as I was worried that the symptoms I had were similar to the last time I got ill in week three of traveling and had to spent the night in hospital with suspected dengue fever! eek.


In order to relieve the pain and bring my temperature down, she gave me the most painful injection in my right bottom cheek (pain to relieve pain - where is the logic?!) My right leg went numb as a result which meant I was stuck on my front rubbing my now sore cheek for what seemed like eternity. Not great when you're trying to converse with a doctor who is sat at the end of the bed...


I was then prescribed some medicine which the hotel concierge service very kindly went to pick up for me, in addition to generally looking after my well-being and ensuring I had meals especially made. (None of which unfortunately I managed to finish and obviously I had to pay room service for I may add!)


I ended up staying at extra two, quite expensive, nights at the hotel but given where I was (in the lap of luxury) with my own bathroom (ESSENTIAL when you're suffering from what I had) and with the hotel staff at my beck and call, I could think of worse places...


Unfortunately after the two extra nights, I still wasn't better. I wont go into detail, but one day I pretty much spent the entire time in the bathroom. It was farcical. Ive no idea where it all came from. Literally. I was wasting away pretty fast.


I managed to get myself to the local hospital where they ran some blood and urine tests which thankfully all came back fine. I was therefore told I just needed to rest up and drinks lots of liquids until the bug passed. 


My uncle and aunt got in touch and said that some friends of theirs lived two hours north of Cordoba and would come and pick me up and take me to theirs to be looked after. My stomach at this stage had slowed itself down so I hopefully I would make the journey with no accident..


To be continued...