11-Jan-2004 - It was 7:20 AM and after a night of so-so but certainly timesaving sleep, I slowly woke up at the sound of a chime. I've taken some time to regain my composure and I opened up the curtain on the window. I look out the window and I see flat, flat, grasslands, or pampas in this case. Soon we pass a small truck with a dozen or so Holstein cows on top, and a cow crossing sign.

I guess that I can say to myself "Welcome to cow country, Argentina style."

Eventually we arrived at the bus terminal in Córdoba and we discussed our take on our night bus experiences. The general consensus was that while it is certainly not as nice as sleeping in a bonafide hotel, it was certainly a timesaver. As for the question of whether we would want to spend two nights in a row on a night bus, Pradip and I said yes and Hyun said no.

Pradip looked into buses while Hyun and I hung out in a café in the terminal. We chatted briefly (as best we could) with some fifteen year old girls who expressed shock and horror when I put sugar in my coffee until Pradip got back. We then learned that all of the buses to Salta were overnight buses. Since we wanted to spend a couple of days in Salta and Hyun was due to fly out of Santiago on the 18th, we realized that we were under some time pressure.

After a bit of discussion, we decided that splitting up temporarily might be appropriate. Pradip and I could go to Salta and Hyun could spend the next few days in Córdoba and Mendoza, where we would sync up.

Even though Pradip and I were going to ship out at night, we went with Hyun to get a hotel room so we could change clothes and get a shower. We settled on the Residencial Udine near the train station, did our things and got food at a nearby place. One of the things that bugs me about this country is that unless one wants to go to a McDonald's, it is very difficult to get a fast meal. Even the equivalents of small diners will be pokey. The place we stopped at was pretty much a burger and pizza place, but because of lousy service and general slowness, it took fifty minutes to get our meal.

After lunch, we walked around Córdoba and while I liked the place, I was glad that we decided to head out that night. While Córdoba was very pretty and nice, it wasn't the most interesting of places. And on Sunday, things were particularly dead, even more dead than Montevideo was the previous Sunday. We strolled lazily around the town center, got some ice cream, and even stopped at a video arcade where I'm willing to bet that half of the machines were pirate MAME machines.

Córdoba

We decided to take a side trip to Jesus Maria, a small town 35 miles with a festival that happens to be for the first two weeks of January. We got there by bus. The experience was largely reminiscent of a large state fair in the US. There were some specific events going on but we were unable to get into the grandstands out of fear of time. So we soon headed back to Córdoba, but not before grabbing a choripan for dinner. As usual, the meat was both high quality and inexpensive. Unfortunately, we were forced to stand.

Jesus Maria

Pradip and I then got organized to get to Salta. Waiting for the bus proved to be a somewhat unnerving experience because the bus was nearly an hour late and unlike Buenos Aires, the Córdoba bus station does not have a sign showing the status of the buses. Bus stations in Argentina are a very chaotic affair to a scale I have never seen before; most likely the result of being a developed nation for whom buses are the primary intercity transport, as opposed to cars (as in the US) and trains (as in Europe.) Uncountable companies operate bus lines. Actually one such company is named "Malvinas Argentinas", named to honor Argentina's delusional (and just plain dumb) claim to the Falkland Islands (and on the subject of delusional claims, Argentina also claims a large chunk of Antarctica contrary to international treaty. Even then, their claim might have merit if they were willing to build domed cities there.) One's only clue to where the bus will arrive is a range of berth numbers, and one's only clue that one has not missed their bus is simply word of mouth in the crowd. In any case, we eventually our bus finally came and we boarded it and got some sleep.

12-Jan-2004 - Woke up at 9 AM exactly. Looking out the window, I see that the flat pampas are gone and in their place is scrubby wooden hills. Soon we pass a sign reading "Salta 104 km", so I can count on being on the road for another hour.

When we arrived at Salta, it was raining and Pradip was not feeling that well, so we decided to take things easy today. We got a late breakfast or early lunch at a pizzeria near the bus terminal. The pizza wasn't that good; Argentine pizza for the most part isn't that great. Additionally, I find it quite baffling why I can't get pizza with sausage or beef on it. None of the pizza places seem to offer it... in a country that can rightfully claim the title of beef capital of the world!

After lunch, we realized that we had a problem. Pradip went to look into bus tickets and found out that all of the buses to Mendoza and Santiago were fully booked. For the short term we took things easy and checked into a hotel (the Hotel Italia) and got cleaned up. Since Pradip was not feeling well, he slept while I went to an Internet café to check air fares. The air fares to Santiago were in the $250 range or so. I also spent a bit of time walking around the city. Salta has a very different feel than Buenos Aires or Córdoba. It is more Andean; the people are darker and shops selling Quechua handicrafts are about. But this city is still Argentine and hence, much less littered and more modern than its Peruvian and Bolivian counterparts.

Salta, first day

When Pradip got moving, we spent a bit of time in the evening visiting airline offices and also made a wishful revisit to the bus terminal. We soon learned that the buses were even more booked and we came to the conclusion that flying was our only option. The only direct flights were offered by LANChile, and they were all full. Thus we would be forced to fly an airline that requires making a connection either in Córdoba or in Buenos Aires. On top of that, Chile charges US citizens arriving by air $100, a cost we previously hoped to avoid by arriving by bus. However, one possibility dawned on us; the possibility of flying to Ushuaia before Santiago. Unfortunately, this would require ditching Hyun but it would allow us to get a potentially risky leg of the journey over with. In any case, we emailed Hyun and decided to defer a decision until the next day.

We then got dinner at a restaurant called Don Martin. I had tamales for the first time; it was ground beef and corn meal wrapped in corn stalk; surprisingly very good. I downed a liter of red wine and all and all it was a good meal.

13-Jan-2004 - Got up, checked email and we went to the Aerolineas Argentinas office to finalize our travel arrangements. We decided to get a ticket to Ushuaia that night. All and all, as much as I like Salta, it seemed evident that many of the outdoorsy activities would require day trips or overnight trips (and would also require Pradip to feel better) and we needed to cut our losses and move on. While unfortunate, this is a fact of this sort of trip.

Parque San Martin, Salta

Salta, from the Cerro San Bernadino

More of Salta

Pradip spent the last few hours in Salta napping and I wandered around a bit; checked out the Mercado Central and snacked a bit. Soon we took a taxi to Salta's dinky airport and boarded a plane to Buenos Aires.