Argentina - Cordoba to La Angostura

Cordoba Argentina

 Today we say goodbye to our stint in Cordoba Province. Facing the speed humps in Carlos Paz for one last time!
Goodbye dogs!

The drive to Cordoba airport turned out to be a nightmare due to roadworks. The GPS just does not cope to well under these conditions and it took us all over the place before getting us onto the airport road. And then to crown it all James misses the airport turnoff! Luckily there was a small portion of shoulder so he could back up. With cars turning onto the airport road at speed this was not good for my nerves!

Cordoba airport is modern, fairly large but very quiet. This was our first flight with the local Argentina Aerolinas. Despite the fact that the plane looked and sounded rather ancient, the flight was excellent. The stewardess greeted us in English and ended up giving us some tips on the best place to enjoy beer in Bariloche! Needless to say, no alcohol on this flight!

The landing was flawless so compliments to the pilot.

The queue to get out of arrivals once we had collected our luggage was LONG! The only have one X ray machine so it took forever. Thankfully, our Europcar guy was waiting for us so that we could still reach Baia Monzano before dark.

Stunning landscapes greeted us - lakes and snow capped mountains. Truly beautiful!

Reception at Bahía Manzano was very pleasant. All info is in Spanish - OMG - don't understand anything! So we headed back to ask for an English translation.

At the Welcome meeting we enjoyed a drink and some snacks and then the Manager came to call us. He took us into his office and explained most of the activities. This was most appreciated!

Our apartment has a wonderful view of Lake Huapi and has 3 floors! So lots of stairs up and down!

The restaurant is good - a varied menu to suit all tastes.

For now, a good night's rest required.

The view from our balcony at Baia Manzano

The morning dawned bright and sunny.

After breakfast we joined fellow guests on the lawns to await our guided walk. Now this is where one's lack of Spanish comes in - the guide was extremely vocal about heaven only knows what but we had no clue what he was saying except when he shouted "auto" - in other words get off the road, a car is approaching!

The walk around the peninsula near Baia Manzano Resort

It was a good walk nevertheless as we passed numerous private homes tucked in the forest and numerous hotels and cabanas. Those set right on the lake have amazing views over the water with the snowcapped mountains in the background. The area is obviously geared towards many tourists.

After our visit to a supermarket in Villa Angostura where there are no free bags, we headed back for lunch.

Our afternoon drive took us down to Puerto Bahia Bravo where there were many locals catching the sun on the deck chairs. This despite the rather chilly wind factor!

The views are very spectacular and we hope to do more scenic drives in the days to come.

Villa La Angostura

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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Argentina - Carlos Paz Lake walk

Carlos Paz Argentina

Today we decided to do the walk along the lake side of Carlos Paz. The walk goes on and on and took us about 3 hours. Ok I did not walk very fast but still, it's a long walk.

There are some better looking properties here but the whole area just lacks something. The lake is lovely and a large part of the road is for pedestrian traffic only which makes for a peaceful wander without car fumes. 

Lake Walk Carlos Paz Argentina

Today seems to be a holiday so there were people picnicking, a bus load of girls taking photos of each other, fisherman out catching fish (and they do!) and a lady doing her exercises.

Coming from South Africa we have found the style here rather depressing. There are no gardens to speak of and the playgrounds and sport fields are rather dry and dusty.

However,  everybody appears well dressed even if they drive beaten up cars.

Speed Humps (lamada) are so common as are rain water ditches. So its a slow way to anywhere given that the dogs are all over. The dogs all wag their tails and do not appear to be neglected. There are plenty of shops selling dog paraphernalia and vets are available.

Our funniest sighting today was a motorbike with 2 people trailing a horse behind them! Unfortunately, the camera was not at hand.

The other strange thing here is that there are very few stop signs. So if there is no robot it's any body's guess who goes first. In Cordoba there were large mirrors but that does not really assist the silly foreign tourist! 

Anywhere else - just take care!

As for the beer bottle deposit story - it's a total rip off. Say the beer costs 16 pesos, with the bottle it costs over 22 pesos. But you can never get your money back on the original bottles bought as you have to keep buying to get a discount. So we have lost quite a number of pesos to various shops! A great way for the shops to make extra bucks!

Lake Walk Carlos Paz

Villa Piren is a haven of peace - there is just total silence at our cabin with only bird song to break the silence. Despite the fact that it does lack certain Gold Crown standards it truly is restful.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

Argentina - 100 Curves Drive and Cordoba

100 Curves Drive Argentina

A chilly morning at 8 degrees! Our first outing of the day was to do the 100 Curves route around the lake. The houses here are much more palatial with glorious views. At one of the view spots, littered with rubbish, I spotted a pink bra hanging from the tree. The mind boggles as to why this was left there! Further brought us to Dique San Roque Dam. 

Dique San Roque Dam
 Argentina

100 Curves Drive - Argentina!

The huge drain hole at the dam is very scary, so much so that there is a friendly guard on duty! The sidewalk stalls were open and the smell of braaing meat made us think of home.

From this point we took the scenic route to Cordoba - this meanders along a river where we spotted a number of black comorants, each sitting on their own rock.

And what did I spot on the way into the city? A huge Makro store!

Cordoba was founded in 1573 and is the 2nd largest city in Argentina. With a population predominately of Italian descent, it has some interesting colonial architecture which includes the Jesuit Block.

Traffic into Cordoba was via a 4 lane highway, going in only. I suddenly saw the sign that said trams, busses and taxi in the 2 right hand lanes only. As this was where James was driving, he had to switch to the car lanes quickly!

We spotted a car park so decided that was the best option at 18 pesos per hour.
Everybody reverse parks - no idea why.

Our first sighting was an "Oscar" look alike. He moved at a fast pace on his prosthetic legs so we could not get a glimpse of his face.

On foot we headed towards the centre of the city and suddenly came upon a lady wearing a South African sweatshirt. She very kindly pointed us in the right direction and also said to take care with 

my camera.

We found Plaza San Martin and the monument to Jose San Martin, the liberation hero. This part of the city is pedestrian with stalls and cafes set amidst some beautiful old buildings. 

Street Music - Cordoba Argentina

 Pedestrian traffic is heavy; I always wonder where people are coming from and going to. Cell phones are very visible with the ladies texting and talking, mothers with babies, school children, university students and even a lone black busker.

We stopped at El Ruedo for an interesting salad. The ham here is delicious. Beers are served with peanuts - yum! 

 

The waiter also told me to put my camera away. To be honest we did not feel threatened in any way as there are no beggars about - maybe the criminals are well dressed?

Students selling their wares Cordoba Argentina

Everywhere we have been there are thousands of shops. I am convinced that every local family must own a shop somewhere. Shops are just EVERYWHERE! But the supermarkets still remain elusive. 

And the buildings remain rather drab and ugly to my jaundiced view.

The Tourist Information was very helpful and some of them speak English!

Many trucks here run on gas - the very large gas cylinders are fixed in the back.

Finding our way back to the car park?  Yes!!! We asked again at the tourist office for the road that has the trams and taxis. Apparently there are 2 of those but we did narrow it down to Av Colon. Off we headed and thankfully found the car park!

On the way home we stopped at a Shell Service Station.  The petrol attendant was most interested that we were from South Africa and mentioned Nelson Mandela and the Springbok Rugby team! This young man collects foreign money but unfortunately we had no South African coins or notes on us.

We passed a number of horse and carts on the way out of the city. ...However the highway got us back to Villa Piren in about an hour.

A long but fun day!

Graffiti in Cordoba Argentina

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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Argentina - language barrier!

Everything is in Spanish - we are lost!! Argentina

Whilst it is fun exploring new places, our total lack of the Spanish language is a major stumbling block as there are very few locals in Cordoba Province who speak English.

We had a crazy 45 mins in the local Disco Supermarket this morning trying to get rid of 1 litre beer bottles. Bear in mind that we are charged for the bottle originally.

We walked in with the empties and were shown to go to the back of the shop to the "machine" We found the machine and it swallowed up the bottles at 8 Ars each.
Wow, we thought Spanish effeciency!

At the till it was THE most bizarre experience ever. We could not get any money back even though we were charged originally. No - we had to buy more beers and if we only bought one we would end up paying a ridiculous price!

Everybody prattled at speed and we were by now getting totally irritated. At least I was - James still managed to stay fairly calm! Eventually a call was made to somebody who could speak English.

It seems that there is no actual cash back like in most other countries worldwide - there is only a discount if you buy the same product.
A total rip - off I would say!

So we asked for our empties back! Rather leave them for the cleaners!!!!

And all this amongst the incredulous stares of locals buying FOOD!

Carlos Paz Argentina

The centre of Carlos Paz is quite vibey with a number of restaurants and many shops. Rather dusty though as there are road works and building alterations going on.

So we headed back to Cabalango which is a small village with a number of decent looking houses. Very quiet with the riverside restaurants all closed up. Even the dogs were absent here!

The funniest sight I have seen in ages was a guy who stopped on the causeway leading into the village. And guess what he was going to do? He hauled a bucket out of his car and proceeded to throw at least 10 buckets of river water over said car.

Why he wished to do this I have no clue as most of this village has untarred roads. People sure are strange!

Car Washing in Cabalanga Argentina

I still cannot get over the number of dogs in Carlos Paz - all shapes and sizes and all over the roads. We even saw 3 lying next to the cops at a roadblock today.

The cops appear at strange places stopping vehicles but thankfully we have not been stopped. Can you imagine trying to have that conversation!

At home I have a regular guest who speaks many languages, including Spanish, but unfortunately I could not high jack him as his priorities lie very high up in Rome.

Oh well, we will get by and try to have fun while doing so! All in a days travel!

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

Argentina - Lake San Roque and Cosquin

Villa Piren, near Carlos Paz, Argentina

A slight noise on the tin roof in the middle of the night disturbed my slumbers. Next came thunder and lightning that lit up the night sky. Torrential rain followed, drumming on the roof like a pounding headache! However, we awoke to clear, sunny skies so set off to find Lake San Roque and Cosquin.

Travelling in a foreign country where none of the road signs are in English, and the tourist information from the resort reads like a puzzle badly translated from Google, I am amazed that we actually ever find anything! 

The area around the lake is picturesque and makes up for the very dry and boring road yesterday. We stopped at a braai spot where there were a number of fishermen trying their luck as the picnic tables were already laid out!

Whilst I always imagined Cuba to have really old cars and trucks, there are countless of these relics on the roads here. How they are held together is a mystery and all I can say is that there must be mastermind mechanics looking after these ancient vehicles. And they still go as fast as their modern counterparts!

We passed an impressive place called the Federal Plaza where all the Argentina provinces are represented. Unfortunately, the many water features are not operational and the few vendors looked as if they knew there would be no business for them today.

The villages are very higgledy-piggly and no town planning seems to exist. Shops sell all sorts of weird merchandise yet the plain old supermarket is hard to spot. Schools appear very basic although we did spot one with AstroTurf where the kids were playing hockey.

Cosquin is a more modern looking town although it is one of the oldest settlements in the region. It is famous for its folklore festival held annually in January.

Our aim was to take the chairlift to the summit of El Pan de Azurcar which rises to 1260m. We eventually found the gravel road which wound up the mountain for approx 4km of twists and turns. Only to find? Everything shut up and locked for "maintenance"  At least we were not the only fools up there! There was no sign of any maintenance crew so perhaps it's just an excuse for an extended holiday? The chairlifts were swaying tantalisingly high up above us. 

So down we went to find something to eat. An old man handed us some menus that we could not understand so we opted for a pizza instead of a sandwich. Ham and cheese seems to be a staple diet here! A small beer asked for ended up being a litre! Thankfully, he had not yet opened it so it could be changed.

Perhaps we should learn better sign language?

I had been warned about the loos but had been feeling safe as all were "normal" so far. Alas, this restaurant had the "open bin" policy for ones toilet paper and no flush handle in sight! Shades of Greece and very yuck!!! 

Anyway, enough adventure for one day so we headed back to Carlos Paz in heavy siesta traffic! Seems they shut their shops and then all take to the roads...

 

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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Argentina - Villa General Belgrano

Such old crocks! Villa Paz Argentina

But there is beauty to be found in Argentina

Our local town Carlos Paz appears to be so ugly that we decided to venture further afield today. This particular part of Cordoba is just a conglomeration of awful buildings, pavement special dogs, ancient cars ( not even museum material!) and traffic! Even the countryside is uninteresting being dry with no redeeming features.

Villa General Belgrano is an interesting town. Founded in the 19 30 ' s a percentage of the population are descended from the surviving crew of the Admiral Graf  Spee. This German  battleship was scuttled off the Uruguayan coast in 1939.

The town has better architecture than the rest that we have seen and makes for an entertaining walk browsing the shops and many restaurants. 

The annual October Bier fest must be extremely lively and fun! Preparations are already ongoing in early September.

There are many beer mugs, delicious looking chocolates and other interesting souvenirs for sale.

We ventured up one of the side streets and found a local restaurant close to a supermarket. Great - lunch and then our supplies. Well the lunch was good but when we crossed the road to the supermarket ours was the only car still parked there! Closed until 16.30! Siesta time is still obviously well observed here.

Our drive back to Villa Piren was uneventful and we managed to find the supermarket in Carlos Paz - called Disco!

The play parks are so depressing - hard earth with some kiddies things. Soccer fields have not a blade of grass. Houses are totally lacking in any form of architectural style.

It's quite a depressing place for us so used to the beauty of South Africa.

However, we will do some more exploring tomorrow.....and hope to fund some beauty.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

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Argentina - Pitfalls!

Lights on Vehicles are Compulsory in Argentina

Travel is fun but it can also be extremely challenging. More so when you trip and fall, smashing your knee onto solid concrete. At the time, I was more concerned re the fact that I dropped my Nikon D300! However, as the pain increased my concern for my precious camera took a back seat. And still Villa Piren Reception would not give us keys. I hobbled to our unit Number 10 - it was all locked up so cleaning was complete?

The patio table was broken - Gold Crown rated by RCI? I think not! At 14.30 the Reception Desk got somebody on duty who speaks English. Hurray for small mercies! Thankfully we eventually got access to our apartment. Our next hurdle was to drive into Carlos Paz for supplies. This proved to be another impossible task and with my pain now reaching excruciating levels, the walking was not helping. We managed to find a small cafe for some basics. By the time I got onto my bed I was shaking like a leaf and in continuous pain. Extra strength Voltaren had no effect!  

With my pain increasing, James requested that the English Receptionist accompany us to the nearest hospital.

The roads in this town are like a maze to the uninitiated! Giselle directed us to the closest hospital which was closed! It is housed in a modern building and is "private" Perhaps more like an upmarket clinic? The local government hospital was much further and I hobbled in to face a sea of faces waiting to be attended to. My first thought was " we will be here all night!"

However,  I have nothing but praise for this hospital even though they classed me as a "African" on the admission form! Giselle explained the situation and I was called in about 5 minutes. Hobbling along I was told to wait while they grabbed the nearest wheelchair! All my life I wanted this ride experience!! 

After being examined, the doctor told my interpreter that I needed an injection to "relax" me. This injection seemed to go on forever - I have no idea what was in that huge cocktail! Maybe best I didn't know.The X - rays were taken - no fracture damage thankfully. 

James actually had the most entertaining time in the waiting room. Dogs, yes dogs, people all staring at him, a mother breastfeeding what looked like a 3 year old, kids running riot etc.

Whilst this hospital looks as if it requires a huge cash injection, the staff and doctors were very efficient and pleasant.

My prescription? Some unknown tablets for pain and 5 days ( yes you read that correctly!) of bed rest. Me? While in a foreign country that is waiting to be explored?

Anyway, whatever was in that injection worked and the night brought blissful sleep. I am doing my best to stay put for 1 day - we will assess again tomorrow.

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com

Argentina - Getting there!

A shrill alarm at 04.00 hrs awakened us to the start of our long awaited trip to Argentina.  A quick cup of tea, some final packing and there we were, ready to roll at 04.50. The non-arrival of our local shuttle was the first of a number of hiccups set to plague us during the day.

The Cape Town to Johannesburg leg was late taking off which naturally has a snowball effect. We dashed from Domestic to International only to find very few people at the designated gate. Suddenly, the PA system came over loud and clear that boarding had moved from A9 to A4. Now one would think these would be very close together?  Not so! Another hurried dash past all the shops and back to the A4 area. Whew! That certainly got the circulation going!

A rarity on flights these days is a plane that is not full so we're were overjoyed to realise that we had the 4 middle seats to ourselves. My legs sang a happy song!

Our next panic attack happened when we realised that our flight to Sao Paolo was landing over 30 mins late so we would only have 30 mins to find the boarding gate for Buenos Aires. Full marks must go to the SAA steward who collected us about 30 mins prior to landing and moved us to Business Class so that we were at the gate!

So for those precious moments we sat in Business Class Seats and could think how wonderful the entire flight would have been if only we were rich? Can't have it all!

This resulted in another hectic dash in Sao Paulo airport for our Buenos Aires flight and we made boarding by the skin of our teeth. This flight was jam packed and our bodies were protesting by this time - just too many hours in the air!

The miracle was that our suitcases were intact after all that and the shuttle guy was waiting to collect us. Traffic in Buenos Aires appears to be quite sane but time will tell.

Our hotel, the Palo Santo is great - a design and green hotel, it is modern with friendly staff who are most accommodating. This is the first green urban hotel in South America according  their room blurb. Unfortunately, we are only here for a few hours until up again at 04.30 for our flight to Cordoba. What I really love about travel, besides the sights, sounds and smells, is meeting the locals.

Our Reception chap was extremely interesting as he travelled Europe by train for 3 months. Sadly, he was unable to find a travel companion so braved the trip by himself. His English is perfect and he told us that he made the strict selection on Emirates airline staff selection only to be disqualified due to the tattoo on his arm! He will indeed rue the day he made that decision!

It's been a long and tiring day but, as everything really worked out well in the end, we cannot complain!

Cheers to the rest of our Argentinian adventure.....

We have now flown with SAA (South African Airways) Tam (Brazil) and then LAN for Argentina. TAM and LAN are joining forces in 2016 to start the first Latin American airline to be known as Latam. Airports the world over look the same - it's just the shops that are more extravagant. As we had no time to shop this just meant miles more of walking!

Travelling distances requires fitness! Up and down stairs, dashing between terminals,  rushing to check in, up and down escalators, and those, sometimes rickety stairs, to the plane, all take their toll!

We bypassed Cordoba city to get to our Timeshare. The area is very dry and hot and appears, at first glance, to have no redeeming features. The architecture leaves absolutely nothing to rave about, dogs wander freely and the current road works put a very heavy spanner in the works. But hey, we are in Argentina and amongst the people who live here so we will explore and enjoy.

There is not much English spoken in this region so sign language and Google Translate work well. The receptionist prattled away in Spanish but heaven only knows what she was saying!  However, even with the language barrier her sense of humour shown through.

The challenge now is to find  supermarket...!

To be continued....

The traquil view from our apartment at Villa Piren, near Carlos Paz, Argentina

And the pines near the apartments at Villa Piren, Argentina

© Judelle Drake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradclinphotography

                For Accommodation Cape Town, South Africa

                                      www.bradclin.com