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Other entries in Córdoba

Cordoba, Argentina

The city of Cordoba reminded me of a European city with all the churches covered in black soot.  As a city, it didn't have much to offer - just lots of buildings!  However, it did have an underground cript in the middle of town.  Mendoza was much prettier and charming.  Cordoba is a college town and even though the students were on break, the town was packed. 

Around Cordoba, though, is some good hiking and outdoor activities.  It is in this area where the estancia's (working and dude ranches) are.  I thought it was going to be really green with lots of trees (that is what I was told), but found it more like Ireland with lots of rock and green grass. 

I did two hikes in the Condorito National Forest approximately 2 hours from Cordoba.  The first day I went on the public bus with two girls from the hostel I was staying at.  The bus just dropped us off near a dirt road!  Luckily, one of the girls was fluent in Spanish, so we knew that we needed to jump the gate and walk 1500 meters down the road to get to the National Park.  When we were finished, we needed to come back to the road and wave down the next bus.  We prayed there would be a NEXT bus! 

It was drizziling most of this first hike, but it did not stop us.  It was a lovely hike with the low clouds and awesome views, but no condors. 

The next day, I went to the same location with a tour group.  We were supposed to hike a different route, but it ended up being the same one.  However, it was a beautiful, bright sunny day, so the hike seemed totally different!  In this National Park, there are condors in the canyon.  As we hiked to the canyon, we saw a couple of condors flying around.  And, when we got to the canyon, we saw several more which was surprising since everyone coming back told us "Nada" - nothing!  Our tour guide told us it was an EXCEPTIONAL day!  What we experienced was far from the norm.

What made Cordoba special for me was the hostel I stayed in.  It was called the Tango Hostel and was recommended to me by some girls in Mendoza.  I am not that crazy about hostels - sharing a room and bathrooms with strangers, noise all hours of the night and not to mention other "goings on".  Well, the recommendation was so good, I decided to try it for one night.  I was fortunate to only have one roommate, however, our room was part of the hallway to another room and the bathroom!  Even though the people were very considerate, I didn't get much sleep while I was there.

The people running the hostel as well as the people staying there were fantastic.  The workers were very friendly and worked to keep the hostel clean and cater to our needs.  If there was interest by those staying there, the staff on duty would make dinner for a small price (9 pesos=$3).  When dinner was ready, usually around 10:00, we would push all the tables together and create a big family table.  I had some of the best food as well as camaraderie there.

Surprisingly, there were several Americans staying here as well as single women traveling alone.  Throughout my travels as well as these other Americans, I have hardly run into any Americans!  One couple was from Glenwood Springs/Carbondale area! 

The other surprise was all the single women from around the world traveling solo for extended periods of time!  Several had boyfriends who would be joining them for a week or two, but other than that, companionship was from the people they met along the way.  We had so much fun swapping stories!!!!!!  I hope to hear from some of them and maybe meet up with them again!

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