Nightmare in Tucuman by Baz

We took 4 hours on the bus from Salta to Tucuman. Leaving nothing to chance we booked into a hostel called "Tucuman Hostel" the night before. I phoned them and enquired about availability and price and was told that there was room but I needed to book online. We did so.

On arrival we walked to the hostel only to be told there was no room. The girl didnt speak English, but only pointed at the computer screen and seemed to be saying it had crashed. Annoying, but it was only 3.00 in the afternoon and I thought we´d have little trouble finding an alternative. Unfortunately we didnt realise there was some sort of festival on and virtually all the hostes and hotels in the city were booked up.

We spent 5 hours walking, running, phoning, taxi-ing, begging and translating and, although neither of us said it out loud, we both thought we were going to have to sleep either in the Plaza (a square in the centre of town, not an expensive hotel) or the Bus Station. I was very close to going back to the Hostel that had put us in this predicament and behaving like an Israeli (only the Israelis on the bus from Uyuni, not all Israelis).

We were very lucky to eventually find somewhere that did have a bed. It was basic accommodation, not the cleanest. During our travels so far Seonaid and I have maintained the high standards of personal hygiene that we set for ourselves back home. However, we knew the day would come on this trip that we would need to sleep in an environment that we would not go near under normal circumstances. This was such an occasion, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I was always confident I would be able to get on with it and get a decent nights sleep, but I was concerned for Seonaid who freaks out at spiders and other insects and couldnt eat something if she thought it had fallen on the ground (even if she blesses it afterwards). However, I could only smile when she commented before putting a stained blanket on the bed; "I dont know if someone has been sick, or wiped their ass in this ". Thats my girl!

We left Tucuman as soon as possible and are now in Cordoba, and in a very pleasant Hostel. We move on to Buenos Aires tomorrow where we intend to rent a city centre apartment and stay for a month.