Cordoba, Argentina

After an overnight bus from Uruguay we arrived in Argentina's second biggest city, Cordoba. Boasting a total of seven universities it's fair to say that Cordoba is a young persons city, with lots to do both inside and surrounding it. We'd read that it was meant to be livelier than Buenos Aires but to be honest our first impressions weren't that great. We were staying in a not so nice part of town and because we arrived during the strictly adhered to Saturday siesta it was very quiet! This was our first impression though and as each day passed we grew to love it a bit more. During the week and at night it really comes alive with roads full of bars, good shopping and some really vibrant squares surrounded by old colonial buildings.

Our hostel was really sociable and we had some fun nights practicing some Spanish with people outside in the communal courtyard. On one particular night we actually managed to teach an Argentinian couple how to play sh*thead which was quite funny. After a few games they went back to their roots and accused me of being a "trampa" which means cheat! Nicola found this very funny and now thinks that is the reason why she's getting her ass whipped. It's not my fault I've got a memory like rainman!

The only bad thing about the hostel was that our room was right next to a very busy road and had no air con so unfortunately not much sleep was had. I swear that blokes on motorbikes over here have competitions to see who can rev their bike the loudest! In fact, whilst we are on the subject of South American motoring, in the 6 weeks we've been here we still haven't worked out whether the green man at a pelican crossing actually means anything. On a few occasions we've actually been beeped at for having the cheek to cross!

The highlight of the week was a trekking excursion that we booked up. It was a 13km hike through the nearby 'Quebrada del Condorito National Park'. Condorito meaning 'eagle' so a big part of the trek was centred around spotting the local wildlife. It was an amazing day through some pretty tough terrain. It proved to be a good warm up for some of the lengthier treks that we have lined up later in our trip. The landscape was immense, very similar to the scottish highlands except it was 35 degrees. We had a really good guide who helped us to spot eagles, falcons, vultures and parrots. The eagles were easily the most impressive thing we saw. We were sat on a cliff face for lunch and saw 6 of them glide past at an incredible pace with wing spans 3 metres wide! The national park is also home to pumas (obviously didn't see one as they are very rare) and venomous snakes. We didn't know this until about half way through when we were greeted by a sign saying 'warning deadly snakes, beware'. With Nicola being petrified of snakes it was very funny seeing her face when our guide decided, on a whim, to lead us off the beaten track through waist high long grass. Lucky for me I was given strict orders to walk in front of her so that I had first refusal on any bites..... Many a snake noise was made with me receiving many a smack round he head! The only low point of the trip was that we were feasted on by horseflies. One very fair Dutch girl in our group seemed to be having a rough day. By the end of the hike she was burnt to a crisp with what looked like dozens of bites!

We ended the week in typical British style with some very heavy drinking. This was a bad idea as it meant we had to do our long journey to Mendoza nursing hangovers. Nothing a 'Triple Mac' from McDonald's couldn't cure though. Overall we really enjoyed Cordoba. We are now in Mendoza and plan to do a wine tour and some horse riding.

Hope everyone is good! Thanks for all the messages!

Harry & Nicola

Copa del Sh*thead scoreboard: NH 64 - 75 HF