Buenos Aires, Sunday

1103 Just checked out. No problem and they are looking after my bag; I have a metal tag with number 20 on it which I must not lose.

Still not feeling physically tip-top.

1204 Wandered. At cafe 'My House' corner of Cordoba and Florida. Just getting coffee with milk. Bought an apple from small shop earlier; I am so healthy.

Needed more tablets. First two pharmacists shut. Third sold me some charcoal (I think - 'carbon' in Spanish) tablets - I did check they also contained chemicals (! - but last time I tried pure charcoal tablets they did bugger all good). Lacking confidence in those I found another pharmacy which didn't have Immodium by brand but offered me a choice of charcoal or 'Loperamida'. I brightened up at the latter and closed on the deal; if memory serves Immodium is basically just branded loperamide hydrocholoride, and certainly the single Boots own brand tablet I have left in my pocket is. So that's something I can trust.

I hope this will all pass soon but given the bus tonight it's good to have some chemical support. :-)

The charcoally ones may be fine - one of the chemical names listed is suspiciously antibiotic-sounding, though that may be marketing. But especially when you're on the move it's not a complaint you want to experiment with medication for.

Both pharmacists gave me the tablets in a big sealed blue wallet and made me take that to pay elsewhere, incidentally.

Changing the subject, on my walk yesterday went up to the pink governmental palace whose name escapes me. There were some Falklands - I'm sorry, Malvinas - protest banners up, which I photographed from a safe distance and will upload to flickr in due course. No actual protestors as far as I could see.

Also, walking down Florida earlier and seeing some ad, I should maybe try to visit Tigre when I am back here at the end of the trip.

Was a street artist on Florida doing an invisible man thing, basically sat there with no head but a pair of sunglasses and a hat suspended in the air. I assume he was inside the suit with his head down but since I didn't actually see him move, it could just have been a dummy for all I know.

Not sure what to do about food. May play it by ear and see if I am improving later on. I can always eat about 6-8pm instead of this afternoon.

Bill is on table here on a spike so I can see its ARS15 (+tip) for this coffee. May well have two slow ones and then use the gents before wandering off. They have given me a small glass of lightly carbonated water with it.

1221 Just nearly got dive-bombed by a pigeon, which showed remarkable hovering abilities. Not sure why as I don't have any food at all. Maybe it was after the water but seems unlikely.

1228 Oh, woman in queue in front of me at final pharmacy had a 100 note refused as a fake. Which was a bit worrying. She was allowed to keep it, which I understand I should regard as immoral, but don't.

'Human' by The Killers playing. Is a bit windy sat here outside but it's actually pretty comfortable in terms of temperature.

Oh, yesterday about 5pm saw an electronic display on a building showing 25C and 75% humidity. The bloke at the airport bus terminal did say it was very humid here.

1237 Wind getting up a bit. Weather forecast on phone showed thunderstorms forecast. No big deal I guess. While at this rate I could end up paying what works out at about five quid an hour for the privilege of parking myself here, if I stay here all day it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Could really go for some bread actually, but unless I pop into a supermarket it's probably not an option.

1256 Finished that coffee five or ten mins ago. Not been hassled by waiter. Wind getting up a bit. This is a bit crap but you can't argue with your own body. I feel like the queen mother in Operation Good Guys. :-)

Will get another coffee anyway. Do think I might see if I can buy myself some bread in a bit.

Oh, I clocked up 132 mins walking yesterday. Nothing yet today; I must have been going too slowly for it to count.

1259 Yeah, just ordered another by sign.

1409 Getting a third coffee.

1433 Finally actually got it. Still, it all kills time. At the very least I hope I will appreciate being well for a bit when this is over.

1458 Finished this coffee, will go once paid. Horrible feeling it may be about to piss down but I can always come back if necessary.

1701 My peregrinations eventually led me across Reconquista so wandered back up where I was last night. Having a coffee at Havanna. Got two sandwiches from corner shop places earlier round Av Florida. The odd twinge in guts but think things are improving. Could just be wishful thinking of course.

Did wander around Plaza San Martin a bit as well.

Was tempted to go into at least one restaurant I passed but I suspect it's best not to.

17.25 for coffee here but still, I suppose it's not much more expensive than other place. Still might end up back there, there's a lot of time left. I plan to go back to hotel on foot arriving about 10 and then get a taxi to the bus terminal. This will doubtless leave me hanging around there feeling crap for an hour or more but better that than rushing.

1734 "When I'm 64" playing...

Feeling a bit better but still don't trust myself. Bored and more than a touch apprehensive. Don't see how this could have been avoided really. I didn't know this was going to happen when I made my plans Sun morning. Had I been getting a bus during the day today would just have given me less time to recover before having to travel.

Suppose I need to remember I probably won't feel this crap in a day or two. Just sucks a bit now but it's probably only temporary.

Battery at 28% cos of all the reading I've been doing on phone. Do have my spare but might still be tight anyway. Been 6.5h since I left hotel and still 6 to go before I get on bus, never mind the actual journey or tomorrow on arrival. Guess I can read DGGA on the bus anyway.

1808 Wandered a bit. At bar just down from My House; getting a beer. May regret it but let's see. Found seedy clump of strip bars on Viamonte just behind here in my peregrinations.

1900 Was small chopp but nursed it. Getting cafe con leche now. Feels like I should be making my way to bus terminal but of course there's hours to go yet. I did dither when buying tkt over whether to get an earlier bus (could have gone 9ish) but I figured in the end better to arrive at 9am than 7am and better to have time to kill at this end, even if I just end up sat in the bus terminal.

Battery nearly dead (10%) but going to push it to the end. Oh, this place is Puerto del Carmen.

1924 Wondering if they are closing. To repeat myself, this all rather sucks but I guess at the bottom of it all is the fact I'm slightly ill and I just have to keep reminding myself it will pass. Always shit to be ill away from home especially on a day like today when I don't have a hotel room or the like to return to at will.

Have finished coffee, perhaps rushing in part due to worries about closing. Will pay up here and go back to My House for a beer and a coffee before going back to hotel.

1944 Had a bit of a wander and now back at My House. Puerto del Carmen still seems to be open. Ordered a Quilmes, may be a litre, who knows. No, 650ml - which seems a safer quantity, for ARS29. With a coffee to follow I hope I can break my remaining 100 so I have smallish bills for taxi.

2235 At bus terminal. Just used bogs and boy are they crap. One cubicle working, no lock, no soap. Still, they exist which is the main thing. Think, touch wood, am on top of things now but still.

Had one and a half bottles of beer - I sent a whinging e-mail to Rab and that cheered me up a bit. Walked over to hotel, initially heading in wrong direction tho fortunately noticed pretty early. Artificial sense of urgency may be partly responsible but the typical pedestrian in the microcentro would fit right in on Oxford Street, and despite the width of the pavements it is amazing how they manage to impede progress.

Picked up bag OK at hotel and got taxi straight away, ARS36 with tip. Now here and fingers crossed it's all good. Wearing fleece to save carrying it and worked up a bit of a sweat but feeling OK in terminal aircon. Terminal not super swish but OK, the toilets are disproportionately foul, especially as there is a (somewhat reticent, I must say, and he should be) bog troll outside.

Bought a bottle of water on walk back to hotel - first one I picked up had broken cap and bloke was nice enough to point it out, but with my sense of rushing it was yet another annoyance.

Bus goes in an hour.

2257 Stood in terminal. Taken fleece off and shirt on my back is drenched in sweat. First driving lesson sort of thing. Well, I will be nice and fragrant when I arrive. There seems to be another gents nearby but I don't need it. No obvious sign of my bus on departure boards (ticket helpfully indicates it leaves from 'platform' 15-29, suppose it's better than nothing) but I guess it's a bit early.

Yawning. Probably a good thing, might mean will sleep on bus. We are due in about 9am and Cordoba is not the final destination, but guess I shouldn't worry about that.

OK, have grabbed a seat. Boy do I feel travel-stained and I haven't even left yet.

Oh, switched to spare battery while at My Home. It's down to 80% now but should be fine.

2312 Judging from the departure board there is a place called La Falda. Am I allowed to snigger?

There is a bus with the same final destination as mine (C. Del Monte) at 2310. Checked twice my ticket says 2340 but still disturbs me.

2322 Outside. Reassuringly the display of buses on the monitor out here stops at 2335 even though the screen is not full.

2331 OK, it's now showing at stand 25 on screen. Come on...

2339 On bus. Score. I chose lower deck, it's a 2+1 seat layout and I'm in the frontmost seat on the '1' side. I can see the toilet from my seat. ;-) (Honestly don't think that's an issue, and you're probably not supposed to use it for #2, but still.) Aircon is also fierce - display shows 20C and I can believe it. So this really should be cool, no pun intended. I am sure I will wake up feeling like I haven't had a drink in the last decade but that's par for the course.

0025 Will send this now in case my phone gets nicked while I'm asleep. Not that I'm tired now.