Cordoba, Tuesday

0844 At terminal in Cordoba. Didn't sleep too badly. Getting luggage off bus, was struck once again by absolute lack of any sense of queuing. Despite me being near front of line I was last to get my bag off cos the fuckers behind me kept clamouring for attention and I was too reticent and/or linguistically challenged to push forward. Not in a rush so didn't care. BUT THE LUGGAGE CHAP THEN ASKED ME FOR A TIP IN BOTH SPANISH AND ENGLISH. I didn't see anyone else give him anything - and I had plenty of chance to watch, after all - unless it was amazingly discreet. I stood there stunned for a second or two and said no and walked off. Cunt. If you're going to try it on you shouldn't give me a chance to see the protocol doesn't involve tipping. Fuckwit.

0930 Walking to hostel. GMail app decided to hide the email with directions in all of a sudden but they sucked anyway so using map in electronic guide book. Stopped off at cafe for coffee because I had a sudden whim to do it and it feels slightly decadent and holidayish.

Place seems quite nice from first impressions. Shall just have to be careful not to leave on a bus from same company I came in on, if possible. ;-)

This is a bit silly as I might well have been able to get breakfast for free at the hostel but sod it. It's not really about the money and if it is, I can offset this against the cab fare I'm saving. At least here I was able to check they'll break a 100 before incurring any charges.

This place is Sorocabana, corner of Buenos Aires and San Jeronimo. Quite a nice little plaza just here. Weather a bit grey but pleasantly cool.

I've been given about eight paper sugar sachets on the saucer. Am I really expected to use that many?

Bag is really slightly too heavy to be lugging around streets in comfort but it is doable and it's not that hot, presumably because it's still early.

Oh, did manage to clock up 113 mins walking yesterday, which isn't too bad given the circumstances.

Tempted to have another coffee actually.

1005 Yeah, why not? Livin' it large or what? Partay!

Map shows this is Plaza San Martin, which is basically the town centre.

Paid as well, ARS23 for the two, 30 with tip. Possibly still overdoing it on the tips but not sure. Offset it against the tip I didn't give the luggage handling chappie. ;-) Advice I was given in Chile in November seemed to boil down to '10% unless the amount would be patronisingly small', so maybe I'm doing OK on those grounds.

Waiter called me caballero. I should maybe start trying to substitute that for señor but I wonder if it might still be overly formal or weird coming from me.

Did wake up in middle of night on bus with weirdly disturbing thoughts though at least they weren't work related. Was half asleep for last 60 mins or so and kind of didn't want to arrive as was feeling semi-comfortable.

Battery at 26% but should easily see me to hostel.

1104 Checked in OK. Wifi is currently broken according to bloke at reception. Otherwise fine tho hostel is absolutely heaving with SYTs; I should expect that but it's still intimidating and I guess I've lost whatever acclimatisation I might have developed in November. Have put phone on charge, shall see if I can persuade it to connect to mobile network so I can post yesterday's blog and send a couple of e-mails then shall have much-needed shower and out for lunch and a wander.

Music blaring at reception a little intimidatingly but the guy did put La Camisa Negra on which was oddly reassuring.

FFS, as on bus and at cafe earlier phone has good signal but refuses to show any signs of connecting to data network, despite me rebooting it just now. Not the end of the world but annoying especially given lack of wifi.

1134 OK, tried manually choosing different mobile networks and wasn't allowed to connect, but the act of reconnecting to movistar (the one it had already picked automatically) somehow made GSM data work. No idea why that worked when a reboot didn't. So have dribbled out a few e-mails and will now proceed to the shower. Not rushing as such as I want to give the phone time to charge up before I go out.

1252 Left ten mins ago, at small restaurant getting entrecotte grille (steak, I assume from photo) with chips. Predictable.

Only got a single 100 note (plus emergency inconvenient reserve in waist belt which don't want to touch) but should be fine.

My room is at back of hostel. Oddly just before I left 90% of the SYTs arrived on the otherwise deserted terrace outside my room and (very quietly) seemed to be taking part in some kind of activity. It was so non-boisterous and I have no idea WTF it was. I wended my way through them feeling a bit like I was intruding in a lesson. I say 90% as a few were still sprawling around nearer reception. Judging from that group most of the SYTs here are Spanish speaking, which shouldn't surprise me but does.

Oh, now I'm not there (tho can't see it would matter) I will say I was at Apart Lima 265 in Buenos Aires. Would stay there again tho may try different location or the aparthotel I stayed at on my first visit when I am back in a couple of weeks.

Managed to take an impressively large chunk out of the base of my nose while shaving. Definitely need to buy a new razor...

1318 Steak a bit fatty and nothing astounding but perfectly acceptable. Felt slight twinge of toothache while eating some bread; it has not recurred since so I hope it's nothing but I am naturally worried it's not.

Shall get the bill then go for a wander, calling in at a cash machine on the way.

1332 Fuck me that twinge of toothache has disturbed me. Keep waiting for it to come back.

Read bit of guidebook while sat here.

ARS47, 57 with tip. Will continue guidebook observation later, off now.

1743 Having wandered extensively I am at a sort of bar somewhere near the plaza having a much-needed beer.

I suddenly realised it was Tuesday not Monday and hence all the museums etc were not in fact shut. More for the hell of it that anything else walked down towards some art gallery to south of centre. Think I actually went in another one first. The one I went in was  Museo de Bellas Artes Evita - Palacio Ferreyra. They let me in free because of some reason I didn't catch, but I actually liked it so much I made sure I paid on leaving. That cost 10 or 15 with entry to Museo Emilio Caraffa, which I think was where I had originally been going. That was OK if not generally astounding.

Some good stuff at Ferreyra even though I was really just there to kill time. Some works about the dictatorship (Carlos Alonso, Manos anónimas) which I feel unable to avoid describing as 'powerful', trite though it may be, and some stuff by Dante Montich on the theme "Objetos de ansiedad" which just struck a bit of a chord. Building was pretty impressive in its own right too.

Oh, this place is La Tasca del Paseo.

With respect to the paragliding, I would have come here anyway but now I actually read the guide book that is at El (La?) Cumbre, 2.5h away by bus or 2h by minibus. I don't know if I want to go and stay there a night or two in order to try for it. Ideally some company here in Cordoba would offer an excursion but the guide book doesn't seem to mention one. Maybe need to look into that tomorrow. Even had it been local, I didn't plan to book today as I want (and wanted) to be able to wake up tomorrow morning when it suits me without any pressure, not to mention allowing me to gain some confidence my bowels are behaving themselves again before committing myself.

Vaguely tempted to get another beer now but I don't want to be hanging around in my room all night, especially without any wifi, so I shall go back after this then come back out in a couple of hours. Vague plan is not to go to bed too late, despite it being OKish on the bus I suspect a decent night's sleep wouldn't go amiss.

Some song playing I recognise but don't know name. 'Siempre brazos... Nuestro... Por el rio...' No, that's not right. Still. Think I heard it in Chile in November. May try a web search on those scanty terms if/when I get access conveniently again.

ARS22 for this litre, 30 with tip.

1852 Off we go.

2046 Toying with going out about 9. Frankly I suspect it's too early but I can never quite bring myself to believe that. Also suspect I am not going to find anywhere particularly great - not an Argentinian thing, look at Iquique in Chile for example, I never found a bar I liked there - but anything will do. Maybe tomorrow I shall try later.

Do wonder, February being summer here, if this place is perhaps deader than usual as all the students will be away. Fuck knows, pure speculation on my part.

2118 At Chopp Cordoba down by the - very fast flowing - river. Walked past here this pm and it was shut. Black & white cat wandering round, strange buzz (literally) in the air, moths flitting around the lights illuminating the river fooling this tourist into thinking they were fireflies at first, waiter semi-ignoring me, Robbie Williams playing and probably Dengue Fever-carrying mosquitos around. (Though surely the river is too fast for them to breed.) Just ordered 'pint' (600ml, but they call it 'pinta') rubia Cordoba, the cheapest by volume beer on the menu. Pleasantly busy without being heaving. Clientele probably a bit older than me on average.

This is OK actually. Worth threading my way past the throng of SYTs on the way out of the hostel, and being oddly entrapped by the swing door at the top of the street stairs despite being sober.

Think waiter just said 'thank you, sir' when he finally brought my beer (unexceptional but acceptable if very fizzy lager). I shall continue in Spanish, insofar as it matters when you are just reciting beer names from the menu. It is in a pint glass, to the eye at least, though if it truly is 600ml it must be an oversized one.

And the cat just let me stroke it, albeit somewhat skittishly.

2202 Wow, two cats, there's also a less nervous kitteny browny ginger (hard to tell in this light) one. Ooh, ooh, can I use the word 'pardo' here? Though ISTR someone told me it meant green, I am sure my dictionary disagreed.

All the music here seems to be 80s/90s (my knowledge is imperfect) English language. Maybe that suits the clientele.

2213 Seem to have won the black and white cat over, it's much less nervy with me now.

2243 No Doubt (?)'s "Don't Speak" now. English language 80s/90s continues apace. OK by me, really.

2249 Just used bog. This whole place has a *slightly* classy vibe (in a middle aged, middle class way) which, since it's not arsey, is fine by me. But there is a note on the hand towel dispenser which is rather strident about using only one towel. One is sufficient! Don't use two! It is printed properly rather than handwritten but it seems a little out of place. I guess if you spin it as concern for mother Earth rather than pennypinching it fits but still. Had it been anything except screen printed on the dispenser I would have felt it totally out of place.

We just had something in Spanish which sounded 80s/90s English language. Jamiroquai now, Space Cowboy or whatever. Never liked this song.

Don't get me wrong, something like Duna Classic Rock Bar in La Serena would also go down a treat, but since I expected to end up in a slightly dull bar near Plaza San Martin this is good, and in its own way it suits me. Running water to stare soulfully at counts for a lot too. ;-)

Oh, the (literal) buzz has gone and come back and is now intermittent. I assume it is some insect, though I could swear one source was nearby on the ground while I was stroking one of the cats and I couldn't see a thing. But shall assume it is crickets or whatever.

2300 Keane's "Can't stop now" playing. Must admit I like this.

Weather tonight is perfect for sitting outside, BTW. Hot and *sunny* today in a way it wasn't in BA, though I think it might have been less humid as it was a lot more tolerable.

At the risk of jinxing things - and I am not looking forward to returning to the hostel, drunk or sober - this is the first time in the trip (and I know it's early days, but it is my fourth night) I've actually felt unambiguously I'd rather be here than back home. Maybe I should say 'first night', but maybe not. The coffee this morning was quite cool but not great; I think it was more a slight resonance with my first morning in Oaxaca in 2010.

2341 Just ordered another, which will be four pints here. Feeling sort of drunk, which is a bit odd, but I sometimes seem to get this abroad. Yes there was the litre earlier, but so much earlier it must have been metabolized by now. I don't feel drunk drunk, just aware I have had a few. Do hate having to ask for entrance to hostels in any kind of drunk state (just had Somewhere Only We Know), I always feel the staff on door duty look down on it when you're a solo guest. It's a bit the same in hotels, and to be fair is yet another plus of the serviced apartment where you waltz in unattended. Still, why should I care what some wanker on hostel reception 7000 miles from home thinks? (Especially when he sees fit to perform his duties shirtless despite an incipient beer gut.) The thing at hostels though is that I don't want to wend my way through throngs of SYTs pissed. (And there are lashings of stairs too.) But then again, I'm not really pissed anyway (far from it), and why the fuck aren't they out clubbing if they're such SYTs? I suppose here they are probably waiting til 2am when things kick off, apparently.

If that 2am business is true - and I guess it must be - it freaks me out. I've always been a night person and depending on the local culture I could understand the nightlife kicking off at 11pm or so so people can go home/out for dinner first. But 2am seems to be taking it too far, to me.

Fuck, we're down to three tables occupied including me. Tis cool really, not going to have another given the above - if I do get hailed by SYTs at hostel I want to be reasonably compos mentis - but still.

0005 Just been for a piss and I can still walk straight (which should be no surprise, but sort of isn't). I expect to feel like I've had eight pints and four tequilas when I beg for admission to the hostel but still. Just asked for bill. 70 something and made it 100 with tip, toyed with calling it 90 but fuck it. Will probably be back here Wed or Thu so keep 'em sweet. Still worry my tipping is linguistically gross but I'm blatantly foreign and the money should salve any remaining hurt.

I hate being worried about the alcohol. In London I'd drink this much without batting an eyelid or giving it a second thought. Guess it shows the power of circumstances.

Actually left most of last pint, just couldn't see the point if I'd started to worry about being drunk, rightly or wrongly. Hostel street door was actually open so no problems getting in.