Salta, Wednesday

2022 At hostel lurking in room. It is evidently raining quite heavily. Shall have a shower in a bit then maybe go out, totally unclear. I think the phone keyboard is getting knackered.

Up about 11 not feeling great. Went to museum of high altitude archaelogy which was moderately diverting; of the three mummies on rotation I got to see the girl struck by lightning. (If I come back here I can see if I get a different one next time...) After that had a sandwich from a shop in the plaza and managed not to feel too ill. (I didn't finish my humble dinner of chicken and rice yesterday.) Was going to go to bus terminal and/or back up Cerro San Bernardo but feeling just a bit rough/weak I instead loitered at Mistral over a diet coke, went back to the hostel and then popped out about 7 to view the interior of the cathedral and iglesia de San Francisco.

Not sure what to do tonight in terms of eating or drinking. Also not sure what to do tomorrow. I could get an 18h bus to Mendoza, which would put me there for Fri night (party! ;-) ) and may or may not tax my body too much (it might even be sort of restful). I could alternatively get an overnight 8/10h bus to Catamarca/La Rioja, spend one night there (winging it, hostelworld.com doesn't list them) then go on to Mendoza overnight on Friday. This might be easier on me, yet might not. Those places sound cool but they also push the schedule out a little; Mendoza-BA is 13-18h (!) according to guide book, so if I am there Fri, Sat and Sun nights, it would be an easy-ish (if I can get a 13h bus) overnight Monday to BA. Actually that's a bit early. If I break for one night in Catamarca/La Rioja it pushes that out by two nights, so would be overnighting to BA Wednesday night, giving me Thu and Fri night there before I fly back Sat. Hmm. Is it really worth pushing things to be in Mendoza for the weekend? On the other hand, a simple 18h mostly overnight bus with a pre-booked ho(s)tel at the far end might be a lot more relaxing than 8h pseudo-overnight, finding a hostel just for one night and then a 10h overnight, plus it means an extra day 'homeless' due to the extra overnight bus.

I half hoped writing that down would help me come to a decision but it hasn't yet. Even if my health were perfect it would be a bit tricky and as it is I am not sure which is least demanding. I might - checkout is at 11 - sleep on it and try to decide first thing tomorrow morning. If my health were perfect I'd probably be able to care less, since you never know what will happen and you could spin the decision as 'win-win'.

2124 Showered. At City Bar just off plaza. Having griled chicken breast and rice, that being about the lightest thing I could find. Guts still churning a bit but I have to wonder if in part it's hunger. I figure I ought to eat and while it would suck to have it backfire on me now, it would suck more to eat tomorrow midday and have it backfire then.

I am leaning towards simply going onto Mendoza tomorrow. As a general rule I don't like to spend a single night anywhere (as I would if I go to Catamarca/La Rioja) as you don't get a really good rest or time to see the place in a relaxed mood. And - touch wood etc - it's probably less stressful and tiring to just sit on a bus for 18h, especially in cama, than to do the shorter trips. If I don't have a bad night tonight (and I didn't have a bad night last night, even if it wasn't great) I see no reason why being on the bus should be torture, and if push comes to shove I guess I can jump off midway.

If I had all the time in the world I might stay on here an extra night (possiby in a different ho(s)tel - staring at the underside of the top bunk is a grim way to relax in my room, I guess I could clear all the shit off the top bunk and lie on that but it's not really to my taste either) and give myself a bit more time to recover. As it is I am not feeling too bad and I don't really want to waste any more time than necessary. If I do have a bad night I might reconsider. On the other hand, if I am going to Mendoza it would be good to get the accommodation booked tonight. In principle I guess best of both worlds would be to get up at 9 or 9:30 and do it then. Might have a look tonight and see if rooms are scarce. I am assuming I can get a seat on a bus, I hope that is the case. In a way would have been better to sort all this out during business hours today but I can't really regret it as this way I have had more time to see how I'm recovering.

In one guide book entry did note it said bus prices shown were mid-season ones, which may account for some of discrepancy. On the other, the high altitude archaelogy museum was ARS40 for foreigners not 30 as shown in guide book, so maybe it is just out of date.

Oh, it is spitting a bit but not really heavy now; dunno what it was like earlier. Hostel is a few minutes' walk away anyway.

2215 Ate about half and feel slightly sick. Not sure what to make of this. Just asked for bill, shall go back to hostel and pack and see what happens.

Bit of a cheek, bill was 53, I said to make it 65 and they gave me 30 in change from a 100. On top of that they gave me a 10% discount voucher when I was dithering before I sat down which I didn't use as it seemed cheap. Oh well.

2309 At hostel, been looking into accomodation. Dunno if got it right earlier but nearly options are Catamarca and La Rioja, *not* Cafayate.

2336 OK, I am going to Mendoza. Just hope I can get a bus ticket tomorrow. There is not much non-dorm availability Fri-Sun nights in hostels and proper hotels were pricey (sixty quid a night) for the weekend, but I managed to get a twin with private bathroom at a hostel for ARS180/night, which is comparatively OK. Could have scrimped a bit and gone for shared bathroom (ARS140/night) but after Monday night I figure it's a luxury worth paying for until I feel myself again. I can also seize the opportunity to do all my laundry; I have done a bit in the shared bathroom here but it's all a bit furtive. Was tempted to revert to Catamarca given the lack of options in Mendoza but really don't fancy the idea of winging looking for accommodation on arrival if I'm feeling at all ropy. Especially when, for the same reason, I am less willing than usual to stay in a dorm. I've done it before when out of options and I am sure I will again, but I have at least been in rude health. The last thing I need on top of feeling ill is worrying about disturbing people in the middle of the night... (I suspect you can nearly always get a dormitory bed. I don't think any of the hostels I looked at didn't have one available.)

Oh, there is a 1 day cancellation policy, so - touch wood - if I feel crap in the morning or am unable to get a bus ticket, I can probably cancel for free. Failing that it will cost me one night's stay, which isn't the end of the world.

Now I'm about to leave will say I've been at Hostal del Centro in (street) Cordoba here. Undeniable value for money, good location and it's not their fault I got sick.

I do think I must have been more than just tired on Monday after all; the effects were too extreme that night and have lingered too long to be attributable to the alcohol alone, and it's not like I went on a massive bender either. I hope another easy day or so - and sitting on the bus hopefully counts as easy - will see me right. I have been dogged by some kind of illness most of the trip so far, and when not ill I've been in its shadow.