Corrientes-Cordoba

Thu 1619 Bit worried about battery life given can no longer top up reliably from powerbank given dodgy connector.

Got up 930ish and had breakfast; bloke and woman (strangers I think) having conversation in Spanish but I think they were both native speakers and I didn't try to join in. Left bag at hostel, hope it's OK. Plan is to go back about 1745 and get bag then walk over to terminal.

Went overt to Museo de Ciencias Naturales; free again, small but quite interesting. Milked it rather heavily, watching maybe an hour of some National Geographic documentary in barely-audible Spanish for example. They had a small display of some rather horrific looking preserved spiders. Quite a cool huge bees/wasp's nest which let you see the structure of the thing.

Felt super hot and sweaty as soon as left hostel; surely I should be pretty well acclimatised by now? Maybe it is unusually hot/humid today. Didn't really like to go back to that food truck by river, mostly because didn't fancy third argument with the beggar woman. So walked over to Junin and ended up coming into Cafe-Bar Schneider; sat outside at first but no service plus some guy asking me if I had a fag then inviting me to go take a free look at his shit for sale across the road persuaded me to come in; it was nice enough under umbrella over table but it is airconditioned in here. Had, after some wrangling and confusion, a milanesa with chips and a soft drink and now got litre of Schneider. Shame to drink in a way but sod it. Will prob get an Americano after this and that should see me through to bag-collecting time.

Told guy (it was the one who spoke to me in English so didn't try Spanish, assuming he likes to practice) at reception when left bag about my lost 32GB SD card, he said they would look during cleaning so need to remember to ask about it when collect bag (hope same guy is on) and is a slim chance will get it back.

Did see what I think was the little black cat I had on my bunk during breakfast and snapped very quick picture of it. It was playing with some string at one point, so it may just be an old-ish kitten which might account for it being so relatively skinny.

Looking at place mats this place might actually be called Parada 2-15 and merely have a confusing (to me at least) canopy outside.

Salt packet says "Industria Argentina" and have seen on many other products too, also in Brazil some similar variant with Brazil in name. Wonder if "Industria Argentina" is a huge manufacturing concern, or if this is a way of saying "Made in Argentina" and doesn't indiciate which company produced it.

1853 Got to terminal few mins ago. Sweaty as fuck but otherwise OK. "CBS" tried to charge me 500odd when I knew bill should be 400odd; bit annoying but OTOH kudos for managing to calmly dispute this and get issue fixed.

Collected bag OK and sneakily used wifi while there; a woman on desk not same bloke but asked about card, no sign, oh well. She offered to call me taxi but said no need; my Spanish could have been better during this conversation but got by which is something.

Batt 50%; will try to charge from powerbank on bus. Am in cama; guy was a bit fast for me reeling off prices when bought tkt yday but this was apparently the cheap option - there was a "suite" option for IIRC about an extra ten quid but I had been plannin to settle for semi-cama so cama is fine.

Sign as got near terminal said "Terminal Ferroviario 300m" ; I suspect this is just the bus terminal, but could there be a train station here? Perhaps a stop on that not-very-reliable Buenos Aires-Posadas line? Maybe worth a bit of web search later.

2012 On bus. Accidentally went upstairs, even tho told downstairs. Not sure if upstairs is nicer than downstairs. Upstairs has luggage racks, but the same 2+1 layout as downstairs so it's not like either is semi-cama. I get no luggage rack, which means my rather bulky main bag has to sit round my feet, or be tucked under the footrest which I'd really rather not use. I wasn't offered a choice of seat when I booked, I have the aisle seat of the double seat right at back which means there's a cateringy gadget where the aisle should be and there's a really fucking noisy aircon unit right behind my head. So not terrible, but frankly crap. In this respect most of the semi-cama buses I've been on have been more comfortable. We're off, no seatmate yet anyway.

Also have load of cushions, blankets and food trays which I have nowhere to put if I need to use the footrest (I can tuck them behind it if not in use).

No, we're not quite moving yet.

Ambulant vendor at terminal selling what look like half litre glasses at ARS15 with a mildly amusing line in patter. Vaguely tempted but really could there be a worse souvenir purchase than something that bulky, fragile and dangerous-once-broken?

2020 Now we're off, and no seatmate, but of course may get one en route and esp as I may be half asleep I can't spread myself out.

2155 Had some food on bus, cold rice+chicken+bit of egg, raspberry? jelly, few crackers, a cup of some hot broth, a presumably non-diet coke and annoyed at myself for turning down a cup of something (wiki? wicked?) partly because *everyone* else turned it down too (and partly cos a quick glance made me wonder if it was an iced drink or a syrup with chunk of peach in, prob not the latter but really didn't want it if it was and on bus you can't just ignore or dispose of something trivially once you've got in on your lap tray and it might spill evberywhere).

Struggling to charge phone, think vibrations make it damn hard to keep the cable/connector in a suitable position and I'm worried that trying to apply pressure with hand to compensate is going to accelerate the point at which the connector just dies completely; managed to gradually nudge up to 51% and should last overnight since really only playing music on phone on bus. Once in Cordoba and indeed BA I can hopefully charge it a bit more "gently" via propping up as I did in dorm bunk and I need to try to nurse it through last couple of weeks of trip then can get it fixed back home.

Fri 0949 In flat. Massive amount of forms to get checked in but all OK, they had a cancellation on 1 bed flat (I had booked 2 bed) so got 10% discount for downgrading to still very large and nice 1 bed, also not had to pay IVA (and told it's my right so other place shouldn't have fobbed me off but no matter, not a huge amount and didn't want to argue lateish at night). Checked dollar exchange rate on Google and it *is* 44 ARS to the dollar, which seems expensive but it's because I've been using 50 ARS to the GBP just because it's easy for mental arithmetic but it's actually 57. (So this may mean Argentina has been a bit cheaper than I thought.) Anyway, a hair over USD157 for six nights is not super cheap but not bad and it is a pretty nice flat, although sadly neither of the TVs is a smart TV so I'm stuck watching Youtube on my phone with crappy charging, which is a bit of a shame when one of the attractions of an apartment is it's more comfortable to spend time in.

Was in fairly bad mood on walk over from terminal due to anticipating massive wait to get into flat and phone batt being low. Got to flat about 0830 after arriving terminal maybe 0730 or a bit after, had to wait til 9 for office to open but managed to squash a bit of charge into phone from power bank while sitting on a wall outside. Phone socket is definitely iffy but I think my long USB cable is also a bit knackered too. I have a short cable which I knew was knackered already but which seemed to work instead of long one while charging outside.

Advised by chap that shouldn't walk back at night, though he later clarified this as "midnight onwards" , and a taxi from centre is about 100 so given I will prob only be out late Sat night (if at all) this isn't a huge deal.

No toilet paper which is a bit crap but I do have my own roll and I'll ask for some down at the office later.

Woohoo, found TV manual while checking supplies in kitchen and it is actually a smart TV after all...

1629 Should prob start new blog for today but won't, it doesn't really matter and today sort of feels like continuation of travel.

So topped phone up and went out maybe 1-2pm to buy train ticket to Buenos Aires (Retiro); expected it to be a faff or the train not to be running or ticket office not to be open given there can't be more than a handful of trains a week. All OK except a) camarote class all sold out b) they only take Visa (or cash, but that's a bad option for me given withdrawal fees) and I had two Mastercards on me. So I left and came back - chuntering to myself, not ideal, but wasn't rude to anyone else - via supermarket where picked up some food, a cheap toothbrush (mine is really getting ratty) and amazingly a small cheap pouch of laundry detergent so I can use flat's washing machine (a very rare feature) to save/go one better than handwashing. Cooked, felt quite stuffed, loitered maybe half an hour to digest then went back out to station with my Barclaycard Platinum Travel. Also took actual passport in hidden belt just in case they refused to accept my credit card sized copy; the station isn't far but it's far enough and there's enough dangerous/tedious road crossing for it to be a real pain to have to keep going over there.

No problem, no fuss taking ccard passport copy, paid no fuss for Pullman (next best class, 600 - base class is 500 so given it's a 19h-ish trip plus am doing it for the experience - I suspect bus would be quicker, though maybe not cheaper - not economising over two quid - it's a shame I could go camarote but another time) and have a moderately fancy cardboard wallet with ticket in which will be a small souvenir.

Picked up some toilet paper from the flat rental office on ground floor (they don't own whole building, but guess they must own or manage-for-owner a fair number to warrant a specific office with at least three staff), was very nice about it - I am super grateful they let me in early and while signing a contract and having to leave a cash deposit was a faff it wasn't end of world - but saw no harm in asking.

Plan for tonight is just to have quiet night in, enjoy the flat *and book or at least "choose" a BA flat, be it on airbnb or booking.com or expedia* so I have the accom all sorted out.

I think the USB cable *is* going dodgy as I put the power bank on to top up earlier and it took quite a bit of faffing. The phone's USB connector is definitely dodgy too, but the USB cable is now as well - possibly the propping-up on the cable I've had to do to get the phone to charge hasn't helped, or maybe it's just one of those things. It is supposed to be a half-decent quality cable (though nothing insane; £2-3 for one cable in a pack of three I think) but OTOH it has lasted up til now (I started using it for Guatemala trip in Oct I think) and I guess the "charging phone in bed" does put strain on things.

Going to switch to carrying BPT instead of Clarity; I had been keeping it in reserve as it's more valuable since it has simple fee-free withdrawals, but with the end of the trip so close losing it would not be such a wrench and it would be helpful to have both a Visa (BPT credit) and Mastercard (Starling debit) jic given some places are obviously fussy. If (as prob will) I need to wd more cash it may just be case the BPT is better, but I doubt it (otherwise would have made a point of trying it before).

Looking at contents of train ticket wallet I could apparently have saved 10% booking online. Assuming this works for foreigners I will know next time but TBH by the time I've paid for an internet cafe to print the ticket the 60 saving on this ticket would be beating eaten away anyway. Under other circumstances I might be booking from UK before I travel, though, and then I can obviously print very cheaply and conveniently.

2205 Just been Youtubing it up while charging phone (this is the key advantage of smart TV, albeit another dog slow one - perhaps the YT app has got bloated over time; having a big screen is nice but being able to entertain myself without touching phone and its precarious charge infrastructure is key) and also done a load of laundry.

FWIW did acquire seatmate about an hour into last night's journey, bus filled up at least on my deck at that point. Not a problem though, especially with the bigger cama seats. Didn't sleep super well but could have been worse.

Don't really feel in mood for booking BA accom but let's at least poke and start the mental process off.

Man does it piss me off the way booking.com shows properties which are not available. I suppose this is not entirely marketing wank, as if I repeat a search in a few days time I might be looking for property X I had my eye on and would rather it didn't silently disappear.

Without paying attention to location very much, cheapest apartment/aparthotel on booking.com is USD190+40 taxes for the 10 nights. On the other hand, some of these don't seem to have any kitchens so they're not really apartments to my mind.

They do have a place in Montserrat for USD243+50 which looks OK; I was thinking San Telmo-ish (perhaps boring of me but WTF, tho on prev trips think have been in other areas) and Montserrat is close enough for me, perhaps better in some ways.

Cheapest in rough area on airbnb is £161 for the same period, which is USD210, so that is cheaper (though I may not have to pay the 50 fee on the booking.com place since they do take cards and I am a foreigner). The airbnb place says it has an independent kitchen in listing but has kitchen crossed out in amenities. It seems to be a 4 bedroom place (!) but really I don't need 4 bedrooms, and there are *no* reviews.

I note the booking.com place says it accepts cards, then the text says you must pay by bank transfer before you arrive. Feeling a bit narked by booking.com's "last 1" psychological tricks too.

OK, I've sent a query to the host via booking.com re paying by card and not paying the VAT so let's see what they say. If the place gets booked by someone else in the meantime there are other options, I haven't definitely decided it would suit me if the answer to my query is favourable (though I also don't want to get bogged down in finding the "perfect" place; good enough is good enough).

Hahahaha. Another vaguely decent apartment on booking.com wants a USD 200 (this place in Cordoba has only taken ARS1000, which is a bit over twenty quid) *cash* damage deposit on check in. I bet they want it in ARS not USD too, not that I have 200 USD on me either. I'm flying out straight afterwards, so that would stick me with USD200 worth of ARS which I wouldn't be able to spend til my next visit to Argentina, which may be next year but may be four or five years. And I'd pay an extra 5% or so in cash machine fees for the privilege of withdrawing the money. So fuck right off chap. If you want to play with the big boys you should get the facilities to reserve a chunk of money on my credit card, I'm not handing over USD200 in cash to satisfy your jumped-up little landlording operation.

expedia.co.uk has no apartment for less than £237 so they're out of consideration.

Some of the reviews on the possible booking.com apt I sent query to are a bit iffy but some others (most, in fact) from same time period are pretty positive. Gut feeling is *if* they tell me I can pay by ccard and won't be charged VAT I will probably book with them. I think there's little more to do tonight, having a bit of time and space to consider these issues and spread the booking process over a day or two instead of needing something for a day or two's time is one reason I wanted to start now, but that doesn't mean I have to *finish* tonight and damn the potential downsides.

2319 OK, got two extremely curt replies, not one for some reason. In Spanish. One clearly says "Yes I can pay by card." The other I was a tiny bit dubious about the language (literally they say "Se hace un cobro de 50 %") but Google Translate tells me it says "a 50% surcharge is made" . I wondered (not that that would be acceptable anyway) if this meant "you must pay 50% up front by bank transfer" . They've also completely ignored the not-paying-VAT question. So unfortunately, fuck them - the apartment sounded good and willing to take a punt on the bad reviews being stroppy fuckers given most were good, but I'm not doing an international  bank transfer (which would in any case compel me to pay the VAT) and anyone who thinks a 50% surcharge is reasonable for paying by credit card frankly doesn't deserve to be in business full stop. Add that to the ultra-curtness of the replies (though it is late and at least they replied promptly) and fuck that. Not going to reply and tell them to go fuck themselves, no point burning bridges unnecessarily, I only expressed an interest and am not obliged to follow through.

Was heading towards bed but not that tired and now that property is out of consideration I can go ahead and look at other stuff.

OK, I've messaged the cheap apartment on airbnb (about £16 a night); it's not 4 bedroom, it's 4 beds and sole bedroom has two singles not a double which is but crap but not terrible. It looks like there is no proper kitchen, just a microwave, but I've asked if there's a hob; yes I may well just say "fuck it, last 10 days of trip" and go eat steak and chips at that place found in Jan every day, but I would like to have the option to cook something semi-healthy now and then. On the plus side check in is from 8am so I wouldn't be homeless for hours after my train gets in. Also asked if it would be a problem for me to be checking out pre-8am on last day.

There is another flat in same area for about two quid a night more which looks a bit nicer but checkin is from 3pm and I really don't want to be homeless from 930 to 3pm if I can help it.

There's another borderline OK place further west more into San Nicolas, which *might* be a nice area and worth a punt but current thinking is the £16 place is already over that way and would give me option to explore in that direction without getting me further away from the semi-decent options I know exist over towards Montserrat/Constitucion. There's also a cheapish place in Palermo but I think I stayed there (Dazzler Flats) before and while it may be a swanky area I want something a little more down to earth where I might find some non-overpriced bars for the odd evening out.

I could move up on price (though TBH given booking.com's listings are polluted with the kind of deceptive and/or exploitative shit waffled about above not sure it's easy to find anything on there), I was paying £26ish IIRC in Santiago and could in BA, but I'd rather keep it cheap if I can get something acceptable lower down price range.

Bed. No idea how I'm going to charge phone overnight (batt run down rom 75% I had trickled it up to to 28% doing this stuff tonight) but fingers crossed.