Our trip to Tucumán turned out to be extremely interesting. We had imagined that we were heading away from the mountains, which was largely true. However, we had not realised that we would need to go up so high in order to get away. Our bus had to get through a pass at over 3000 metres, commonly referred to as 'The Little Hell'. It certainly was hell for our bus driver who needed to steer us through very tight bends with sheer drops beside us, twisting and turning round the steep slopes and frequently looping back on ourselves. The scenery, needless to say was spectacular! The excitement mounted as we realised that the bus door kept coming open. Eventually, while we had a toilet stop, the driver arranged for a replacement bus for the rest of the journey. Our toilet stop was high in the mountains and, as we waited, we realised that we actually felt cold! (Though I guess it was still much warmer than in England at present.) We’ve carried cold weather clothing since Oz without using it at all and kept thinking that we would dump it but we have now changed our minds!

As we approached Tucumán, it began to rain and, although not as chilly as when we were up high, we were beginning to think things were cooler. We were disavowed of this next day as the sun came out again and the temperature soon rose to the early 30s and we were back in shorts! Still, other travellers are sure that it will get colder when we go higher in Chile, Bolivia and Peru, so we can’t get rid of the fleeces yet!

This is actually Argentina’s fifth largest city and is considerably more bustling than our other recent stops. Its main fame rests on the fact that the very first declaration of independence from Spain was signed here. Consequently, and with unprecedented originality, the main plaza is named Plaza de Independencia (although they still use 25 de Mayo, the normal name for a central square, for one of the main streets. Just to confuse things it changes into 9 de Julio the other side of the square). The square is surrounded by some of the biggest buildings in the town including the main church in which every surface is painted, including some strange paintings of big bangs, dinosaurs etc.

The actual room where the independence papers were signed has been preserved although the surrounding building has been completely rebuilt to house a small museum. The contents of the museum are pretty limited although there are portraits of all the signees. Not surprisingly, none of these are female or show any sign of indigenous backgrounds. Outside there is a further case of the Argentine fascination for metal plaques paying homage. Almost all statues and shrines, many mausoleums and most other places of interest are encrusted with these plaques placed by visiting groups, usually at some point in their own history such as anniversaries of founding, birth or death of founder etc. Some here are visiting local goverment officials etc but others seem to be just school groups on a visit. We wondered whether this tradition is actually the foundation of that other Argentine fascination, for scrawling graffitti on walls, statues and shrines!

As well as the Casa de Independancia, there are a number of attractive colonial and later buildings although few are completely intact. The local government has helpfully placed small noticeboards by many to inform the visitor of the historic importance. Beyond this, Tucumán offers little stimulation; there are some museums and galleries but their opening hours are extremely restricted and some we visited were closed even though they said they were open. One, noted in our 2 year old guidebook as ‘currently being restored and should re-open soon’ is still closed (must be a pretty substantial restoration). The Goverment House, a huge building on the square has a sign to tourists saying that entry is free but we were not allowed in by the security guard. The Bellas Artes is closed for ‘works’ until February (although the local paper says that it is open). There’s no point in being frustrated, this appears to be the normality of South America, although one wonders the point of keeping these huge places open when they don’t encourage visitors.

So, like it or not, we have been chilling out (or as chilled as you can get with immense heat and 95% humidity!) We visited the huge park on the edge of the city, Parque de 9 de Julio (not to be confused with the street with the same name, which is nowhere near). Most of this is extremely scruffy with huge amounts of rubbish everywhere, including in the lake and non-working fountains. The fact that this park actually houses the offices of the directorate of green spaces for the city tells you a lot about their priorities.

However, we have not been completely chilled about our hostel. Although we have an adequate little room opening onto the garden, we don’t have a private bathroom. But the hostel has only 3 toilets for 30+ guests and one of those was declared out of order after our first morning. Since the two remaining toilets are located inside bathrooms, frequently someone is taking a shower when you need the loo, which is not much fun! Still we have survived but are looking forward to a return to private facilities in our hostel in Córdoba, our next stop.

What the hostel does do well at is the fun factor for the younger people who make up 99% of the guests (TP estimates himself at least twice the age of the oldest guest other than Jen). They provide an evening meal in the room price, which encourages all to stay in (and drink) in the hostel. Although originally confused by the prospect of vegetarians (most of the punters are Sudamericanos and have no time for vegetables) they have actually been able to provide simple but nourishing food for us. Saturday night was ‘party night’ but we were still surprised when, after dinner (midnight) they started to bring in and set up a mechanical bucking bronco for all to ‘enjoy’. Jen, recalling Tony’s several past broken bones, decided that he was not allowed to go on it but did not take his place. Kylie Minogue didn’t turn up either. We left them to it at 2am.

While on the subject of veggie food, we should point out that, even away from the hostel, we have been able to get some good stuff here. We found an excellent spinach and egg pie lurking on the menu in a pizza house and also discovered a veggie buffet restaurant called Shitake with countless meat free meals and lovely people – highly recommended