In order to break up my journey from Córdoba to Salta, I decided to make a quick stop in Tucumán, which is apparently the fifth largest city in Argentina (and the largest in the Northern region) despite it having a very strong small-town feel. Aside from a bit of admin/relaxation time I saw even more nice churches, experienced a bit of Northern Argentinean culture and squeezed in a little rafting.

First stop was the Casa de Cultura/Independence House which is a museum full of artifacts and portraits from the time of Argentina's independence. It was vaguely interesting, but I am glad that I went on a Sunday when they don't charge an entrance fee! Each evening they host a "light and sound show" which sounded like it might be quite good. It was a little less extravagant than I was expecting, but again it was free so I won’t complain too much. The show was about an hour long and consisted of a recorded narrative (in Spanish) all about the independence era, with a few colourful lights to make it more visually appealing. However, I think that most people were more interested in watching the antics of the random cat that was walking around and disturbing the light effects! Although it was all in Spanish, it was pretty clear and I understood most of what was being said.

After Córdoba I was little over churches, but I still paid a little visit to the Cathedral and the Temple of St Francis around Plaza Independencia in Tucumán, both of which are stunning buildings. The Provincial Government House is also very impressive, and all of these buildings looked very grand and beautiful when lit up at night time. Even the McDonalds and the Post Office in the city centre were architecturally pretty! At night time there is always lots going on in the central plazas in the way of music, dance and general entertainment, which is interesting to watch/take part in if you’re feeling brave.

Before I left Tucumán I decided to go rafting, something that despite my best efforts on various occasions I have never been able to do, due to adverse conditions/not enough people etc. On the journey to the river we passed by lots of lemon trees, and learnt that they are now also growing blueberries which are a new source of income for the area.   As for the rafting itself, I was hoping for a thrilling ride from some wild white water, but unfortunately it seems that Tucumán is not the place to offer such an adrenaline rush. In my group there was an Argentinean couple, of which the female half seemed to somehow manage to get scared! The redeeming feature of this experience for me was the guide; a lovely young man called Augustin who reminded me a lot of Luciano (off of Salvador), only 10 years younger. He spiced things up a bit in the raft by tipping it over on various occasions to raise the excitement levels as much as possible in such a placid river.

Once we had finished the rafting I had a few hours to kill before my bus out of town, so Augustin and I went for a few beers in a bar in the bus terminal after a few games in the arcade; yes, the arcade… remember he is 20 years old! I felt a bit bad when he asked me what I thought of the rafting, but I think that he appreciated the rare honest response that came his way. A few too many beers later and it was time to leave my three hour hot date and get some rest on the overnight bus to Salta.