Bike travel, commuting and more

Panamericana

Argentina X: Belen-Cordoba

Cordoba market

Checking the Sunday market

Off the bikes for winter

The morning in Belen was cold and overcast, so we were not overly motivated as we started packing the bikes to get moving. To make matters worse, we had next a village in 15km, Londres, and then nothing for about 75 km, so we had to decide either to do a short day, or a normal one and camp in the desert.

Our gear stays in Belen
Leaving our gear in Belen by our hostel owner

While we were at it, I got a message from Jeronimo, one of the Argentinian travelers we have met the last few days, asking how we were doing. Through him we learnt that the whole country was under a cold wave coming from the Antarctic, which explained why it was so cold.

Cheap and fresh empanadas in Belen
Enjoying the cheapest empanadas, freshly made, in the Belen bus station

We knew we were ahead of schedule because we took so many buses in Peru. We also wanted to take a break from the bikes to visit the cities that were outside our route, like Buenos Aires. So a decision was quickly made. We asked the owner of our hostel if he would store our bikes and gear for a month, and we would take a month off to avoid the worst of winter and do a bit of tourism.

We are in Cordoba!
We are finally in Cordoba!

He agreed in exchange of a small fee, and we took a bus to Cordoba that same day, after a bit of stress because there are not many buses leaving Belen and we were initially told tickets were sold out.

Building in Cordoba
Modern building in Cordoba
Cordoba Cathedral
Cordoba Cathedral

Many people had recommended to visit Cordoba, mostly because people are supposed to be among the nicest and funniest in Argentina, but also due to the nice landscapes in the mountains in the North. Susanne was also interested as many of the pioneers of Passive Houses in Argentina live there.

Bath time in the hostel
After so many weeks, finally bath time!!

We found a nice and welcoming hostel in the city center and got to visit the city. The day we arrived was Sunday and the city was dead.

Pool in the hostel
Playing pool in the hostel

We visited a street market but had very little choice of food, mostly used clothes that we didn’t need.

Passive House in Cordoba
Susanne met some architect colleagues working on Passive House buildings

The next couple of days were better. Susanne met some of her contacts, while the kids and me tried all the nice parks in the city center.

Canada de Cordoba
Along the pretty Canada de Cordoba
Plaza de Intendencia, Cordoba
Great playground at Plaza de Intendencia, with wifi for the parents!

We also visited the Museum of Fine Arts and all the pedestrian streets in the city center.

Museum of Fine Arts in Cordoba
Inside the Museum of Fine Arts
Pedestrian streets in Cordoba
Pedestrian city center

We quite liked the city, although we know we are missing the best by not going trekking to the mountains in the North, but this is quite unfeasible with kids, as they can’t walk for longer than one hour.

First asado in Argentina
Our first asado in Argentina, in the hostel

Our next stop will be Buenos Aires, another night bus ride away.

Remember you can receive notifications by email every time there is a new post just by subscribing on the box in the sidebar (or below if reading on a portable device). We have also created an Instagram account at @utilitariancycling

3 Comments

  1. Katherine

    Cordoba, Belen, Londres, y otros nombres de pueblos españoles que recuerdo haber leido en sus relatos… por lo visto la influencia Europea se hace notar. Mmmm aunque seria interesante buscar Las fechas de fundacion para ver quien fue primero…si el 🥚huevo o la gallina🐔 ???🙃 saludos ché!!a la mina y los pibes tambien!

  2. Katherine

    Interesante! De seguro asi deben haber sido muchos otros. Por eso tantos nombres de localidades repetidas entre America y Europa. ..Santiago de Cali, Santiago de Guayaquil…Santiago de Compostela!. Y claro pues, si Colon descubrio America en 1492, toda fundacion data a partir del 1500. Y obvio, en Europa Las fundaciones datan de muchos siglos atras. En resumen, ni 🥚 ni 🐔, solo pura historia nomas. 😃. Y aqui esta la respuesta a aquella pregunta que todos nos hicimos en la escuela cuando estudiabamos para examenes.. “de que me sirve esto, porque debo saberlo??? Para que???😫” .. facil….Para tener cultural general!….es lo que les digo ahora a mis hijas cuando no quieren estudiar algo😇. Saludos viajeros y sigan nutriendo este blog con sus aventuras que ademas de turistico es historiador.

Leave a Reply