marc

Behind the curtains

Having been informed that dinner would be served after eight thirty in the dining room behind the mysterious curtains, I was curious as to what lay behind them, because the entire hotel had a kind of Dr Who Tardis feel to it, in that it was so much larger inside than what it seemed from the outside. Once our hostess drew back the curtains, we definitely felt we’d been transported into another century, albeit with the obligatory giant TV stuck on the far wall.

When I asked for the menu, we were informed that there wasn’t one, which simplified matters no end and our hostess rattled off what was available that day. But I had already decided that a massive plate of chips with two fried eggs on top and lashings of bread rolls and butter was what I really needed. Claudio went for beef milanesas with salad and our hostess was more than happy to oblige our simple choices.

Both of us were starving, shared each other’s meals and our hostess even joined us for company later on to chat about the latest town and national politics – subjects that are never far from an Argentine conversation, because living in this country can often feel like being tossed around inside a whirlwind, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, we finished every scrap of food and the bill (cash only) for two was only a little more than the cost of one room.

Before turning in, I snapped a few shots at sunset and observed that crash helmets are not very popular in the interior…

The following morning…

As far as I could tell, we were the only guests and once we turned in around ten pm, the only sounds I could hear were chirping insects and birdsong through the open window, with thankfully, no mosquitoes.

I like my creature comforts and knowing that hotels in Argentina don’t usually provide tea and coffee making facilities in rooms, I brought a travel kettle, two plastic mugs, tea bags, sugar, powdered milk and coffee because I knew I would wake up early, which I did at 06.30. But making the coffee was a juggling act because electrical points in Argentina are still a mystery to me and my room had two wall sockets – one high up on the opposite wall for the 90s TV and the other, half way up the wall next to my little wooden bed. But that was easily solved with a few props.

After enjoying a couple of very welcome coffees, we prepared the bikes for the next leg of the journey and this aspect always takes much longer than expected. Check the chain and oil, secure bags and make sure there are no dangly bits that could ruin the day at 110kmh. Although breakfast was being served at eight am, we skipped it, thanked our hostess profusely and bid our farewells, knowing that the next leg would be far more interesting than the previous day’s run. On the way out through ‘reception’ I also observed some small oddities of the Hotel Titi, which had me rubbing my chin in amusement.

The long and very straight road

As I’ve already mentioned, the Rosario to Cordoba motorway is mainly one long, arrow straight road with only a few service stations available (in 2016 when I travelled this route, there was only one), so it’s advisable to to fill the tank at every opportunity. This is what we did by pulling off somewhere near James Craik (pronounced as ham-es craiyk!) for a welcome breakfast of café con leche and medialunas.

“The following are prohibited: pets, drinking mate (herb drink), bringing your own food and entering with a bare chest.” I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.

 

By around midday we had our first glimpse of the Cordoba sierras, which made me realise how flat most of Argentina really is, especially living in Buenos Aires, which only boasts the odd hillock.

El Cuadrado – a motorcyclist’s dream road

Since Claudio’s sister lives in La Cumbre, he knows the roads very well and suggested that we ride via El Cuadrado, a famous tourist route of around 30kms over the Sierras Chicas that winds sinuously from Rio Ceballos to Valle Hermoso. He promised me that I would love it and I did.

The weather was perfect, the road surface was impeccable, without one single pot hole and the scenery was breathtaking. We were enjoying it so much that stopping wasn’t really an option, so I found the above aerial view video that shows the road better than I could explain it.

La Cumbre off-road in part three, to follow.