We know very little about the condition of the roads. We do know
there are many unpaved roads, even on reasonably well travelled routes. We also
know that suicidal over-takes are common and directional signs range from
average to very poor. It is not uncommon to arrive at an intersection and find
no road signs at all.
We have an old Garmin nuvi (GPS device) from a previous trip which
is prone to letting us down when we need it most. It is surprisingly difficult
to buy Sth American maps in Australia to load onto our modern more
reliable nuvis. The plan was to
purchase a GPS over here but we have discovered that the cost of Garmin nuvis
in Argentina is even more outrageous than the cost at home. We will buy paper
maps and hope that our old GPS keeps working.
We set out early from Córdoba. Provided nothing goes wrong it is a
seven hour drive to our overnight stop at San Miguel de Tucumán. Tucumán has a population
of 800,000 people, the fifth largest
city in Argentina. I want to find our hotel before dark. The first part of the
drive is along National Route 9. It is Sunday and there are fewer trucks than
during the week but the journey is still nerve-wracking and perilous. The road
is one lane aside. Cars and trucks overtake one another with an alarming
fearlessness. There seems to be little respect for the rules of the road. Add a
scattering of horse drawn carts and a plague of motor-cycles into the mix and I
feel constantly on the knife-edge of disaster. The motor-cycles often carry
more than one person - sometimes entire families with Dad on the front, Mum at
the back, and children sometimes babies, pressed between the two. Helmets are
clearly not obligatory. Many of the motor-cyclists carry them hooked through
one arm - protecting their elbow. We guess that in some provinces they must be
compulsory otherwise why carry them at all.
There are frequent police check points - the only time the traffic
slows down. We have become familiar with these from our previous trips to
Argentina. Today the police are pulling over trucks but very few cars. In the
past we have seen them target old cars with young male drivers and passengers.
We don't know what they are looking for but clearly we are not part of the
profile. We have never been stopped.
After an hour we turn onto Route 60. We could travel all the way
to Tucuman on Route 9 but we hope that by diverting to a secondary road the
traffic will be calmer. It is. We breathe a sigh of relief. There are still
suicidal overtakes and motor-cycles and horses and carts and worse - clapped
out trucks which go so slowly we have no choice but to pass them. David's normally cautious
driving seems to adjust to the conditions. Too much caution will see our seven
hour trip double or triple in time. I try to stay calm and, for the most part,
fail.
Small towns are scattered infrequently along the route. They do
not look prosperous. We resist the urge to turn in and explore. We will
investigate them on the return journey when we know the condition of the road
the whole way. There is one long section which appears on Google-earth to go
through some kind of waste-land. It turns out to be salt-flats - we think. The
salt must attract moths. There are thousands of them resting on the bitumen,
and circling in living clouds above it. These are giant moths. They make our
own Australian Bogong moths look Lilliputian. The windscreen is soon covered
with moth detris. When we stop for petrol I ask for the glass to be cleaned and
explain the problem of the moths. The attendant smiles. It is clear the giant
moths are not unusual. The attendant asks where we live and whether we like
Argentina. I tell him it is beautiful; like Australia. He seems deflated and I
realise he probably thinks of Australia as one large desert. My Spanish isn't
good enough to explain that some areas of Australia are as fertile as
Argentina.
About 5 pm we approach the outskirts of Tucumán. The sun doesn't
set until 7.30 pm. We approach from the south. The GPS wants to take us around
to the east on a ring-road and then cut back west straight through the centre
of the city. The map shows a road leading close to our hotel from the south
avoiding the ring-road detour. With plenty of daylight to spare we take our
chances on the road, navigating the old fashioned way. We have read that
Tucumán is sometimes referred to as 'the Ethiopia of Argentina'. A once
prosperous city it has suffered more than most from the country's economic
decline. As we enter the city we can see where the epithet comes from. The road
becomes a pot-holed track. Horses and carts are everywhere - ancient,
rickety-looking carts, piled high with what seems to be rubbish, pulled by sad
looking horses and driven by men and dirty children. The economic miracle has
never touched these people. Some carts don't even have horses - they are
pulled along by wizened old men. There are still cars but they are early '60s
vintage - rusting, clapped-out, some missing wheels or engines and chocked up
by the side of the road. We are torn between fascination and sadness. We bump
along slowly. It is impossible to go fast on such a road.
We emerge from the poor district into a less poor but still run-down area. Bizarrely there is a Hilton Hotel, brand new and very modern in
the midst of the poverty. We have been upgraded to a suite. We are too tired to
wonder why Hilton has chosen Tucumán for a new hotel. Perhaps prosperity is returning to the city at last.
For my Hotel Review of the Hilton at Tucumán - click here
For my Hotel Review of the Hilton at Tucumán - click here
A common sight |
This truck is a typical vintage |
Not everything is run-down in Tucumán - the centre is quite lovely. |
A church near the central square |
Church interior |
Notice the blue-tiled dome - they look lovely from close up |
Note: - If today's blog seems out of sequence - it is. This road trip occurred before we got to Salta but I have only just finished writing about it.
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Looks like a place where time stood still in the 70's. I guess that was when the first major financial debt crisis hit them...
ReplyDeleteHi Ferdy, Thanks for the comment. It is quite frightening how a country with so much promise can have got it so badly wrong politically and economically. Cheers Lyn
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