La Cumbre

Ooooh what a GREAT weekend trip!

It started early Saturday morning with a 9:00 am bus trip that took around 2 hours. The bus was a little bumpy, but way more comfortable than any of us were expecting. Our group split up for the ride because the other 4 had tickets for a 7:45 am bus and that was not happening for me! Anyways, we arrived to the weee little town of La Cumbre around 11:30 and found our hostel. It seemed more like a bed and breakfast, with a pool, maid, kitchen, breakfast, computer, etc. It was very nice. The other group had gone ahead to the paragliding place, so we went into the town to explore/eat while we waited for them to get back and for us to be able to go. Just like here in Córdoba, there were a million stray dogs just walking around begging for food, attention, and baths. We made it to the mountain around 2:30 and got all suited up. There was an Argentine girl who hopped into the air first, then a boy from our group, and then me! My guide's name was Marco and lucky for me (I'm being serious, I need the practice), he spoke NO ENGLISH! He seemed very experienced and he said he loved his job (how could you not?) We were in the air for about thirty minutes and it was breathtaking. I only wish my pictures could convey the beauty I experienced at 4,000 meters! Paragliding to some may seem like an extreme adventure, but I found it extraordinarily relaxing. I was basically sitting in a lawnchair wayyyy up in the sky, just enjoying the view! If my internet/blogger will allow it, I'll try to post one of the videos I took! When the "flight" came to an end, the landing wasn't even difficult! My guide just kept telling me "nunca sienta, corre, nunca sienta" (never sit, run, never sit).

After paragliding, my group of five rode back to the hostel to relax until dinner time. Unfortunately the beautiful sunny weather from earlier didn't follow us to the pool, so we couldn't swim...oh well. For dinner, we went to a little pizza place (there are sooo many, everywhere here) where I tried my first glass of Argentine wine (a merlot from Mendoza...muy bien). After dinner, we went to Grido's helado, which is a chain about the size of McDonald's or Starbucks, they're everywhere. I love the prices of food here! My dinner; 1/2 pizza (4 slices) and 1 glass of wine was $21 pesos...that's US $5.25! Then the ice cream was US$2.25 for 2 scoops and waffle cone! After ice cream, we stumbled upon a giant projector screen in the main square of the town playing Tina Turner music videos...whaaat? Once back at the hostel, I took a little nap while everyone played some card games. Most people went to sleep around midnight because they were so pooped, but I stayed up talking with the people in my room until around 2am; I'm SUCH a night owl!

Sunday morning, we had to check out by eleven and booyyy was it complicated having two groups come at different times, with different amounts of people, paying at different times, and not speaking very good spanish! We finally got everything worked out and headed off on a hike to a statue of Jesus (a smaller version of the Cristo in Rio, Brasil). The hike was just as gorgeous as the paragliding, and the weather was excellent; not too hot, not too sunny, a little breeze...After our hike (which also had some snafus since there were no directional signs on the trail), and lunch at a thai restaurant (YUM) we went to an area on the outskirts of the town called "Camino de artesanales". Basically, it was a road with randomly spaced out shops selling handmade leather goods, silver jewelry, mate gourds, etc. I bought 3 bracelets for less than US$4!

Our bus ride returning to Córdoba was scheduled for 7:50 pm, so with traffic, we didn't get to the station until around 11pm and then we all had to take the colectivo (city bus) to our respective stops. I was exhausted, which is why I'm blogging today instead of last night!

After I publish this, I will upload photos...When you look at the pictures, imagine that in real life the scenery looks 30 times better and maybe you can grasp how gorgeous our world is.

chau for now