Unexpected Treasures (Day 54)

I woke to another clear day, which afforded me the luxury of tearing down camp for one last time while everything was dry. It also helped my slightly damp (but now slightly cleaner) shirt to be not quite so cold and clammy when I put it on.


I enjoyed a great batch of mate for breakfast and I was feeling pretty confident that I would conquer the Camino de los Artesanos today. I packed everything up and headed back to Benitz Avenue (the direct route this time!) to start the Camino.


I made it back to Jardin de los Yaya and gave a quick wave on my way by. I did in fact soon come upon the next shop, a only to discover that it was closed.



As was the next shop,



and the shop after that,



and the shop after that.



I finally did get a good view of the Cordoba sierras though and they reminded me a lot of the rolling green range in Newfoundland.



I stopped to have some lunch and continued on to more closed shops.

I'm pretty sure the homemade icecream shop was open, but I dared not go in for fear of a feeding frenzy!


Seeing that it wasn't siesta time, I imagine that either the shops had closed up for this season or in preparation for Wednesday's feriado (holiday). Either way, I was outta luck. I was feeling a little resigned and disappointed about this whole Camino de los Artesanos when I stopped outside a very modest little house where an sweet older lady approached me. We struck up a conversation and I discovered that she, Alicia, was the artist in residence. She invited me in to have a look and promise to talk with her about Canada.


She had all kinds of little bone carved treasures and hand-spun wool and knitted things displayed around her very simple home. She made me a cup of tea (served in likely the best china she had) and I sat with her in her kitchen while we chatted about all kinds of things- life, love, happiness, politics...all the doozies!


She was so incredibly genuine and truly tickled just to sit and chat with me. It was a lovely visit. Before I left, I went and retrieved one of the Canada pins I have been toting around with me. For Alicia, I chose the little disc of maple wood with the maple leaf and "Canada" inscribed on it. She was thrilled with it- and she knew exactly what it was right away, what tree is was from and the significance of it. To me, it was just a little pin, but I knew that I had completely made her day. She kept saying that she was sorry that she didn't have anything to offer in return, but I hope that I assured her that the fact that she would welcome me into her home and show me the Argentine warmth and hospitality I have enjoyed so much here, was plenty in return. I went off into the sunshine completely revitalized and reminded of why I had made this trek.



After leaving Alicia's home, I was in such a good mood that I did go into the next open shop. It was a cooperative of artists with handmade ceramic bead jewellery, wireworks, silver art, clothing and lots of different wood carvings.

My tour guide was a little too "proactively selling" for my taste, so I only had a quick look and then made an exit. By now, the time was getting on and I still had no idea how far I was from the town centre (Villa Giardino) and the shuttle bus that would take me back to La Cumbre to catch my bus to Cordoba. I asked around and was told only about 45min more, so I set off.


Over two hours later, various directions from a lot of nice strangers and growing time-anxiety, I finally made it to the town. Even still, Villa Giardino was a lot bigger (read: longer) that I had though and it was another hour before I made it to the bus station. With only 2hrs to get back to La Cumbre and no idea how often the shuttle goes or even if today was a working day, I was getting pretty tense. Lucky for me, I no sooner walked into the bus station than a shuttle bus came along and whisked me back to La Cumbre.


Almost five hours of walking (albeit very pretty and some very enjoyable parts) just to hop on a bus and in twenty minutes be right back where I had started. Ha. Oh well- seems as though the Camino had the last laugh. Maybe the next time I'm in these parts, I'll rent a mountain bike and do the Camino up right. And I'll pick a time of year when the shops are actually open :)


My ride back to Cordoba was very uneventful. I got bumped from my original reservation back to Buenos Aires onto a later bus, but a cama bus- the equivalent of business class service. Sweet! At least the last bus ride I have in Argentina will be in style!