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Places to visit: Via Crucis Hiking route

We always recommend places to visit while staying at Hostel Tinktinkie. One of these places is Via Crucis.

Via Crucis is a hiking route in Santa Rosa de Calamuchita where 14 crosses have been planted. It is +- 150m from the base to the top of the hill where you have a panoramic view of the beautiful Calamuchita valley. From the top of the hill you can see the winding Santa Rosa river.

I have been to Via Crucis a couple of times. The first time was in August 2008 when Andrey and I climbed it for the first time. August was a good time to climb the hill because it was not very hot but the river was very dry. The rain season only starts late September. It is not a very difficult route to hike. Climbing down was more difficult because there are a lot of small rocks and it can be slippery. I do not suggest you climb the route when it has been raining. There are also alot of places where you can rest when you get tired.

When you reach the top of the hill you find the last cross. Normally people leave some souvernirs here, like pieces of material, a coin or water.

The 2nd time I did not go with. My family was visiting from South Africa and the women decided to stay behind. It was only Andrey and my brother-in-law that went. They loved it! They both had their cameras with them and took a lot of pictures of the fauna and flaura. You also find a lot of different bird species while you are climbing.

A view of the Calamuchita Valley with the Champaqui Mountain range in the background.

The 3rd time was when my daughters visited from South Africa. They are two very active teenagers and couldn’t climb the hill fast enough. But we chose a hot day and I got a lot of muscle cramps. This time I did not make it to the top as I was in too much pain. Mariska waited with me until Nadine and Andrey came down. I also recently went with my friend Monica. We had a lot of fun!

It is very easy to find the hiking route. You follow Ruta 5, go past the hospital and you will find the entrance to Via Crucis. It is marked with a wooden sign and you cannot miss it.

The winding Santa Rosa River.
Nadine at the last cross.

Andrey’s Birthday!

Birthdays are special occassions and it was no different when Andrey celebrated his birthday on the 15th of April.

He really wanted a new DVD writer as his stopped working a couple of months ago and needed to be replaced. For days he was searching the internet for the best prices and eventually found one in Buenos Aires. But what to do? We are 780kms from Buenos Aires! Luckily Hendrik and Laura (friends of ours) came to our rescue and offered to buy the DVD writer and bring it with them later in the month, Andrey was so excited!

But shame when the DVD writer arrived it did not work. He batlled for a full day to install it, without success. Luckily Hendrik and Laura were still in Cordoba and we arranged for them to take it back to Buenos Aires and have it exchanged. He will have to wait a little longer before he can use it.

So with that in mind I did not know what to do to make the day special for him. I knew he wanted Vodka, his favourite breakfast, a braai, cheesecake and a traditional Russian Salad. I went to town the day before and bought all the ingredients. I stopped at Barillin, a chocolate factory and bought him a box of chocolates. I love to go there because the shop is beautiful and they always wrap the presents beautifully. They really have excellent chocolate and they are not expensive. In the photo you can see some of the chocolate..it does not come with empty spaces! We ate some for breakfast. I like the white milk chocolate and Andrey the dark chocolate!

The morning of his birthday arrived and I decorated the kitchen with colourful balloons. Ru, our dog, did not know what was going on! She was scared of the balloons and were hiding underneath the table. Poor thing, she has never seen balloons before. Andrey got coffee in bed and then I called him to the kitchen where he got his favourite breakfast. Eggs, bread, viennas, fried onions and coffee. He loved it!


We decided to have a braai in the afteronon and I started with the preparations for the Russian salad. It is a very delicious salad but takes some time to prepare. I will gladly send anyone the recipe. We also took some pictures of the two of us together to email to family and friends back in Russia. It was fun!

We have not taken pictures of ourselves in ages and we really had a good time. As you can see from the picture it is getting cold. The last couple of days were very cold. Andrey loves the cold weather so it came as a birthday present. The rest of the day he took easy. He answered birthday messages, relaxed and just enjoyed the day.

Next was a late afternoon coffee with cheesecake – another favourite of Andrey. I bought it fresh from the bakery early in the morning. I know, I know it is going straight to the hips!!!! It was so delicious and creamy and did I mention fresh?

I love the bakeries here in Argentina. The people are so helpful and I have met a lady there who has started to study English. I have offered to help her so every time I go there she is so happy to see me. It makes my trips to the bakery special. I walked out of the bakery with everybody congratulating my husband on his birthday.

The salad was ready and we started to braai. Andrey is really getting very good at this. We had a lovely time around the fire. Talking, playing some music and just enjoying the late afternoon sun. Then we sat down for dinner and had a great time celebrating. According to the Russian tradition we always have toasts. One was to Andrey wishing him love, health and , happiness. The next toast was to his Mom for giving birth to him and for raising him to be the man that he is today. The 3rd toast was for family and friends not with us.

Andrey was speaking to a friend in Russia and became very sad. Even though the day was perfect for him I knew in his heart he wanted to celebrate the day with his Mom, sister , nephew and friends back in Russia. It made me sad too. When we celebrate special occassions we miss the people that are our flesh and blood. We miss our friends and the people back home that are part of our lives. That is why I am sharing Andrey’s special day with you so that you know we have been thinking about our family and friends back home!