Insight Guides: Argentina by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: travel, holiday, Argentina, WTH
Publisher: APA
Published: 2013-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

La Cumbre.

Yadid Levy

About 11km (7 miles) further north lies La Cumbre 5 [map], a popular tourist destination of 7,000 inhabitants that grew out of Estancia San Gerónimo, founded here in the late 16th century. It remained little more than a ranch until the 1870s, when British railway engineers, laying the tracks that would eventually link Córdoba and Cruz del Eje, descended on the area. Many of them decided to stay on, constructing lavish clubs and mansions – such as the celebrated La Cumbre Golf Club, opened in 1926 – that gave the town a reputation for “Englishness” which survives to this day. La Cumbre is also known for being (or at least for having been) the Argentine answer to California’s Big Sur: a remote haven for writers, painters, and musicians. This is reflected in the town’s seasonal events calendar, which has a cultural flavor, with art galleries and theaters open late on summer nights. Nonetheless, anglers are as thick on the ground as artists from November to April, when the Río San Gerónimo is open for trout fishing.

There are several interesting detours you can take from La Cumbre. One is to El Mirador, a 400m (1,312ft) -high natural platform located 9km (5.5 miles) west of the town. Paragliders regard this as one of the best ridges in the world from which to leap into the void, the air currents allowing them to ascend to a giddying 3,000m (9,800ft). Even if you don’t fancy doing this yourself, there’s a voyeuristic thrill to be had from watching others do it, and the views across the Río Pinto valley are spectacular. Another good side trip from La Cumbre is to San Esteban, a lovely village located 15km (9 miles) to the north. There is some fine colonial architecture to be seen here, including a stone chapel from 1750. A more unexpected but equally delightful sight is the village’s windmill, which was designed by none other than Gustave Eiffel and imported from France in 1900.

The final stop on the Punilla Valley route is Capilla del Monte 6 [map], 106km (66 miles) from Córdoba city. This photogenic town of 9,000 inhabitants attracts campers, hikers, rock climbers, and… UFO spotters. The latter have been coming here since 1986, when a number of people reported having seen a large and luminous object hovering over Mt Uritorco, 3km (1.9 miles) from the town center. All manner of esoteric and new age services have taken root in the town since then, and people travel here from all over the country to have their minds and bodies “re-energized.”

The Jesuits in Córdoba

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