Argentina

We were on our way North towards the Bolivian border and our first stop enroute was perhaps not the best choice. The town was called Jujuy (pronounced Choo-Chooey, with the ch as in Scottish Loch) and was described in the guidebook as the starting point for some of the country's most spectacular scenery. Well I would say it is beyond Jujuy and you don't really need to stop there. We found a room right by the bus station and had a little look around the town. There was a market selling all sorts and quite a nice plaza but being a Saturday afternoon it was deserted. For dinner we found a restaurant by the market and had the most cholesterol raising meal I think I have ever consumed, mainly due to the size. Adam and I shared it but it still defeated us, which I think was probably for the best. It consisted of breaded chicken, covered in ham, and cheese with two fried eggs on top and a mountain of chips on the side. We both felt a little rotund when we headed for bed.

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The next morning we continued further north and entered the Quebrada de Humahuaca; a vast gorge of immense natural beauty, not only due to its magnitude but also the vivid colour of the rock. Our destination was the small town of Tilcara which has real charm. There is definitely a touristy vibe and considering its size the number of hostels is quite surprising. Despite this it manages to maintain a feeling of Andean authenticity without becoming a parody of itself.

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For example we enjoyed some traditional music at lunch time, including a rendition of The Sound of Silence on the pan pipes.

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Which may sound cheesy but it wasn't and when they're not being played in Mell Square or some other English city centre then the pan pipes are actually ok, that said we still didn't buy their cd at the end.

We were staying in a tiny little hostel run by a slightly dishevelled man in his late twenties who seemed to be continuously on the computer. If he'd been more communicative I would have liked to have known how he ended up running the place, as he and the town seemed like a very unlikely fit.

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Later in the day we went for a little walk to the outskirts of the town to get a better look at the surrounding landscape as the sun began to set.

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The rock faces, which are heavily indented as if with the winkles of age were transformed by the lengthening shadows. When you have been looking at beautiful surroundings all day, you begin to get used to them, obviously you still appreciate them but it is difficult to maintain a continuous sense of awe. However when the sun begins to set everything changes and you have to begin the process of soaking up beauty again. We have done that in a lot of places around the world and Tilcara was added to the list.

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The next day we had breakfast and decided we would back track a little to the town of Purmamarca, a village about 30 minutes back towards Jujuy. On the way to the catch the bus we bumped in Amber and Nico who were having breakfast. We sat down with them and chatted for a while, they had been really fortunate and met a couple of locals with a car who had driven them up, taking in all the sites in on the way. We parted ways once more but had a feeling we'd bump in to each other again later on in the day. On reaching Purmamarca we came to the conclusion that in hindsight this is where we should have spent our first night.

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Its main attraction for visitors is that it has a spectacular backdrop. This being a mountain of seven colours.

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They didn't come out too well in photographs but quite distinctly ranged from terracotta to green, with a nice burst of deep purple in the middle.

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The village itself is also very sweet; there is a plaza with a small church and lots of narrow dusty streets to wander along. We found a small cafe where we munched on some Llama filled empanadas, which are basically miniature pasties. With our tummies full we wandered back towards the bus stop and for the next two hours wished we'd been a little bit quicker.

Stupidly we didn't check the bus times back and as we watched a cloud of dust generated by a departing bus settle, we realised we had a long wait ahead of us. As we sat on the pavement and waited we saw a lot of tourists pulling up in rental cars and I tried to smile sweetly, thinking perhaps one of them might offer us a lift. Unfortunately my silent pleas went unheard and we resigned ourselves to waiting it out. Adam convinced me to walk the streets of Purmamarca once more, and we climbed a little way up one of the surrounding hills. After a while though there was nothing more to do except plonk ourselves down in the dust and wait.

Happily seated on the bus back to Tilcara we planned to get off and head straight for Pucara, a restored pre-hispanic hilltop settlement which sits just above the town. As we walked along we thought we still had a fair amount of time before it shut but once we reached the gates we were informed we had roughly twenty minutes. As we quickly began to ascend the hill we saw Amber and Nico walking leisurely down and they told us we better hurry up as they'd already been given their time warning at the top.

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Huffing and puffing (more me than Adam) we made it and there were some nice views of the town which from above looked like a little green oasis amongst the surrounding desert landscape.

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The man posted at the top told us we had to go back down after only a couple of minutes, so we didn't get much of a look around, just a couple of photos and that was it. With a whirlwind visit complete we walked back to town and were looking forward to a bit of a rest.

That evening we headed down to the same spot as the night before and watched the setting sun.

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Our time in Argentina was almost at an end as we would be heading to Bolivia the next day. Finishing our visit to the country in this land of sand, burnt orange rock, and cacti was a nice contrast to the beginning of our trip where the ground was covered in snow, ice and broken up with turquoise lakes.

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It just highlights how vast Argentina is and despite being annoyingly expensive, we both enjoyed it a lot.

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Laura & Adam

At the bus station after a bit of asking about, and slow repetition by various people we established that our bus to Clorinda would stop on the street outside the terminal. We went here to wait and it wasn't long before a little minibus pulled up. Thankfully it was almost empty when we got on and we managed to find spots for our bums and bags. It got quite cramped but apart from that it was an uneventful journey to the border. The bus actually only took us this far, then we had to walk across. On the Paraguayan side there were three people in the little booth at immigration and the one in the middle seemed to hold the esteemed role of passing the passport from one person to the other. I wonder how much she was getting paid.

Formalities over and we were in a taxi to Clorinda. Here we went to the Flecha Bus office and quickly, with no fuss, booked our overnight bus to Salta. We now had an hour to have some lunch which we found in a small cafe. It was actually really nice, raviolis con carne, which turned out to be cheese filled ravioli with a piece of meat on top, all covered in tomato sauce, yum.

Finally, over a month after arriving in South America those elusive front seats were ours. Unfortunately it wasn't the best bus in the world and the views weren't exactly spectacular, but it was still worth it and the leg room was much improved. It started off as a standard trip, Adam and I plugged in the trusty ipods and Amber and Nico read. We continued like this for about 2 and a half hours until we came to a complete standstill behind an extensive traffic jam.

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We remained in the same spot for around two hours, in that time the sun set and we got increasingly annoyed.

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Apparently there was some sort of protest and there was a human road block in place, which did seem kind of fitting considering we were just on the edge of a town called Resistencia. To add insult to injury they put on a terrible movie that the four of us became utterly engrossed in but then turned it off about half an hour before the end, I must find some way of seeing the end of Ring of Death. When we finally got moving they served us dinner which consisted of three ham and cheese sandwiches each. One on white bread, one on brown and one in a roll. Then they put on some Jackie Chan movie dubbed in Spanish and it was time to go to sleep.

When we woke up after the usual sporadic bus sleep we were almost in Salta. Once at the terminal we tried to catch a bus in to the centre but we needed exact change, which we didn't have so we walked. Adam and I had booked a hostal which was in a different location to where Amber and Nico intended to stay so we parted ways here. Our hostal was nice, a little out of the centre which as usual was marked by a plaza but still a good find. We had a bit of a rest after the bus before venturing out to inspect Salta more closely.

The town is surrounded by steep, forested mountains and has many elegant colonial buildings. We walked down to Plaza 9 de Julio, which had quite a European feel with plenty of people sipping coffee in the sunshine surrounded by architecturally strong buildings.

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There is a lovely cathedral and of course a fountain in the centre completes things nicely.

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There were a lot of tourists about which kind of surprised us, but then it's a very picturesque place and would certainly appeal to a lot of people. We could definitely appreciate this but I don't think Salta ever really grabbed us. Instead it acted as a little bit of an interlude for us and after discovering a shopping centre with a cinema I was happy. I really wanted to see the second Twilight movie, New Moon. Adam begrudgingly agreed, although I think secretly he quite likes it and he's even listening to the audiobooks with me, although he says it's just because it passes time on the long bus journeys. With my Twilight fix finally satisfied we went back to the hostal before heading out to the supermarket to buy a couple of tins of tuna and some salad stuff for dinner.

The next day we had a bit of a lazy start and when we finally did make it down in to town with the intention of doing some shopping, everything had closed for an incredibly long siesta. This did little to motivate us and we just walked back to the hostal via the supermarket, another salad for dinner. We were doing our best to minimise costs as Argentina continued to be expensive, not quite as bad in the north as the south but still a stretch to our limited budget.

The following morning we took advantage of the cinema again, it was really quite cheap if you went to the first showing of the day. We saw a film called The Burning Plain, directed by Guillermo Arriaga who also directed 21 Grams. Adam thought it was depressing, I agreed but enjoyed it nonetheless. The downside was part of it was in Spanish and funnily enough there weren't any English subtitles. I'm pretty sure we got the general gist though and didn't miss too much, but still I might rent it when we get home.

After the cinema we finally got around to going up the Cerro San Bernardo in a cable car. It is a very smooth operation and we had a little car all to ourselves as we climbed into the sky.

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At the top there are views out across the valley and the miniaturized city.

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There are also some really lovely flowers and water features that consist of small, man made waterfalls.

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It is a good spot to spend some time and perhaps have a nap on a bench as I saw a couple of people doing.

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We rode back down and walked towards our hostal. We tried to treat ourselves to a late lunch at a restaurant doing parrillas for two but unfortunately we were too late and it was to be a visit to the supermarket yet again.

We perhaps did not achieve all that much in Salta but when you're travelling for such an extended amount of time there are inevitably troughs in your energy and also places that you perhaps don't find so inspiring. I think these two factors collided for us in Salta, that said a lot of people like the place and it is worth a visit. We both hoped to find the next place more energising.

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Laura & Adam

The seventeen hour trip to Puerto Iguazu went by without a hitch. However it did start to pour with rain a little while into it and didn't show any signs of slowly up as we entered the town. We therefore had to make a bit of a mad dash to the hostel and I almost slipped over numerous times on the slick tiled pavement. We had found a real gem though, it was one of the cheapest places we stayed at in Argentina and the room or rather rooms were by far the biggest. We were shown into a little apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting/dining area and a kitchen. It was quite rustic but it was great and it had air con which was definitely needed because we were now on the outskirts of the jungle and it was humid. There was a supermarket over the road so after bolting there and back to avoid the rain we had enough supplies to make a couple of nice meals. We spent the rest of the day nicely settled in our spacious new abode and waited for the rain to stop. It did in the early evening and the sky burnt bright orange as the sun, which had been hidden all day sunk down over the horizon.

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The following morning we woke up to clear skies and we were planning to visit the falls, although maybe not at the crack of dawn. However in the end two things scuppered our plans. The first can be attributed to my good self. Adam happened to comment on the fact that my feet were a little on the grubby side so I decided to go and sort this out. I walked into the bathroom which was already quite slippery due to shower over flow but I ignored this fact and raised one foot into the sink. So far so good as I lathered it up and washed it clean. I then placed it back on the tiles and this is where things began to go wrong. As I brought the other foot up and set about washing it my other, freshly washed foot began to slide and I lost my balance. I yelped as I flung my arms about while tettering on one unstable leg, desperately trying to find something solid to hold on to but there was nothing, well nothing apart from the sink. I grabbed on to it as my leg completely went out from under me and gravity took over. I landed heavily, my side slamming into the raised shower surround and pulled the sink down with me. I had now made enough noise to alert Adam who came running and found me in a heap, screaming and hugging the sink. His first thought was my knees which were thankfully unscathed, it was my side that had taken the brunt of the impact and was now seriously throbbing. Still all things considered I got away pretty lightly, no broken bones just a sore side and a bruise which in the end looked disappointingly unimpressive.

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After the incident we were left with a slightly shaken me, a broken sink which Adam went into damage control mode to fix and finally the second factor which prevented us from visiting the falls, the heavens opened. Our second day in Iguazu was therefore a bit of a right off and we spent it inside again. Thankfully it looked as though we could repair the sink with super glue, and we haven't received an angry emails so it looks like it worked!

Finally on our second full day in Iguazu we were up nice and early and on our way to the falls. There are regular buses which take you from the local bus terminal so it couldn't really be easier. There is an entrance fee of about £10 each, which considering what you see I would say is worth it. Once in the park we followed a big crowd of people and climbed aboard a little train which is free and takes you to the first area. When we disembarked there was a little anteater wandering around an outside eating area. He was quite cute and I went for a closer inspection as did a few other people including a women who clearly wanted to touch it. She was about to give it some food when somebody stopped her, silly lady.

We then walked along the two well laid out trails, the Circuit Superior and Circuit Inferior both of which give you views of the falls from a distance as well as lots of smaller falls. The thing which is so overwhelming about Iguazu is the sheer amount of water, I just couldn't really get my head around where it was all coming from or going to. It is tumbling down all around you at such a rate it is mind boggling.

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There are also dozens of butterflies fluttering around you the whole time and one decided to take a rest on my hand for quite a while.

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When we actually saw the Iguazu Falls themselves it was really breathtaking and the noise, even from a distance is tremendous.

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Adam said that Niagra is more like one big waterfall whereas Iguazu is lots of separate ones all in a row. Although the water of the river is a muddy brown, as it tumbles down it transforms into a white cascade.

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You can go on a boat which will give you a soaking under the falls but it was a little out of our price range. After the Circuit Superior we walked along the Inferior which takes you down to the water's edge via a series of steep stairs and closer to the main falls.

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We wanted to take a free ferry over to the small, hilly island of San Martin but because of all the rain over the past couple of days the river level was too high and it wasn't running.

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After the two circuits we caught the train up to the centrepiece of the park, the Garanta del Diablo. Here there are some long bridges which cross the Rio Iguazu, the mighty river that feeds the falls and takes you out to a platform built above one end of the main falls.

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From here you look down and it is like the end of the world.

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You can't see the bottom, just white mist created by the water reaching its destination below. By now the weather had begun to turn again and the sky was also white, the whole scene was fairly devoid of colour.

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We got pretty soaked as the wind picked up and we got splashed. So we're both looking a little drenched in the photos. It was really a place which showed the power of nature, the unstoppable force was amazing.

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We walked back to the little train station but we just missed one so decided to walk back and we got fairly wet in the process but it was good exercise. When we finally reached the park entrance we didn't have long to wait for a bus back to town and soon enough we were in our little apartment once more.

The following morning we planned to catch the bus to Cuidad del Este which is a town just over the border in Paraguay. We packed up, checked out of the hostel and walked up to the bus station. As we were sat waiting for a bus we happened to be opposite a map which got us thinking. It really wasn't that far to Rio de Janeiro, no where near as far as we'd thought. We contemplated this for a while, considering how silly it would be just to pop there and back. We wouldn't be able to go anywhere else, we hadn't the time or the money. We decided to enquire and although it wasn't cheap, it wasn't outrageously expensive either. After a bit of a chat we decided to go for it, we were so close and who knew if we would get another chance, and after all it was Rio. Unfortunately though there were no seats available for that day so having made the decision and we were now quite excited by it we decided to book for the next day.

Having booked our new little detour, only 23 hours each way, we headed back to our hostel and got a different room which had the added benefit of WiFi and had another lazy day before the excitement of Rio!

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Laura & Adam

We stayed in Puerto Natales for another full day after the trek to catch up on sleep and food. We also booked ourselves a flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires (cheaper and much quicker than the bus) for two days time. This meant we had to retrace our steps and take the bus back across the border to Argentina then spend a night in the same hostel, but the thought of a nice short flight made it worthwhile. We did consider heading down to Ushuaia which is known in Argentina as the 'Fin del la Munde' (end of the world) but it was going to take a while and all research suggested that it wasn't a cheap place. Having spent quite a bit of money in the last couple of weeks we were eager to be heading towards cheaper countries. As it turned out our flight did head south and stop in Ushuaia before heading North so we caught a glimpse out the window.

You hear some horror stories about big cities in South America with regard to pick pocketing and robberies so we were a little unsure of how safe we would feel in Buenos Aires. If anything though it is known to be one of the safer metropolises. After disembarking from the plane and getting our bags we caught a bus in to the centre of town. A little bit of confusion regarding how to pay as we're used to handing the money to the driver, but generally in Argentina you drop your coins in a machine on the bus and out pops your ticket. Correct change is pretty much mandatory. We jumped off at the bus station and then were planning to take the Subte (subway) but our line was closed because of a strike, so we got a taxi.

We'd booked a place to stay, and the taxi dropped us outside the building. So far so good. We rode the old fashioned elevator with wrought iron slide gates

to the second floor and expected to see a nice big sign say 'Casa de Papa' but unfortunately there was nothing. Just a piece of A4 paper with some printed writing on it (which we now know to be Hebrew), stuck to a big wooden door. After checking floors above and below we decided to press the doorbell and after some muffled noises from inside the door was opened. We asked if it was the right place and a completely zoned out boy nodded and we followed him in to a haphazard reception area. It was like someone had flicked his switch to slow motion as he fumbled about trying to figure out who we were and answer our very basic questions. His blood shot eyes and general demeanour screamed of recreational drug use, which seemed to be an all day, every day activity at Casa de Papa. The smokey haze which hung like a veil when we peered in to the lounge was also a good indicator.

We were still hopeful that we would have a nice room, the website described them as light and airy with high ceilings and cable tv, but this was not to be. We had a room at the back which was half the height of the other rooms, had a tiny window that looked down into an inner cavern between buildings and a tv which had a fork for an aerial. Tired and well aware that we would get no where trying to talk to the zombie boy we just closed the door. Adam pointed out that there was an Israeli flag in the hallway and therefore the likelihood was that it was a predominately Israeli hostel. Hence the Hebrew sign. Not wanting to offend or generalise but Israelis travellers do have a reputation so we were aware of what to expect.

After a bit of a rest we ventured out, past the raucousness in the living room and on to the streets of Buenos Aires. We were staying on Avenida Plaza de Mayo which is was a good spot (one plus). As we crossed Avenida 9 de Julio, which is one of the widest avenues in the world, we saw the giant needle shaped Obelisk pointing into the sky.

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We continued down until we reached Plaza de Mayo itself, then turned north and entered the central shopping/tourist district. Here there are lots of pedestrianised streets with shops and restaurants. By now we were both really hungry and tired so we had ate a lovely steak each at an obvious tourist spot before calling it a day.

We considered moving hostels but in the end decided it would be too much hassle and we would just keep our heads down. When we had returned the previous evening we did meet a couple of people who worked there that seemed nice enough. One gave us a new sheet for our bed and asked if we were from Israeli (our suspicions were confirmed) and when we said no we were from England he told us he loved Radiohead, so it could have been worse. The noise levels were pretty high during the evening but we both managed to sleep ok. One guy who reviewed the place on the booking website said the breakfasts were the best he had had on his entire trip and maybe even his life. We couldn't see anywhere to eat breakfast and there was a lot of shouting and commotion coming from the tiny kitchen so we just decided to slip out and eat somewhere else.

As I mentioned before we were both on the hunt for a leather jacket and we'd heard good things about getting them made to measure in Buenos Aires so we caught the Subte over an area we had read about. On one street there were lots of shops and we both tried on various jackets but none of them seemed quite right. Adam didn't want anything too shiny and size is really difficult because it can end up looking really geeky or wannabe biker. Suffice to say we weren't successful and no one offered to make anything for us, maybe we didn't look like we had enough money!

We went back to the central shopping district and ended up having a buffet lunch, which we then did everyday we were in the capital. It was a relatively cheap way to eat far more than we needed to! Part of it is a parrilla which is basically Argentinian bbq and you can get all sorts of different meats of varying quality. Then there is usually jelly and cream for desert which I've now got quite a taste for! After lunch we went to the cinema and saw Surrogates which was an alright film. It was in a really old fashioned cinema and the sound quality was bit dodgy but it was quite cool at the same time.

The following day we were both feeling a little under the weather and didn't make it out til lunchtime where we ventured to a different buffet restaurant. We both wondered whether the one from the previous day was the reason we weren't feeling so great. This one was much better than the first but we still couldn't muster the effort to do anything else for the rest of the day so we headed back to the hostel. As we walked through the hallway back to our room a girl said something but it didn't really seem as though it was to us and then she said 'you don't speak Hebrew?' To which we replied no and then she asked us about the weather before grabbing my cardigan and saying, 'so you think I'll need one of these.' I smiled and confirmed that I probably did before making our way back to our room.

That evening there was suddenly loud music playing outside and lots of shouting, it sounded like a parade of some sort. We managed to get the very dodgy WiFi working long enough to find out it was Gay Pride and although we still both felt rough we decided we should go take a look. There were a few floats and a big crowd of people gathered around them. Loud music and lots of frivolity as people got into the mood. We stuck around long enough to get a good feel for the atmosphere before retreating back to our cave.

Next morning we both felt a lot better and we were up early. The place was dead, it seemed everyone was enjoying a Sunday morning lie in. We stuck our heads into the kitchen but there just seemed to be cold rice, potatoes, raw onions, stale bread and butter for breakfast, the possibility of the best meal of our lives continued to allude us. We walked down to San Telmo and were there for the beginning of the very extensive Sunday market. It goes on forever and there are stalls selling lots of really lovely things. We bought a few items, including some little leather bags for about £3, you could spend a serious amount of time and money browsing!

We then walked all the way down to La Boca where there was a whole host of people milling round some brightly painted houses.

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It's quite a cute little area but very touristy. There were people performing the Tango in traditional costume and you could pose with them if you wanted to, but we opted to just watch for a little while. On the way back to the centre we passed by the La Boca football ground and there was clearly a match planned for that day.

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We both want to go to a football match while we're out here but looking at the state of the stadium and the general area decided it was maybe not the best idea and from what we've heard since I think this was the right decision.

After our obligatory buffet lunch we walked up the bus station and purchased tickets for the following day. Our next stop was to be Puerto Iguazu so we could visit the impressive Iguazu Falls. With this task complete we decided to head back towards the hostel because we were both knackered and a day of hitting the pavements had made my knees sore.

That night we were awoken at about 12am and kept awake for two hours by our fellow hostel guests. Our room was right next to the bathroom and one after the other it seemed that everyone was going to be having a shower. Some of them decided to do a spot of singing as well. Both frustrated we lay there for a long time and said nothing. Then came the final straw when a couple were in the bathroom screaming, shouting and laughing. Adam just beat me to the door, and he was about to unleash a tirade of abuse but managed to curtail it at the last second and said in a very tight voice 'Can you....keep it down a bit.' I think they got the idea and things were quiet from then on.

The following morning we stayed until almost check out time, may as well get our money's worth. As we were waiting at reception to pay a girl came up behind Adam and peered at him as if he was being inspected, she said nothing and then walked off. We were never sure if he met her standards! There was then a bit of confusion over the bill but in the end we waved a very firm and happy goodbye to Casa de Papa. We caught the Subte up to the bus station where we stowed our bags in a locker as our bus was not leaving til the evening. Then we had lunch and went back to the leather district we'd visited before. Unfortunately we'd simply left it too late to make any big decisions about jackets we weren't quite sure about and there certainly wasn't enough time to get anything made.

There was one final thing we wanted to see before we left Buenos Aires and was the Cemetery of the Recoleta. It is set out like a miniature city with streets and alleys separating family mausoleums built in every imaginable architectural style.

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Among the famous names from Argentine history is Evita Peron who lies in the Duarte family mausoleum.

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We were a bit pressed for time which was a shame because you could certainly wander round for a long time, some of the tombs are incredibly beautiful and touching. There are also lots of mangey cats stalking around the place which gives it a kind of hauntingly eerie atmosphere.

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As it turned out we needn't have rushed because our bus was cancelled and we were bumped on to another bus. Which really annoyed us because we'd finally secured those elusive front seats which we subsequently lost in the move. Still it was a nicer bus than the one we were meant to be on, so there was a positive!

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Laura & Adam

Our first bus was great, it was a cama one, which meant the seats were massive, two on one side of the aisle and only one of the other. We were given a cup of tea and a biscuit when we boarded, they then showed a reasonable recent film in English and later on we were given a pretty tasty dinner. Unfortunately for Adam the seats don't really allow him to fully stretch out his legs so he didn't get the best nights sleep but it could have been a lot worse. I was getting a little anxious that we were going to miss the connection as we were now over an hour late and still seemed to be driving through mile after mile of nothingness. Thankfully the town sprouted out of nowhere and we arrived with fifteen minutes to spare. While Adam dealt with the bags I went to buy the next ticket.

These buses are double deckers and if you get the front seats on the top then you get amazing panoramic views. We wanted those front seats but they had thus far eluded us. Our next bus seemed pretty empty and we were very hopeful as we climbed the stairs that they might finally be ours. Luck however was not on our side and the front seats were cornered off and the curtains were firmly closed. This wasn't the most enjoyable bus ride. No food was offered, there was no film, we were tired and the scenery was not that inspiring. Fillippe had spoken of the pampa which cover a large part of Southern Argentina, he said when you first see it it is interesting but after that it is boring. I can see what he meant. The pampa is fairly flat, baron land which stretches on for miles. The predominant colour is the brown of the earth and it is heavily dotted with clumps of hardy plants, a little like heather but unfortunately without the vibrancy. There are a few distractions from the endless void, for example a Llamas here and there and the odd Ostrich.

We arrived in Rio Gallegos and had a couple of hours to kill until our final bus journey began. We ate dinner and sat outside in the freezing conditions breathing in the undoubtedly clean air. Adam then pointed out that we were sitting at a bus station which might mean it was slightly contaminated, this and the fact that we were shivering led us back inside the terminal. No front seats for us yet again, we cursed the tourists who'd got them and willed it to get dark as quickly as possible. Yes we were tired and bitter. The journey was slow and we both attempted to get some sleep but all our efforts were scuppered by the fog horn of a man sitting on the other side of the aisle. We both clocked him to be a snorer as soon as he boarded, the three chins gave it away a little but I don't think either of us could have imagined just how extraordinary he was going to be.

When we disembarked we were met by a guy from the hostel we'd booked in to, he was going to be giving us a very welcomed lift. The front seat tourists came up to join us, they were staying at the same place. On the way the guy mentioned that they could organise a trip to the Perito Moreno Glacier for the following morning at 9am but we both knew neither of us would be sparky enough to enjoy it. After being shown to our room we turned up the radiator and fell asleep.

The following morning we had breakfast and then began a day of too-ing and fro-ing. We had a few things to consider, the first being that we wanted to go on a boat trip to see the glaciers and secondly that we wanted to see the Perito Moreno Glacier that would not be included on the boat trip. After a visit to tourist information at the bus station we went in search of the boat company's office which led us up and down the high street a couple of times. Finally we found it and the lady explained to us that when you enter Parque Nacional los Glaciares you have to pay £10 each and to go on the boat we would have to pay this, the boat ticket, and the bus transfers from our hostel. Then if we went by public transport we would have to go the next day to the Perito Moreno Glacier and pay for the bus and the entrance fee again as it is only valid for one day. This seemed so silly to us and was really going to add up, it consolidated something we had been considering early which the lady also suggested, we would rent a car for the day. It would definitely work out cheaper, we could go on the boat and see the other glacier all in one day and we'd have a bit of the freedom we like so much.

It was now early afternoon and therefore everything shuts down til about 4pm so we went back to the hostel for a bit. El Calafate is a nice place, very touristy though and for that reason pretty pricey. There are lots of shops selling high quality souvenirs and some nice clothes shops too, we didn't look. Finally at 4pm we went up to the rental car office we'd seen earlier but there was no one there. The only other place we knew which was cheap was right at the other end of town and so we fought against the biting wind. He quoted us a pretty reasonable price but we were wondering if the other place may be open now and might be cheaper so we walked back, it was still shut. Finally about 2 hours after leaving the hostel we had rented the car, booked the boat, been to the supermarket and booked our bus to Puerto Natales for two days time. We made dinner and then walked back at 8pm to pick up the car as we had to leave early the following morning. Adam had to quickly get to grips with driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark and thankfully it was a short and uneventful journey.

When we set off the following morning it was a straight road to the port at Punta Bandera where the boat departed from.

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El Calafate sits on Lago Argentino and it was the first time we'd had an uninterrupted view of the milky turquoise glacial lake. We were now entering the National Park which is the second largest in Argentina, 40% of which is covered by ice fields from which thirteen glaciers descend into two great lakes. Lago Argentino being one and Lago Viedma, further North, being the other. As we drove along a very straight road the vast scenery opened up in front of us.

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The foreground still dominated by the scruffy pampa was now accompanied by snow capped peaks and broken up by lakes of varying sizes.

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We found the port with no problems and parked up, as I was part of this expedition we were a little early and we sat in the car for a bit until I had to go see what was going on. I thought travelling might mellow me in this department, but I just can't help myself! I bought our park entrance tickets and soon bus load after bus load of people began to arrive. It was now as we stood in a ever expanding queue that we wondered how many boats there were and if we were in the right place. The lady had never told us there was more than one and so we just waited to see what would happen. When it was our turn to hand our ticket over to be checked we were told that we were in fact in the wrong place and we had to dash over to the other side of the port and join the end of a long line. For this reason, despite being early we were last to board our boat and could not find seats next to each other. We would have been able to sit across the aisle from one another but there was a bag placed on one of the seats and the woman sitting next to it indicated through hand gestures that she wouldn't move it, and we presumed she was saving the seat for someone. I sat down and Adam went in search of another seat, a little annoyed by this as no friend seemed to be appearing I tried to question her again. Now she seemed to be suggesting she didn't know who it belonged to. I just hoped we didn't have to stay seated for too long.

Thankfully we didn't and soon we were outside looking at the minty green water being frothed up by the propellers.

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We saw our first iceberg, which looked as light as a piece of polystyrene as it floated gracefully in the water.

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We were informed that the ice is obviously see through but it appears to be blue-ish as this is the only colour which does not pass through it. Soon the ice bergs began to get bigger and this was because we were coming up to a wall of ice. Beyond it were the Upsala and Spegazzini Glaciers. Unfortunately about a month ago they had become inaccessible as huge chunks of ice had fallen off the front of Upsala and come to rest at the mouth of this junction of the lake.

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We stayed in amongst the icebergs for a while and they were truly breathtaking. These great, irregularly shaped, giants, almost close enough to touch didn't seem real. They had a kind of otherworldly presence about them.

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Leaving the maze of ice behind we ventured on to a glacier that we could see up close, the Onelli Glacier and as we approached we were confronted with a wall of ice over 100m high.

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It cut through the mountains so decisively but it seemed hard to imagine how it ever happened and how ice could really have that power. It extended up the side of the mountain and again just seemed unreal, like someone had gone overboard with their artistic license.

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Every now and then there was the rumble and sounds like gun fire as lumps of ice broke away and fell into the lake below. Everyone cheered and the will for it to happen again, this time when the cameras were ready, was almost palpable. Adam pointed out that it seemed a little off that we were all here cheering on global warming in action.

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Back inside we munched down the packed lunch we had been advised to bring and some of the oldies on one of the many tours drifted to sleep while we moved on to the next glacier. As the other two glaciers had been removed from the itinerary we did go over to look at one side of Perito Moreno. It is one of the few glaciers in the world which is actually moving, it descends into the lake over a 5km frontage and a height of over 60m.

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Again we marvelled at nature and the sheer size of what was in front of us. It really is difficult to explain in words, but if you get the chance I strongly recommend you go see for yourself.

We then made our way back to the port, quickly jumped back in the car and made our way over to the viewing platforms where you can see Perito Moreno from above. On route we stopped and walked down to a lake, after spending theday on a very crowded boat it was nice to be on our own.

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Adam skimmed rocks and I attempted to but I was frustratingly bad at it, so I went and sat on a big rock.

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Back in the car we drove along the winding roads which were being worked on by men without any warning, thankfully we weren't going fast.

We parked up and walked along the wooden walkways and came to one of many viewing platforms. Seeing the glacier from above was definitely worth the effort.

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The different perspective changes everything and the true vastness of the ice field is revealed.

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The vivid blue hues and dull roars just add to the drama. The top of it is riddled with deep, uninviting, crevasses and Adam joked that this is where Superman lived before he died.

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We then walked to down to see the other side of the glacier before calling it a day and heading back to the car.

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Having safely returned the rental we trudged back to the hostel via the supermarket. It had been an incredibly long but exciting day and we had an early bus in the morning. We both looked forward to bed.

More Soon,

Laura & Adam