HelenandRick

And so we were back in Buenos Aries, with only 4 nights left of our trip. There is so much to see here that there was little time to think about getting home or how we would readust to being back. Argentinas capital is a great city, Euopean in its architecture but distinctly South American in attitude it is a fusion of the best of both old and new world. Heavily influenced by the Spanish and Italians who came here the city boasts grand avenues, beautiful palaces theaters and countless old squares in many distinct neighbourhoods. The locals or Portenos (named for port) enjoy a life with all the ammenities of great cities, reflecting the grand history of the place which was one of the richest and most important cities in the world 100 years ago. ... read more

Bariloche is a ski town in winter and an outdoor centre in the summer. It has a strong Germanic influence (there is a Swiss village) and enjoys a beautiful aspect with high mountains surrounding it on 3 sides and lake Nahuel Huari on the other. We had an active time here, after spending one day walking round the town doing laundry, speaking to parents as well as seeing some sights. Our second day we spent cycling around some of the beautiful lakes nearby, we did about 40k including the Swiss settlement (which is very odd and not all that Swiss), some beautiful lakes and some fairly steep hills. The next day we were flying to Buenos Aires in the evening and spent the morning kayaking on the lake. We were lucky that we were the only ... read more

We had a fabulous if not fairly challenging few days in the Torres del Paine national park. We set off to complete a particular circuit in the park (the W!) with 45 litre rucksacks filled with food for 4 nights, clothes and sleeping bags. It was our plan to camp every night, there are a series of refuges on the circuit where you can either sleep inside in a dorm or outside in a hired tent. After a bus journey into the park we found a tent for the first night and then walked about 20kms round trip to see the famous Torres of the park. We were warned about the strength of the wind in the park which turned out to be unlike anything we had experienced before, it was enough to lift you off ... read more

Pucon is an amazing place, with a beach on the lake and all kinds of outdoor excitement available from kayaking, hiking, treking canopy flights to zip lines. By far the most popular though is to climb the volcano (Volcan Villarica) which completely dominates the town with its towering, smoking top. We were here to climb it after hearing how much fun Ricks parents had had going up (and down) last year. We were very lucky that the only day we had available to climb it was beautifully sunny, we set off at 7.00 in the morning having been provided with crampons, ice axe, helmets and a plastic slide for getting down. The volcano is a twenty minute drive from town and at the bottom you have the option to take a chair lift to save your ... read more

We had a very exciting bus journey from Cafayate to Mendoza. The first half was 6 hour ride to a place called Tucuman where we waited for 2 hours before we boarded the overnight bus to Mendoza. We managed to find a steak and beer in the bus station which was all very civilised. We had booked a suite on the overnight bus which meant a seat that became a flat bed, we were given some fizz and then some red wine and more beef! National Express could learn a thing or two from these Argentinians. We both managed to sleep and after 18 hours on a bus we made it to Mendoza. Mendoza town isn't really what we were expecting, it's a big bustling city, again with leafy squares and tree lined avenues with not ... read more