Picking up where I just left off, the Chile/Bolivia border crossing is itself an experience! Chile was very organised, a big queue of people but a fairly important-looking building with soldiers, etc. A random Bolivian lady got on our (supposedly private) minibus which was taking us as far as the Bolivian border control carrying lots of bread. Ash asked the driver who she was and it turned out he was giving his mum a lift back to Bolivia. She was a happy enough old lady, when getting on the bus pointed at all her bags of bread and she cheerily shouted "Pan!" to everyone (´bread´ in Spanish). Fair enough, say what you see. Leaving Chile was pretty quick and easy, we hopped back on the bus with our "Pan!" lady, and drove for 10 minutes to ... read more

Hola Chicos! So, keeping up with my blogs, I am taking up where I left off, Buenos Aires! I flew from BA to Santiago, and had a little bit of a problem going through customs in Chile. For some reason, the girl was convinced that I must be carrying something illegal into the country. I don´t think I look particularly like a drug trafficker or fruit smuggler, but she was absolutely convinced I had something on her important list of illegal items! She pointed at photos of fruit, to which I told her no, and she frowned and said "dried fruit?", to which I replied no, again. I do know dried fruit is still fruit. Then asked if I had any ´artesenales´, like artifacts from Argentina. Again, I didn´t, so no was the answer. And she ... read more

Hola Amigos! I left off in El Bolsón, the town of great jam and no Skype, and from here I took an immense bus journey to El Calafate. If you have a look on a map, it is pretty far! And to give you an idea, the bus left El Bolsón at 11.40am, and arrived into El Calafate at 2.30pm. That is an awfully long time to spend sitting on your bum, and the most comfortable seats had all sold out, so I had to take the 'semi-cama' bus, which is kind of like being on a plane! And they had some of the most awful films as well, seriously, avoid 'White Chicks' and 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'. The worst thing is, you have no choice but to watch them as the sound ... read more

Hola Amigos! I am getting way behind on my travel blog, and keep getting messages from you asking when the next one is on it´s way...well here is my Bariloche blog (to follow...El Bolsón, El Calafate and El Chalten, and Puerto Madryn! Lots to catch up on!) So, I think I left off in Mendoza, which was pretty much my chill out week, in a hammock, by the pool, with some lovely girls I met there, eating, drinking lots of vino, and basically feeling very chilled out! I left the heat and laziness of Mendoza behind in a cloud of dust (literally) and as serendipity would have it, the girl sitting in front of me on the bus to Bariloche was booked into the same hostel as me. The more I travel, the more I realise ... read more

Hola Chicos! Having spent a month and a half away, my Spanish is still very very basic, but here are the 5 phrases that I seem to use all the time! Numero Uno: "Puedo comprar un boleto á..." (Can I buy a ticket to...) Numero Dos: "Lo siento, no entiendo, porque hablo solo un poquito de Español. Pero estoy aprendiendo!" (I´m sorry, I don´t understand, because I only speak a small amount of Spanish. But I´m learning!) Numero Tres: "Lo siento, gracias, pero tengo un novio!" (I´m sorry, thank you, but I have a boyfriend!) Numero Quatro: "Cuanto es? En serio? Muy caro, no?" (How much is it? Really? Very expensive, no?) Numero Cinco: "Quiero un café con leche y medialunas por favor" (I would like a latte and croissants, please) Number 3 comes in very ... read more