Back in Argentina again 7/4/13 Santiago to Buenos Aires to Cordoba Another early start as our flight was at 8.30am and we had to be there 2 hours beforehand. It only took 2 hours to get to Buenos Aires but as they wouldn’t check our bags right through to Cordoba we had to mess around collecting them and then trying to find somewhere we could leave them until our next flight at 6.30pm. We finally found out that the Information Desk could sort this and after filling in a form, waiting for a security guard who then led us through the airport to an xray machine, scanning the bags, then leading us further on and out to a tin hut in a car park where the bags were tagged and stored we were free of them. ... read more

1/4/13 Riding a scooter on the unscooterable roads! We rode out to the Orongo crater this morning, it was one of the roads classed as gravel and so not suitable for scooters but they hadn’t met Howard yet! The road actually wasn’t too bad as long as it wasn’t wet and you are careful. The first section was hard packed dirt ridges with potholes and the last section gravel. Up at the crater rim was Orongo, the ceremonial Birdman village, we handed over our passes and were signed in. There were lots of stone houses, which were low, with tiny doorways (protection from the elements) which people had to crawl in through and they all faced out to the ocean and the islet of Moto Nui off the coast. The terraces outside the houses were used ... read more

27-29th March Montevideo Well excuse me for being thick, but I don’t even know what day of the week it is much less what public holiday – but of course it’s Easter and unlike in the UK where things shut for a couple of days (if that) here they close for a week! The first thing we noticed about this city is it really isn’t a classic tourist destination, it’s a working city and a slightly faded, grubby one. However there are lots of lovely small parks and some fabulous architecture, even if the buildings themselves are derelict and unused. We had a good wander around the old town on our first full day and came across a post office so immediately bought a couple of stamps, we have had to search for them in other ... read more

23rd March ’13 BA Today was slightly less walking thank God! We took the subway (turns out it’s a public holiday and it was free) to the station then a train to another station and then the tourist train to Tigre. This was quite a scenic ride and passed through lots of small stations where there were cafes on the platforms and one had an antiques fair going on and another a craft fair. We spent the journey sitting with a brother and sister from the UK who were backpacking for 4 weeks (staying in hostels etc) and were at the end of their trip and they raved about Bolivia and had done the overnight buses and were full of tales. He had also been to central america and said if you have travelled there then ... read more

18th March ’13 Puerto Iguacu Got up late, did nothing all day, it rained a bit, said goodbye to Jennifer my new Argentinian friend who was going back to college in Buenos Aires, saw lots of cockroaches, had dinner – Argentinian bbq which involved black pudding, kidneys and intestines mmmmm nice, think we are the only guests left in the hostel and went to bed. 19th March ’13 On to San Ignacio Got up, had breakfast (definitely think we are the only guests left) and said goodbye to the Hostel Nuelia. We walked to the bus station and found the stand for our Rio Uraguay bus to San Ignacio. It’s supposed to take about 3 ½ hours to get there so we had packed a sandwich for the journey but at 12.30 a packed lunch was ... read more