Thursday 5th May - Tuesday 10th May We departed Salta early in the morning and it didn't take long before the bus started climbing the Andes once more, zig-zagging its way up the mountain pass. The views were spectacular but the sheer drops outside the window and the lack of safety barriers were a cause for concern, as were the two overturned lorries we passed! However, of more concern was how we would cope with the effects of altitude (there had already been too much of this chat with other nervous travellers...), having heard many horror stories of people passing out, vomiting, migraines, you name it. Without altitude pills there was only one option available to us....manning up! We waved goodbye to Argentina at 4,200m, a little light-headed and breathless (it could have been the remants ... read more

Friday 22nd April – Thursday 28th April All was well as we left San Martin de los Andes, the rain had stopped, the floods in the streets were subsiding and the sun was rising over Lago Lacar. With the border crossing to Chile a couple of hours away it was a chance to get some extra sleep, so we blew up the air pillows, donned our eye masks and reclined our seats. Happy times, until…… bump! We awoke with a start. One look outside was all we needed to realise that we were in the middle of a blizzard, there was 1 foot of snow on the road and the back end of our bus was now in a ditch. What to do in this situation? Take photos! We waited in the same spot, unmoved for ... read more

Wednesday 6th April - Wednesday 13th April. Well rested, fed and watered (steak and red wine well earned!) after the exploits of Torres del Paine, we headed back across the border into Argentina and on to El Chalten, the trekking capital of Argentina and home to Mount Fitz Roy (3,400m). After the “W”, we were hungry for more. The drive there provided another journey to add to the list of bus “experiences”. We still can't figure out if the headlights didn't work or the bus driver just didn't like using them! Either way, he seemed pretty chuffed with himself as he continually pointed out the moon lighting up the outline of the mountains ahead of us, whilst we drove along in the dark. A pretty impressive view, however we decided the best approach was to put ... read more

Monday 21st March – Saturday 26th March We reluctantly dragged ourselves away from the hostel pool at Iguazu, packed our bags once again and headed for the bus station and our much anticipated 'Cama suite' ride to Buenos Aires. Now let me tell you about cama suite.. this is no ordinary bus journey. This is a bus with fully flat beds, waiter service, pillows, blankets, and regular movies. But it gets better.. they even serve you a steak dinner, red wine and champagne to finish. Whilst not quite within Chris' excel magic budget, it wasn't far off (much cheaper than a flight and it was a 20 hr bus ride after all!) We arrived in Buenos Aires at 9am feeling ready to take on the big city. Although in need of a shower to feel fresh, ... read more

(Mon-Thurs – Rio covered in week 1) Friday 11th March – Sunday 13th March So I think we covered off Rio in our first blog. You’ll have to bear with us, we do expect to warm up to this travel writing stuff, as we aspire to actually become funny and entertaining at some point on our journey… Thanks for all your comments so far, it’s great to know you’re keen on the blog idea. Also, our skype id is chriskeri2011, be sure to get on that cause it’s also a great way to say hi. So we left Rio last Thursday (10th March) and jumped on a 3 hour bus ride south to Angra dos Reis, the port for the ferry across to Ihla Grande, ‘The big island’, with some friends from Rio. In true Chris ... read more