EL CHALTEN -back in Argentina and the last few days of our Patagonian sojourn. El Chalten? Stand aside Chicago, we have a new town stealing the mantel of Windy City. The wind here could take the wrinkles out of one of those dogs whose skin is too big for it´s body. The town itself is straight out of the wild west. At any moment you can picture Pablo and Juan bursting into the dusty street for a good old fashioned shoot out. El Chalten´s raison d´etre is it´s proximity to the National Park and the Fitzroy Mountain perched on it´s doorstep. [View Full Entry]

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Happy Australia Day. TORRES DEL PAINE - back in Chilean Patagonia with the obligatory rise in prices back across the border. Forget the cost Yeatesy and enjoy the ride, the long ride just to get into the National Park, including a particularly scenic ferry jaunt across a lake with a colour I can´t describe - better to leave that to the guys who label those paint colour charts - something like cream of cobalt or Patagonian perfume. Checked into our $35US each bed in a 6 bed dorm (YEATESY, FOEGET THE COST!!!) and set off. I think we bit off more [View Full Entry]

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EL CALAFATE - from 35 degrees tropics in Iguazu squatting mosquitos, Amazonian looking locals, 101%humidity, etc, and on to 8 degrees, drizzle, wind, snow capped peaks, glaciers. PATAGONIA. The town of El Calafate is like some sort of alpine village or Alaskan former gold rush town. And the town IS booming. The population only 5 years ago was 2000. Today its 15000. In 10 years it will be in the vicinity of 60000. It aint gold these days causing the boom, today there´s tourists in them thar hills.Patagonia has become flavour of the tourist month all over the world. El Calafate [View Full Entry]

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IGUAZU FALLS- took off from BA and almost made it to Iguazu at the first attempt. We had just about landed (we were virtually level with the tree tops) when the pilot realised the airport was closed due to fog. You'd think someone would have told him beforehand. So 90 minutes back to BA and 102 minutes in cold storage before the 90 minute return trip back to Iguazu.These falls had be worth it. They are.We hooked up with this great Italian guy Giorgio (its an Armani Gerry - as Giorgio explained to us - same name, different bank balance) and [View Full Entry]

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BUENAS AIRES.- a bigger city with a bigger city feel. Paris of South America? (I wonder how many Parisiens call their town the BA of Europe?) Certainly it´s very European, some magnificent architecture and a very sophisticated ambience so the Paris metaphor isn't delusional and in fact quite apt. I once heard a riddle. How do you make money in Argentina? You buy an Argentinian for what he´s worth and then sell him for what he thinks he´s worth. HARSH, but a little more pertinent in BA than in other parts of Argentina we´ve seen. There´s certainly no overt display of [View Full Entry]

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CORDOBA - a biggish city with a biggish city feel. Nice mix of modern and colonial with a funky little arts market on weekends. Tried a glass of white wine. The waiter didn't know what grape, just that it was white and its brand name - I think it was straight from the wandering vines of Chateau de Baghdad - urghhh! I´m sure there are some very cheeky whites in Argentina but I´ll avoid that minefield in future and stick to the extremely reliable Malbecs and Cabernets. Did we mention earlier about no more overnight bus trips? So with some trepidation [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Chilecito at 6.00am after a 10hr overnight bus trip from MEN-DO-ZA!!! Oy I hate those overnight bus rides. We found a charming little farm stay about 3 kms from the centre of town. The town itself is surprisingly off the tourist trail but a great base for the surrounding national parks. Penny couldn´t work out the shower so Yeatesy put on his McGivor hat and sorted it out - to the rescue again. Unfortunately I forgot to put on my Magellan hat and got us lost a couple of times. Again nobody speaks any English so Penny had better [View Full Entry]

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Left Santiago with a 6 hour bus ride to Mendoza in Argentina. Really scenic trip up, over and through the Andes. MEN- DO-ZA!!!(I just cannot say it without thinking of Ranier Wolfcastle/Mcbain in the Simpsons) is like a ghost town at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. The only thing missing was a couple of tumbleweeds rolling down the streets. However by late afternoon the town was full of people enjoying life. It's a lovely city- great parks and plazas and tree lined streets - VERY European. Nobody - not even the people working in the tourist industry - speak English. Time [View Full Entry]

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Flying - it costs a lot of money to have yourself tortured. 13 ½ hours to LA and even though we were only transitting, we had to do the full security scene. The most intriguing question on the US immigration card involved ´if you were a Nazi war criminal between 1933 and 1945 or if you are carrying any bombs, please tick the YES box. Call me a cynic but I would think any Joseph Mengel types trying to sneak through immigration with a bag full of nuclear weapons probably isn't going to fess up and tick the YES box. Pennys [View Full Entry]

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Hi all we are testing the site before we head off - see you all in 12 months. [View Full Entry]

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