steve and viks fantastic travels

Steves...area! Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, our most southerly stop. A surpisingly rough ferry crossing escorted by tiny black and white dolphins, like miniature Killer Whales bouncing through the surf. Then more grassy vastness, just as we're starting to get close to the bottom the forest begins, and my first sighting of a Beaver, then another... then despite there being 180,000 kicking around, not one more! Forests and snowy cold looking hills surround Ushuaia, its bay calm and smooth one day, then a wild swirling mass of white the next. The indigenous people who once lived here are long gone, but on our walks you can see the molosc-covered midden heaps left behind in the sheltered bays, forests now mostly covering where villagers once lived. Long days and short nights, expensive seafood and blasts of snow mark ... read more

Vik's bit: Intrigued by the sound of a place still steeped in legend and folklore as a result of its isolated status, we set off on the ferry for the island(s) of Chiloe off the coast of mainland Chile. Our first stop was in the small town of Ancud, a perfectly ordinary place with extraordinary seafood. But entrusting our choice to the Lonely Planet's wisdom we stayed here only one night before opting to move onto the "Chiloe's most attractive town, Chonchi". Making our way past some early socialisers on the beach we located the only hostel here; clearly a bit past it's best, the bloke that then greeted us looked like it was some time since his last conversation, which is perhaps why he was so keen to take the opportunity for a lengthy (one-way) ... read more

Vik's bit: So an uncomfortably long journey brought us to Santiago, capital of Chile and home to about one-third of the population there. Suitably sized in order to hold all that folk, it spreads itself within the confines of the mountains that surround it. The city bustles, but does not overwhelm, and we spent our days enjoying the plazas, the coffee and the seafood. The plazas provided random opera performances and other such treats, and the coffee shops a different kind of entertainment. Turns out that purchasing coffee is a risky business in Santiago. Luring you in with their very ordinary appearance, the cafes here go for more a 'lapdancing' kind of vibe. Waitresses wearing extremely tiny outfits that seem - as well as startingly skimpy - just a little bit impractical for the task of ... read more

Vik's bit: Iguaçu, a spectacular mass of overwhelmingly beautiful waterfalls, apparently created by a God in a rage after his betrothed took off with some other bloke in a canoe. Pretty furius, the God spliced the river in half, condemning them to fall forever. Or something like that. We entered first on the Brazilian side, where the 275 separate falls combine into one seeming whole of thundering water. The sound and the spray reach you long before your first - genuinely heart-fluttery, sharp intake of breath - sight of them. Amazing. And the impact, somewhat bizarre; groups of people racing through the footpaths, laughing their socks off for no apparent reason. Or strings of folk marching along in song. All rather odd. But incredible. And after a night in Brazil we headed to see the Argentinian ... read more

Vik's bit: I have never seen so many cows. They're everywhere. Wandering the Argentinian streets, chilling in the plazas, packing out the fields. Slightly reminiscent of India - in terms of sharing the roads - but unlike India, they are only sacred here once they land on the plate. Beef and some gloopy caramel-type sauce they call 'Dulce de Leche'; both seem to whip up unprecedented amounts of national fervour (Margaret Thatcher, somewhat less popular, but we've only been told to "f··· her" twice). Given the excitement generated by a slab of steak, it seems a mystery that people are happy to wait until midnight to start consuming it. Upon our arrival in Salta we tried to enter into the spirit of things, starving ourselves until 10, only to still eat in desolate restaurants. And when ... read more