Homeward Bound

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We had a chilled time in Colonia, wandering around the cobbled streets, soaking up the Uruguayan sun and eating plenty in attractive restaurants and cafes which line the streets (of course including "helado artesan" - homemade ice cream)! On the slow boat back to Buenos Aires we had a fantastic lightening display. The fact we were sitting in a huge tin can was perhaps not the most comforting of ideas, but we enjoyed the show without getting fried!

What came next was perhaps the scariest 20 minutes of the whole trip...we were moving hostels in BA (due to a variety of reasons) and had found the street where the next hostel was, only to see that all the doors were closed, and there was no sign of 'Che Telmo Guesthouse'. It was late at night and it seemed the only people on the dimly lit backstreet were rummaging through bins and as we desperately searched for some clue to where it could be, you couldn't help feel like they were eyeing you up. If life is bad enough that you have to rummage through someones bin every night, why not rob a young looking tourist carrying everything they've brought? I would hardly blame them. Finding a security guard was a welcome relief until he assured us there were no hostels on this street. Had we been conned... the website had failed to provide a door number? The only clue had been a picture of a brown door. There were 3 on the street. After some more panic stricken moments Peter recognised a name that he thought was in the email, and we actually ended up in the right place!

Obviously we got off pretty lightly if that was our worst moment in 3 months! Filled with relief we were given the Che Guevara room in the hostel, so he must have been looking out for us. The next day was a wander around Palermo, the sophisticated district in BA and a tango show in the evening.

We arrived home last night after a fantastic time (despite calculating 9 days 17 hours were spent on a bus). There were so many highlights that deciding on our favourite is going to be tough. The multitude of climates, altitudes and landscapes were just incredible, as was the friendship and hospitality we were shown. Thanks to all those lovely people we met and who helped us.

And thank YOU for following us!

Leigh and Peter xxx

A few memorable moments:


• Waking up at 4,400m to fresh snow fall on the Salkantay trek.
• Mark the Texan collapsing in fresh mud from a slide the night before, whilst trying to reach some hot springs which had been cut off (Salk trek).
• Peruvian and Bolivian bus stations. "POTOSI, POTOSI, POTOSIIII!"
• Arriving in Bolivia with £20 equivalent currency and realising there was no cash machine which worked.
• Sounds of the jungle.
• Sounds of La Paz protest (dynamite and fireworks which could of been gunfire and bombs!)
• Our Potosi silver mine guide handing around dynamite with a lit fuse (get it away from me!!)
• Cellotaped, dusty Bolivian buses full of locals belongings driving off-road at a shockingly fast pace whilst a lovely new road was being constructed right next to us.
• Sunrise, geysers and bubbling mud in a volcano crater at 5000m on our Salar tour.
• Arriving in Argentina and seeing a tarmacced, lined and signposted road for the first time in a while!
• Sitting in a winery at the end of our tour listening to some drunk Europeans slag off Brits whilst we sat 5m away. A funny quote... 'people in mainland Europe have sex lives, Brits have hot water bottles'.
• The view from our hostel in Bariloche.
• Creaking, cracking Perito Moreno glacier.
• Leigh's rendition of happy birthday in Spanish in Puerto Natales, complete with waiter in scary puma mask and kiss off random Chilean.
• Skunk dolphins chasing our boat across the Magellan strait.
• Standing in soaking wet mist less than 1m away from where water plunged into 'garganta del diablo' (devil's throat) at Iguazu falls.

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