One country to the other.

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Again it has been an attack of the lazy bug that has seen so much time pass since our last blog, but don't you worry we finally got some good bug spray and have vanished the lazy bug for good. I will try to keep this blog brief but there has been so much going on that I can't promise anything.

First off isn't the easter bunny an amazing bloke/sheila we are thousands of kilometers away from home in the middle of a desert and yet still he/she found us this morning for our little chocolate suprise, good work bugs. More on the desert later.

Last blog with left you in great anticipation of a ufo sighting in capella del monte but the only abnormal thing we saw there was in our hostel (the green dome). At the top of our hostel on the roof sat this 8ft by 8ft glass dome lookout which you are free sit, sleep or do whatever in, so we were told. We did talk to a few locals about the aliens and they all swear by the fact that there is something weird going on in the mountains around them, perhaps there is something weird going on with the water they are all drinking, but none the less we had a great time in Ovni land. The highlight would have to be my faboulous horse riding skills through the mountains, I even got on the canter without the fear of falling off. Of course our fearless leader linsey was well ahead of me by then and didn't witness my great horseman ship but I am pretty sure she believes me. The remoteness of our horse ride really didn't kick in until I saw a trantula the size of my hand just strolling along the path next to me making its way into the bush. Felt like a scene out of a western movie. So we left Cappella del monte content and made our way back to the city of cordoba for a day or two before we hit wine country. We were very said to leave the crew at Babillonia hostel but it was time to move on.

Mendoza is know for its wine so we were eager to give this much hyped wine area a good working over (well mostly linsey). The 10 hour bus rides are becoming some what part of life now so that trip was easy and ariving in Mendoza we were greeted by rain, rain and more rain, but it soon subsided and we could begin our search for a place to rest for the next few days. Another hostel another bed same same but we were not in Mendoza for sleep we were there for the wine.
Bike and wine sounds good to me the idea is that you hire a bike get a map and sort out which wineries you want to visit sampling some of their best along the way of course. To be honest we were kind of expecting to just get smashed and ride around with a bottle of vino under each arm, this way far from reality. Lets just say the bike and wine tour is a class or two above the good old wineary walk about. And after our first visit to a small bodega (wineary) we knew the wine making and tasting process down pat. Our guide kept telling me it's all about knowing your pallet, well I know my pallet and it's all about bourbon but I gave it a shot anyway and was pleasantly suprised. So it seemed that the wine and bike tour may not be what we thought and the prospect of getting loose at these wineries was very slim, but after meeting up with some crazy irish and a couple of poms things were looking slightly brighter. We got the brilliant idea that we would buy a couple of bottles at our last winery and find a spot in the setting sun and watch it fade over the snow capped mountains in the distance, but suprise suprise you can buy the vino at the winery but you can't drink it anywhere in the premises, not even in there restraunt or bar area. So we did the only thing feasible at the time we bought a couple of bottles went back to the small house we rented the bikes from and cohersed the owner to letting us sit there for the next few hours while the irish girls and linsey got proper stuck into the winery spirit.
Another highlight of Mendoza was soaking in the hot springs with all the oldies. We had seen a broschure advertising natural hot springs and had heard good things about this place. Unfortunetly on the day we chose to visit it was blowing a hurrican so we spent most of our time in the inclosed baths, but for some reason we got the brilliant idea that we needed to have a picture taken in every bath, that meant going outside into the hurrican and taking a dip in water that if I had the balls to swim in then I surely wouldn't afterwards. Luckily linsey the brave was the swimmer in that photo. We spent most of that day soaking away next to the wrinkly skinned old folks in the boiling waters out of the cold wind. It was truly a beautiful place.

On our last night in Argentina I thought it was only appropriate I pay my respects to the great steak country it is and dined on my last Argentinian steak for awhile, they will be sorely missed.

It's chilly in Chile. Our plan was to catch the overnight bus from Mendoza to Chile it should take around 7-8 hours depending on the boarder crossing, but when we saw that the bus would have us arriving in Chile at four in the morning we gave that option the miss. It may be the best decision of the trip and definetly the best decision so far. The scenary on the drive was aweinspiring and there is no way that I can come close to describing the beauty of the Andes as we drove past snow capped mountains, cristal clear rivers and shear rock faces higher than I have ever seen. Truly spectacular. Now it was partially our stupidity but I like to think that it wouldn't have hurt if the bus employers also gave us a little insight about the Argentinian to Chilian boarder crossing. Not entirely sure how far it was into the trip and having just left sunny Mendoza Linsey and I were sitting on the bus in shorts and t-shirts sweating with the buses heater, but when we stopped at the very top of the Andes and saw a sign saying welcome to Chile, we knew that this boarder crossing may getting a little cold quickly. It would have been a pretty funny sight seeing these two gringos in thongs and shorts waiting outside the bus in the cold and light snow falling holding onto our passports tightly but fortunetly the lines moved quickly and in no time we were back in the warm. That is definetly one of the most beautiful boarder crossings in the world. For the rest of the drive I sat gobsmacked looking out my window contemplating just how small I am.

Santiago it means land of smog hahaha. We had heard mixed things about this city and were venturing into its pits with open minds. Any doubts were quickly squashed and we fell in love with the city, it helped that we had possible the best hostel in south america to stay at. AHHHHHHHH those beds how I miss them already. It also helped that we had some newly aquinted friends to meet up with in santiago, three chilian girls we met in Brazil who were more then happy to take us out and show us there home city. I guess the only two negatives about santiago would be the costs and the petty crime. It is cheaper then back home but compared to other cities in South America it is on par with the most expensive. The petty crime well up until this point we had very few experiences (bar the laptop incident) but in santiago in the week we were staying there we saw to muggings, heard about one sneaky bag grab, and were told about a squashed attempt at stealing a digital camera, luckily there was some brave aussie chick who gave the thief a good piece of her mind along with a few slaps to the face. Strangely all this did not detract from its beauty and even though we had planned to leave only after a few days were glad for one reason or another that we extened our stay. We also found out that Linsey and I are just not the museum type art is just to far out there for me. So we left Santiago on good Friday 4 days after the original plan and boarded our bus for San Pedro De Atecarma (the desert) with great anticipation. That 23 hour bus ride went alot quickly thanks to the 6 movies they showed hahahahaha (Bloodsport, Van Dam in spanish fun times).

So now I am sitting in our hostel in the desert rather beautiful actually again we are surrounded by snow capped mountains and volcanoes, waiting for 3 o'clock when we head out for some sandboarding, followed by sunset in the mountains. We will do our very best to keep you up to date with our latest adventures and will be sure to let you all know how the sandboard ended up.

Until next time, peace and love, Troy and Linsey.

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Photos

Troy's Amazing horsemanship
No hands...not sure about the canter though!!

Our follower
The little foal that followed us the whole way

Aliens
They really believe it....

Valle de la luna
Supposedly where Thelma and Louise drove off

Big Beer
We thought we were getting a jug...but we got two of these!!

Smokey Vina del Mar
No else seemed worried about the approaching fire, so we stayed and took pictures too