We met an Israeli couple a few days ago who advised us "Don't go to Puerto Madryn! We just came from there, and it is a waste of time! If the weather is windy, there is nothing to do, and such an ugly town in the middle of nowhere!" I'm glad that we just smiled and thanked him for the advice and went anyhow! Our first time at the Atlantic Ocean- that is cool in itself! We arrived at 7 am yesterday after taking another night bus. As usual, when we arrived, we got...

We got on the bus to Barioloche, and quickly realized that the entire bus was filled with tourists. I don't know if there was a single Argentinian on the bus other than the staff! Best bus we have been on so far without a doubt, but also more expensive. We had such a fabulous supper on the bus too! Really tender roast beef, roasted potatoes, and roasted carrots!!! So delicious!!! (better than pizza with raw hot dogs!!) Barioloche is so similar to Banff it's funny...

It is raining and hailing intermittently. Since this is our laundry and errand day, it is actually quite refreshing. Mendoza is a warm place. 28-30 degrees in the spring ( now) and 38-44 in the summer. I dont think it rains here much. The shops are big on intricate displays of their products, and lots of the displays are right out on the sidewalk. The sidewalks here are as wide as the streets at home, and are sometimes used for parking as well as walking. About e...

Early morning today, and a long bus ride to Rio El Nuhil, but worth the drive. River rafting on a class 2-3 river. Perfectly safe, and enough adventure to be loads of fun!! The river is a beautiful green color, and there are gorgeous weeping trees hanging into the river. Sierra went over, but I'm pretty sure the guide set that up-- the guy in front of her was really struggling to stay on too. It was a river that had a stretch of rapids followed by calmer water in...

We stayed in a nice hostel in Santiago. The guy who ran the place reminded me of a young Rupert from Survivor. We arrived at 8:30 pm, and immediately went in search of some pesos. All the banks were closed of course, so we were back by 9:30. One of the other backpackers let us in when we rang the bell, and I guess the guy who runs the hostel didn't know we were back, and woke up repeatedly through the night worried about why we weren't back, and if he should call...