DOZY IN MENDOZA We arrived into Mendoza tired and bedraggled from our long bus journey, only to find that we couldn't check into our hostel until midday and that we had to pay 7 pesos if we wanted to have breakfast - unlike normal hostel practice. Grrr. Not only that, but we realised we had to wait even longer as it was only 8am when we arrived, not 9am as we had thought, because Mendoza is an hour behind the rest of the country. Not the greatest of welcomes int...

WHOA, PHWOAR AND SORE IN CORDOBA The lively streets and blue cloudless skies of Cordoba were a welcome sight as we got off the bus and made our way to our hostel where, within a few minutes, we had booked ourselves onto a horse-riding trip for the following day which made Emma very happy and Duncan's balls slightly concerned about their welfare. We spent the afternoon wandering around the streets of a city which seemed to have a disproportionately large number ...

TAN-GO WEST AT IGUAZU FALLS After a pretty good night's sleep on the bus we arrived in Puerto Iguazu in the far north of Argentina and found ourselves at probably the best hostel we will ever stay in on our trip with a large swimming pool, bar, sun loungers, friendly staff, air conditioning and great food. Perfect. We could've stayed for days but we only had two nights to make the most of it. After a quick dip in the pool, we caught a bus to Iguazu Falls Nationa...

GOOD TIMES IN BUENOS AIRES We were really looking forward to getting to Buenos Aires not only because everyone who has ever been there has raved about it, and not just because the 100km hour winds down in the south were a bit chilly, but also because our friends Ali, Suzy and Christian were coming out to see us for a holiday. We were all hugely excited when they met us in the lobby of the hotel and it was like we hadn't been away at all as we caught up on each o...

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT… After our extended stay in Chile, we were quite sad to be leaving such a great country with its diverse scenery and friendly people, but we were consoled by the fact that we were heading to Argentina with its diverse scenery, friendly people AND a staple diet of steak and red wine. As we crossed the border at a windswept checkpoint in the middle of nowhere in countryside populated only by sheep, the first sign that we s...