Two hours down the stunning Ruta 40 is a little hippy town called El Bolson, or 'the bag', named due to its enclosure by the Andes, creating a sheltered warm climate perfect for growing vegetables, hops, grapes and herbs. It was chosen by a group of hippies in the 60s to be a self sufficient, non- nuclear settlement and a contemporary version of their ideals is still adhered to by the local famers and artisans that reside there. We were recommended a hostel ...

We were not completely looking forward to the 20 hour bus ride to Bariloche with banging hangovers, but when we got on the bus we were pleasantly surprised. Huge comfy seats with leg rests and TVs were not what we had expected on a South American bus, and after watching the city suburbs melt into flat farmland 4 films, a three course meal we slept for a full 8 hours. We woke up to the dramatic snow capped peaks of the Andes and an utterly breathtaking landscap...

Although our arrival in Argentina was relatively hassle-free, the trip from the airport to the hostel made us slightly uneasy as to what we had let ourselves in for on this trip. The drive took us through some of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, with towerblock after towerblock of dirty, blackened housing extending out in front of us down the motorway The rain that greeted us on our arrival dampened the smog of the huge city but the dark sky also helped to c...