22nd-23rd We booked our hostel with Don Santiago again and had one ½ days to enjoy Santiago and get some things sorted before leaving South America. We went to the seafood market and I had an amazing Paila Marina which is basically a seafood broth. We had been told by our tour guide last time to stay around the edges as the prices shoot up as you head to the middle, this was great advice and our meal was a delicious bargain. We really enjoyed Santiago and w...

20th-22nd Due to the fuel strikes in Argentina we were delayed leaving Mendoza, but we were the lucky ones we met with a girl heading to Puerto Madryn and her bus had been cancelled. When we did get going it was a quick 6 hours to Valparaiso and after an unorganised border crossing we were back into Chilean territory. We had to swap buses and had told everyone that we were heading to Valparaiso. When we got to Vina del Mara and were told this was as far as ...

15th-19th It was a bit of hellish journey from Puerto Madryn to Mendoza. To start with the bus was late and when it finally arrived we had to wait another hour for them to make some repairs and we were finally on our way. Only to stop again for another 2 hours while they made more repairs to top it off we had to swap buses in the middle of the night to one that didn't break down every two hours. This was supposed to be a 24 hour journey and took over 26 ho...

10th-14th Everyone we met were surprised when we told them we had planned to stay for four full days in Puerto Madryn. We wanted to get off the beaten track a little and as we had made the long trip from West to East and were making an even longer trip back up to Mendoza we thought a four day stop would be worthwhile. Most Gringos only see Puerto Piramides, an islet only a short trip from Puerto Madryn. It is a lovely National Park where you can see some g...

6th-9th Patagonia is starting to get a bit ridiculous now. More epic scenery, beautiful clear rivers and to top it off we have now seen a gigantic glacier. We are in Esquel another small town on the famous Route 40, Argentina's road to Patagonia. The town itself is quite nice but the real beauty lies in the nearby national park. We hired a car (Penny) for a bargain and drove the short distance to the National park where we partook in a few lovely walks. T...