Sometimes it feels like we've spent more time on buses than actually seeing places in Argentina. We have definitely underestimated just how big the country is and as a result, have spent a small fortune and hours of our lives on buses covering 1000's of Kms!

Not to grumble though as the next stage of our trip was well worth the laborious bus journeys. First stop, El Bolson, a slow-paced hippy town in northern Patagonia. We arrived and the sun shone for the duration of our stay - hurrah - the summer wardrobe made a comeback! Beautiful scenery on the doorstep so we spent a few days walking, getting lost in the forest, chilling by the lake and sampling the local brew. The food here is delicious, with heaps of farms surrounding the main town selling fresh organic food at the weekly market. A welcome treat as were craving some vitamins after weeks of budget tomato-based pasta dishes and red meat!

Next stop, Bariloche, the chocolate, icecream and skiing capital of Argentina. We loved this place. Really relaxing, stunning scenery and of course, good food and wine. Our best day was spent on bikes riding the 'Circuito Chico', a road looping through a number of lakes in the region. The uphill efforts were well worth it once we reached the 'punto panoramico' and took in the breathtaking view, by far the best we've seen on the trip so far.

A huge personal higlight for me was having my hair coloured, cut and styled after 4 months without a hairdryer...I felt like a new woman!

Final stop in Argentina before heading into Peru, Mendoza, wine capital of Argentina. We were fortunate to arrive at the start of the annual wine festival, so spent our first night sampling the delights of Mendoza's best wines, all for the price of a bottle of Lambrini! The few days that we had in Mendoza were spent boozing, predictably. We risked our lives by going on the 'bikes & wines' tasting tour...visiting wineries along one of the busiest roads in Mendoza, scary at first but definitely lots of fun.

Musician Manu Chao played a low-key concert at the football stadium in Mendoza, so we fought the crowds and had a great birds-eye view of the gig. Everything got quite exciting albeit scary when 100's of locals without tickets stormed the gates and were shot at with shotguns by the local police!

Our trip to Argentina is finally over. We've travelled top to bottom in a little over a month, experienced hot, hot sun and cold, rainy days, busy cities and bleak, barren lands and we're head over heels with the countrty. The scenery, the food and the people have made this our favourite country so far...we can't wait to return in June to see the northern part.