hi there, time for another update, or ill forget all ive done. from rio grande, we managed to get a minibus to ushuaia that night. apparently we had a lucky escape, as rio grande is meant to be a hole. we found an absolutely fantastic hostel to stay in, about 3.50pounds a night, with breakfast. it was only a few months old, and for our first 4 nights, we had the place to ourselves. there was cable tv, so we totally caught up on world news, courtesy of the bbc. in ushuaia - the end of the world, the beginning of everything - we went on a boat trip, and saw hundreds of seals and sealions; visited the former prison which is now an interesting museum; climbed a mountain to view a rather unimpressive glacier (and froze on our way down, due to the sleet blowing straight into us, on the chairlift) and went on a 4 hour walk in the snow. all in all, a really great time. we didnt plan on staying as long as we did, but it was really difficult to leave. there were NO buses on sundays, and the few any other days, tended to leave around 6am. so, we planned to take the monday morning service (at 6am) to rio grande, optimistically thinking we only had to arrive at the bus office (there is no station in this town) and buy tickets. unfortunately, all seats were sold out, so we had to hire a taxi to take us the 200kms to rio grande. not really a problem, except it had been snowing hard for around 24 hours. the taxi driver was a bit mad, driving way too fast, sliding often, crash barriers coming towards us... needless to say, we didnt achieve any sleep on that journey!!but we arrived in rio grande in time to catch the bus across to punta arenas, in chile. we arrived late that night, and left very early next morning - that was two consecutive 5am starts!!! from punta arenas, we flew to puerto montt (where i caught the boat from a few weeks ago). fortunately we didnt have to stay long there, and took the bus from there to valdivia, where we ended up staying in a not very pleasant hostel, but as it was only for one night, we were able to bear it. that evening, which marked alex and daves one year anniversary away, we had THE most amazing meal, absolutely delicious. not as cheap as some weve had, but more than worth it, we paid about 8pounds each, which included wine!! to finish the evening, we went to an antique cinema, with leather seats, where they switched the heating off before the start of the movie, because it was too noisy, and there was a break half way through the movie, presumably so they could change reels!!! the movie was chicago (not really to be recommended) but at less than a pound a ticket, we werent complaining!! and from valdivia, we caught another bus, to pucon, where we are now. its a really pretty town, on a lake, surrounded by volcanos. one of which we climbed yesterday. it was absolutely fantastic, such an amazing experience, we were really lucky with the weather, beautiful blue skies, sunshine... we needed crampons and ice picks for part of it. the views at the crater were just fantastic. several lakes and volcanoes. the ascent took around 4-4.5 hours, the descent around 1.5, since we were sliding down on our bums. it totally rocked!! definitely one of the best things ive EVER done. it was just brilliant, couldnt have asked for a better day. so that pretty much brings you up to date. today will definitely not be strenuous, think were going to hot springs later, which im sure will be fun, as the what to bring list includes a bottle of red wine and a corkscrew!!! argentina was great, in part due to the cheap and very good quality steaks. here is fab, in part due to the ludicrously cheap red wine, which is really good. but also the scenery, the company, what im doing, the hostels were staying in. im having a ball!!