Valparasio is only a short trip away from Santiago. Looking up at the surrounding hills from the waterfront you are met with brightly coloured buildings and houses sprawling across the mountain. I have met a few people on my trip who have lived in Valpo (mostly Americans and an astonishing large number of architects) who have all gave it glowing reviews. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site too. Personally I was not blown away with it on first impressions. It ...

It was time to move onto my eighth and final country - Chile. With only a month left on my trip we decided to focus on southern Chile. This is still about two thousand kilometers! We also had to factor in that we would be over crossing over the Chilean and Argentinian border a few times in our attempt to see the vast Patagonian landscape. However before getting into all that outdoor lark I was all set for chilling out in Santiago for a few days. The border ...

It's wine tour time and with a group of girls from hostel we set out to do the famous bike tour of the Mendoza vineyards. The vineyards are located in an area called Maipu about a forty minute bus ride from the city. By the time we got sorted with bikes and left Mr Hugo's (recommened bike hire) and his never ending classes of 'Welcome Wine' it was about one pm. The area of vinyards is roughly a ten km stretch and has about thirteen vinyards. A beer garden, oliv...

Mendoza is red wine country. Every fellow backpacker I met the length and breath of the continent recommended it. Stressed with importance similiar to the Inca trail and Iguazu Falls we happily jumped on the overnight bus there. Unfortunately our first impressions were the quite mixed. We checked into Mendoza Inn hostel and it seriously failed to impress. The place was run by a group of kids who blasted music from seven am till midnight, staff were rude and unhe...

Cordoba is a highlight of Argentina as it famously has eleven universities in the city. This is enough of a tag line to get the attention of young and lively backpackers to stop by. The age demographic is instantly obvious when you are walking about the city streets. There is the magnificent Parroquia De La Asuncion Cathedral located right in central Cordoba. It is as impressive during the day as when it is lit up at night. On my first day the the temperatu...