After the crappy buses of Bolivia and Northern Argentina, nothing could have prepared us for our luxury first class vehicle with leather seats to Mendoza!! On board we were treated to tea and coffee, dinner with wine, and Rakhee even befriended the conductor, who later invited her to drink mate (a kind of herbal tea- very popular here) with him and the rest of the drivers downstairs. All of this was accompanied by a game of bingo (we didn't win, but the prize w...

After all the dramas with the bus, we FINALLY arrived in Salta in the early evening. It was very quickly noticeable that we were in a more affluent place, as the bus station was much more modern and Argentine-looking (if that makes any sense!).On the cab ride to our hostel, we got to see just how beautiful the city was by night.Lights twinkled all over the city, which consisted of small streets lined with an interesting mix of modern and colonial buildings.We che...

We arrived into Ushuaia by plane and after driving round a few hostels only to find that they were full, our taxi driver suggested Patagonia Pais Hostel, which turned out to be lovely.  The staff and all the people staying there were a good bunch, so lazing around the hostel chatting (especially with Marisha?s injured knee) was quite a lot of fun.  Ushuaia itself is, in a word, touristy.  It is the southernmost city in the world, so everything is geared ...

From the moment the plane began its descent into El Calafate, we knew it would be nothing like Trelew or Gaiman (thank God!). The views over the Andes were simply spectacular - snow capped mountains, deep valleys and winding rivers in a milky blue colour that can only be described as similar to when someone washes out a paintbrush in water. We jumped onto a shuttle bus and headed off to the America del Sur hostel, where we planned to stay. Words cannot describe...

Following the excitement of Puerto Madryn, we decided to get a little closer to home and caught an early evening bus to the town of Trelew, a Welsh colony (yes Welsh!) right in the heart of Argentina. Arriving late, we headed to the first place listed in the guide book, which was conveniently located across from the bus station – what a bad idea! The place was ridiculously overpriced, dark and dingy, but since we were hungry and tired we decided to dump ...