Having arrived in Mendoza mid-morning we checked into the hostel and spent the afternoon strolling around the town. We'd heard mixed reviews of the town, various earthquakes mean it is a relatively modern city with few historical sites. The centre certainly lives up to this review, think any medium sized town. However the walk out to the Parque General San Martin on the edge of the centre revealed streets of large, individually designed houses of various styles....

This afternoon saw the start of a mammoth 21 hour journey to Mendoza. We essentially spent the day experiencing local services and so I'll cover each in turn. 1. The doctors. Fabrice lost his voice to dramatic effect whilst on the salt flats tour in Bolivia and had had a bad cough ever since (two weeks). He finally agreed to see a doctor. Waiting time : about 15 mins. Cost : Around £13. Result : multiple prescriptions. Verdict : Very good. 2. The bank. Queuing...

Sunday morning, time for another spot of horse riding. Let's see if we can master the beasts. It was amazing. We rode for a couple of hours through sand dunes, dry river beds and desert scrubland. The Cafayate valley/plain is surrounded by mountains which provided a stunning backdrop to this landscape. We even saw the toes of an armadillo as it scurried down its hole as we approached. Some beautiful eagles too. I was a little unsteady at first, as was my horse ...

Friday was another travel day, the bus down to Cafayate, a big shot town in the Salta wine region. I slept most of the journey and so can't really comment on the landscape we passed through. I did wake up to see a few wineries as we approached Cafayate mid-afternoon. Good sign! We checked into the hostel (very nice) and headed straight out for steak (also very nice!). The town consists primarily of single story white washed buildings and has a good atmosphere to...

The car was delivered to the hostel the evening before - a clapped out VW Gol (not Golf, look it up if you are bored). Allegedly the car hire company owner's wife's car. I can believe it. Anyway, on going to the car park in the morning we found a very flat tyre. Great start. After a few phone calls and a probably illegal drive to the office we were fixed up with a newer, fault free, VW Gol. We then got laughed at in a petrol station as us three guys (a Croatian ...