After a couple of days rest and recuperation after the Salkantay trek it was time to part ways with Max and Jana and with Peru. It was sad to say goodbye to Max and Jana as we got on really well and been travelling together for 6 weeks! We hope to see them again in the near future. We said our goodbyes at the bus terminal and got on our bus back to La Paz.

After arriving in La Paz we booked straight on to another night bus leaving at 19:30pm due to arrive 15 hours later in a small Bolivian town close to the Argentinian boarder called Tupiza. Many locals on the bus had lots of layers and numerous blankets. This should have been a heads up to us both that the journey we were about to endure would be the coldest bus journey of our lives with nothing to defund us against the extreme cold!!! For about 12 hours straight we didn't sleep and we had to sit on each other's feet to try and keep them warm. We were driving through places that were -18 degrees Celsius at night!! Out of the countless bus journeys we have taken this one ranks at number one worst bus journey ever!

On top of the extreme cold the bus did not stop once to go to the toilet in 15 hours but decided to stop 1 hour from our final destination and warmth for breakfast! There really seems to be a no tolerance culture to needing the toilet when on the bus in Bolivia. As most locals take to relieving themselves (no matter the type of toilet they need) in a bag on the bus and proceed to throw it out the window.

Bolivia -Tupiza

After what seemed like eternity we reached Tupiza still both freezing cold. So like reptiles we lay in the sun for 10 minutes or so to warm ourselves back up! Tupiza is very close to the border with Argentina and lays claim to the fact that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were on the run and tried to rob a bank in the main plaza.

We found some brilliant local restaurants to eat at. The first one served one of the best Pique Macho I had ever had - maybe the second best if I am being honest. The second restaurant we found was called Pollo Spedio which sold rotisserie chicken. It was 20 (just under £2) Bolivianos for a quarter chicken with chips and salad. Sarah was even eating the chicken skin and trying to get every last morsel of meat off the bone, both things which are normally unheard of.

We went horse riding on 24th June for Sarah's birthday. The scenery was right out of a Clint Eastwood western. Still I don't think horse riding is my thing but it is good to have tried it where it is only £3 an hour!

That evening we went to the restaurant that served pique macho. We even got a special order of chicken pique for Sarah! In the space of ordering our food and it coming to the table I had fallen ill and had to rush back to the hostel leaving Sarah in the restaurant eating her dinner on her own on her birthday!!! I felt bad but there was nothing I could do, nature was knocking at the door quite ferociously! Luckily my sickness did not last too long but we did have to stay an extra night or two. Travelling for a longer period of time gives you the opportunity to be more flexible and rest and recuperate where needed.

Argentina - Vino Tinto, Parillias and Empanadas

Saying bye bye to Bolivia we crossed the border at Villazon/La Quiaca with no problems despite reading numerous forum posts that queues could be hours long.

We both felt excited to move on to another country but simultaneously it was sad to leave Bolivia as we had met many people their (including Max and Jana) and grown quite attached to the place spending about 6 to 7 weeks there. After crossing the border we pushed on to Tilcara.

Tilcara

It is always annoying arriving somewhere in the dark. Especially if you don't have a hostel in mind. So at the point when your alighting the bus you hope someone is there touting for a hostel. Luckily this is exactly what happened. However as you are walking to the hostel which tends to be quite far away (this is why it needs a tout) you hope that it won't be dirty and horrible because all you want is a clean room and a bed! Fortunately the hostel was fine and we ended up staying two nights. There was not too much to do in Tilcara so we left after two days, on the morning of our departure we hike to a canyon and saw the hills of 7 colours.

One thing we had to become accustomed to, differently from Bolivia is a 3 hour siesta from 2 until 5pm!

Jujuy

We did not even intend on stopping here originally. However travelling by bus to Purmanarca and being unimpressed we left by shared taxi to Jujuy. We found a really nice little restaurant here - we were treated like royalty and one man there who worked for the paper wanted our names and age.

The next day we travelled to some hot springs we were full of hope after the lonely planet's description. However we were pretty disappointed on arrival, as the hot spring was just a small swimming pool of hot water. We went straight back on the bus!! By now being in Argentina the land of the empanadas Sarah and I were already religiously having these every day for lunch!

The day was not all bad. Northern Argentina is famous for its ice cream (good news for Sarah and I). We discovered Grido Helado where we could get a quarter of a kilo of ice cream for 10 Pesos (less than £1.50!). At this point in our trip we felt if we were not meeting our friends Emma and Sam in B.A. we may not stay in Argentina much longer. Due to the time of year anything further south than B.A. would have been positively sub-zero temperature wise.

Salta

Salta was pretty much the same as Juyuy but slightly nicer and slightly more expensive. Here we visited a very nice little museum called MAAM Salta - The museum of high altitude archaeology. I used my 3 year out of date student card to get me in 10 Pesos instead of 40 (it is essential to make savings wherever you can when backpacking for a year). The museum was really interesting and was about Inca mountain top sacrifices and has three almost perfectly preserved bodies of Inca children on show.

Cafayate

Apart from B.A. this was probably the place Sarah and I were most looking forward to. As next to Mendoza it is one of Argentina's most important wine producing regions that sits at the bottom of the Andes Mountain range at over 1750m. The surrounding vineyards produce both red and and white wine but are most recognised for a white wine called Torrontes.

On arrival it seemed hotter than Salta which was a good thing. As after Chile, Bolivia and Peru and North Argentina all being cold we craved some warmer temperatures!

We toured some vineyards including Etchart, El Transito and Vasija Secreta. We ate out for Sarah's birthday as last time the the meal was cut short by Robbie's falling sick. It was a bit disappointing food was cold and some of it was burnt. We made up for this bad meal the next evening where we found a local parilla (grill). It was the best food we had in Argentina thus far. It was just a simple whole in the wall grill. I got a huge thick, juicy bit of steak for just under £4 and Sarah had a nice bit of chicken.

We also found some more amazing ice cream at Helados Miranda owned by an old Argentinian couple. Unarguably the best in town. We booked an early morning bus to Tucaman the next day. On packing our stuff at 4 am we realised the young lady at the laundrette had taken Sarah's fake Abercrombie and Fitch long sleeved layer, there was nothing we could do (just teaches us that we always need to check our laundry). We got to Tucaman after an 8 hour journey and decided to go straight to B.A on a night bus.

Buenos Aires 11th July

Sarah was slightly worried about B.A. as we had heard many stories of robbery. Almost everyone we have met travelling in South America had been or new someone who had been robbed in B.A. Our first night in B.A. we stayed in the Victoria Hotel. Its description on the front reads for "For Gentlemen and Families". These older hotels are actually cheaper than staying in a dorm room at a hostel. On entering we realised why the place was falling apart!

We found a new hostel the next day and moved into a 10 bed dorm for a couple of nights before Emma and Sam joined us. Sarah satisfied some of her shopping cravings finding a Zara and other nice shops to purchase some new clothes.

Emma and Sam arrived on the 14th of July and we moved to the famous B.A. party hostel called Millhouse. We spent 2 or 3 nights clubbing in B.A. It's a whole different concept to going out in the UK - the party starts at 11pm and you go to the club at 2 or 3am and get home at 7/8am!!

We also took in a traditional tango show and went to a ranch for a day. The lunch at the ranch was all you can eat and drink so Sam and I did our best to get our monies worth!

Iguazu Falls 18th July

We arrived in Iguazu early morning expecting to find a place to stay. This was to prove more difficult than we were expecting, after wandering around for 2 hours looking for a room, and even contemplating a flat share with a random Argentinian family of 8, we finally found a hostel which had space for us all.

The next morning saw us head to Igauzu falls. The morning was very overcast. Sarah was a bit upset but I was trying to be more optimistic saying that it would burn off later (fingers crossed!) We decided to take in the forest trail to give the weather time to change. By the time we had finished the trail it was bright blue skies! We started the lower iguazu trail - 100s and 100s of people were pushing and shoving wanting the perfect photo. Everyone is thinking the same thing 'I may only ever be here once in my life'…and this thought gives people a completely different aggressive photo taking psyche.

Seeing Iguazu for the first time was amazing - the number of falls and vast amount of water careering over them is staggering and joy dropping. Chuck in a couple of rainbows and the view is pretty difficult to beat.

The afternoon went less smoothy with us waiting in a four hour queue to see the devils throat. On arrival at the devils throat there was sheer chaos however this did not detract too much from the magnificence of this part of the falls.

Next Stop Brazil…..