So we took a bus across the border to Bariloche in Argentina. Ah Bariloche! Possibly my favourite place in South America, well definitely one of my favourite places. Again it is another out of season ski town (apparently excellent skiing), again cosy looking wooden chalets all over the town, and again a backdrop of snow covered volcanoes and lakes. But the difference with Bariloche is that it is completely surrounded by lakes and volcanoes, not just a couple. But it's not just the aesthetics that make me happy, steak and chocolate made it the most incredible place!

The first evening we arrived, JP had booked us into a restaurant serving all you can eat pizza. Kenneth was the only one happy about this because the rest of us were looking forward to steak. However, JP promised us steak the next night and assured us that pizza was the cheapest thing around that night. No wonder it was cheap, it was one of the worst pizzas I've ever had. It may have been all you can eat but it was plastered in so much sickly cheese I could only force down 3 slices, although Bryan loved it and had at least 7 pieces. We were all keen to go out afterwards but the best we could do was an Irish pub which kicked us out at midnight.

A lot of the group chose to do a bike ride around the outskirts of the town to a viewpoint the next day. Since I was still in pain from our epic uphill misadventure, I decided to give the cycle a miss and Bryan and I spent the day exploring the town with our invalid friend, Julie. We went to the main town square overlooking one of the lakes. There was a man here with the biggest St Bernard's dog posing for photos. We also went to a street which is basically full of chocolate shops. Some of these shops are the size of supermarkets, no exaggeration! We went into a few of these places getting free samples and I was basically in heaven! We bought the thickest hot chocolate I've ever had and to be honest it was so sickly that it put me off chocolate for the next few days. Probably a good thing because I could have easily put on a few stone in Bariloche!

Speaking of food, most of you will know that Argentina is known for its steak. In fact red meat is basically all they eat. I'm surprised if they know what vegetables are! The moment I got into Argentina I could smell steak and had been looking forward to it since our travels began. We went to a steakhouse and the first site that hit me was a large fire oven and a man cutting up the biggest slab of meat I have ever seen! The menus were made of cow fur and inside was a selection of different cuts of beef at small or large sizes. "Small" was 300g which is over 10oz, the average steak size in UK. It wasn't cheap so I went for a small with a local cut of beef (known as chorizo) and Bryan and I shared some chips. The group also tried the first taste of Argentinian red wine since entering the country. The meal was perfect and the steak was quite literally the best I've had in my life. It was incredible! Bryan was also very happy that Evelyn, the smallest eater of the group, ordered a large and had a lot leftover!

After this splendid meal, JP had come through for us by finding a club for tonight. We had a few problems with the bouncers refusing to let JP in (apparently they were racist because he is Columbian) but a few threats of going elsewhere and they soon let him in. We were the only "gringos" in the club and clearly this made the security staff uncomfortable because they sectioned off the VIP area for us and put a bouncer near us. I'm not sure if this was to keep the locals out or to keep us in. Nevertheless, we still had fun dancing Gangnam Style and making fun of Julie's one legged dancing which somehow she made look good! Bryan also managed to find out that they don't usually allow people in with shorts and of course he was wearing shorts so decided to flaunt this as much as possible in front of the bouncer!

The next day Bryan and I took the lazy option and took a bus to the viewpoint. In fairness there was still a 30 minute hike up the hill (we could have taken a chairlift but I'm not that lazy!). It was entirely worth the effort of the 360 degree views of lakes and snow capped mountains. It takes your breath away. It's such a beautiful town I really hope to come back one day during a ski season.