The wee side trip to Villa La Angostura proved something to me anyway.... I really am scared of being on little boats in big waves. Thought I was a gonner (is that how one spells it?!) when as the boat rose up, up, up on each wave then down, down, down into nothing. As for when the waves were smashing over the top of the boat - heart attack city! It did lead me to a very lovely national park, looking on the bright side, where I took lots of lovely photos of myrtle trees. Bueno!

Headed back to Bariloche to catch my connection to Mendoza when catastrophe struck.... managed to break my molar in half eating a sweet - always knew they were bad for your teeth! Well, there was a moment of panic, then some reflection, then the old PMA kicked in and I got on the 19 hour bus to Mendoza anyway. As luck would have it, the manager of the shockingly disgusting hostel I was checked in to, knew a dentist - his father to be exact. Off I "sauntered" with a huge amount of trepidation and clutching a little phrase book in my sweaty palms. Second piece of luck was that he could speak enough English for me to explain my dilema and thirdly he turned out to be the best dentist I've ever had the pleasure of in my mouth... hmmm, sounds a little odd? With the amount of drugs he pumped into me the rest of the day was a drunken blur though..... he he!

More fun the following day with a walking tour of the city. The sun was finally out and Plaza Espana a tiled marvel. I then headed out to the huge Parques San Martin for a view across the city but decided that it was probably best to leave when the 2nd man jumped out of the bushes waving more than just his hand at me....

Re-joined some old friends (ok, they're quite young...) that evening for a spectacular all you can eat meal. Marguerite, George, Michelle and I joined the end of the queue outside the restaurant at 8.20pm - I've never heard of such a thing! In Argentina?! At 8.20?! Scandalous! Thought our tip off must have been good as we waited with the locals.... Turned out to be a very bizarre place: we were sat in the window (good looking bunch, why not, eh?) next to a huge Charlie Dimmock style water feature; on one side of us was a family 15th birthday party - she seemed to be coming of age?! - complete with resplendant photo montage on power point; on the other a film crew from a reality TV show in Chile (watch out for continued stardom...). To top it off the food was pretty grim. Fantastic wine though :)

Spent my last day in Argentina on a wine tour around the Maipu region of Mendoza. Know far more than I could ever want to know about the process for hand picking, squishing and than bottling the grapes and their subsequent juice! Tasted some lovely wines... and some not so lovely. Fun day though and topped off with a great, big party at the loudest hostel I've ever stayed in (beware if you like sleep - CampoBase).

Headed over the Andes at the crack of dawn and after passing Aconcagua, the highest peak in the whole of South America, said goodbye to Argentina.... for this year anyway. The road down to the flats of Chile was not for the faint-hearted - can't believe people have cycled down it!! Santiago, here I come. S xx