Good lord, I am so behind on my journal it's ridiculous! We arrived in Puno and went to the Uros Islands which are giant floating islands made out of reeds. It was fairly touristy but then thats about the only way you'd get to see these islands and the people that live on them, plus we got to dress up in there traditional clothes! Very funny and I'll be sure to put up some pics soon I promise. After Puno we left Peru and crossed into Bolivia. The first thing that greated us where a group of soldiers who we think must have been doing a punishment as they where made to do something vaguely looking like squat thrusts in front of our truck! Copacabana was our next destination and the place where we discovered 7% beer in massive 1 litre bottles! I managed 4 of these and an amazing steak for a fiver! First impressions of Bolivia could not have been better... Did I mention how much of a hard life I lead?! We just chilled out here, well kind of as this was one of the places where I was writing my last blog entry and the electricity died hence why they take so long.

We left Copacabana the nest day and headed to La Paz which is the capital of Bolivia. Bit of a mixture of feelings as we headed here as this was the stop point for about 10 of our group and the point where'd we'd pick up 5 new people but then it is also the best place to shop in Bolivia hmm... We had an amazing first night in La Paz as Luca (our driver) had arranged an all you can eat buffet in our hotel which included booze! We had such good food and a ridiculous amount of booze and he would not let us leave the table until it was all gone, as if we where going to! After this we went out to find an oxygen bar. I'll explain - La Paz is the Worlds highest capital at just over 3000 metres so most people really feel the altitude and the oxygen bar gives you a natural high. We didnt manage to find it but found a bar instead and then another place where we danced until about 4am! Good effort. Needless to say we got up for our free breakfast the next morning (probably still drunk) and then went back to bed. Such a funny delerium filled day - Mands you'd have loved it, don't think we stopped laughing at not funny things all day!

The next day was something I'd been waiting for for ages - mountian biking down the Worlds most dangerous road! Luckily we stayed off the booze the night before! It was awesome!!!! 64km in total and SO much fun. You get about 20km on a downhill tarmac road so you can get used to the road and the bikes first and then comes the death road... It was actually fairly scary as cars still use it, as do minbuses, and one of the boys actually came off and fractured his hand and a girl came off about 3 times. Luckily I managed to stay on the gravel path only wide enough for one car with the 400 metre sheer drop to the left hand side. It was such an adrenaline buzz and I have some brill photos that I'll upload.

That night we thought we'd be knakcered but I was actually quite awake, adrenaline is an amazing thing. We went to a fake Hard Rock Cafe near our hotel where we met the new people and had to say goodbye to some of the oldies. You all know how much I love goodbyes, so I just got drunk! Well actually, we all got drunk and proceeded to take the piss out of the Germans who had taken over the dance floor with some crazy moves...

Next day was major shopping day!! I had to pick up some more scarves (as I clearly don't own enough at home) and then I had to buy a new bag to put my scarves and other unneccesssary purchases, such as a shed load of earrings, into! I also experienced the Bolivian post office which is possibly the slowest thing in the whole entire world!

The next day we left La Paz to start the second half of my big adventure. We headed to Potosi which is the worlds highest city and also used to be the worlds richest city as there is a massive silver mine there. Unfortunately, the Spanish exploited this and the town is now really quite crap. Some people went for a mine tour but I didn't fancy it as it involves spending all morning bent over and breathing in noxious fumes such as asbestos. No thanks, I don't mind mountain biking down the worlds most dangerous road as its fun but this didnt sound too much fun. I opted for the coffee shop instead.

Next day we left and headed for Uyuni which is where the salt flats are located. It was freezing. But the hotel we stayed in did have the best pizza I have ever eaten! I ordered what they call a 'Diall 911' as it contains practically everything you can imagine and has another thin layer of pizza base on top of it. Everyone had serious pizza envy that night, especially when I managed nearly the whole thing and it was massive! I cannot actually believe how many pizzas I've eaten since being out in South America, I think I've eaten more pizzas in the last 2 months than in the last 2 years, anyone would think I'm in Italy, they just love it out here. I even had pizza for lunch today!

Anyway pizza out of the way the next day we headed for the salt flats which is basically a massive expanse of salt. It used to be a river which then dried up and hence the salt. Its then processed locally and sold on to ther countries. The most exciting thing about the salt flats though is the opportunity to take really cool photos, as there isn't any sense of proportion or distance, you'll see what I mean soon enough. We also visited a hotel made entirely of salt where the woman told us, in Spanish probably not thinking we understood, to stop standing around taking pictures and buy something from her, very overpriced, little shop. When we proceeded to ignore her and continue taking pictures she got a bit annoyed and practically kicked us out! Thats hospitality for you, especially after most of us had paid our 30p to use the loo!

After Uyuni we headed to the Argentina border which was the hardest border so far as they're quite strict. It's also quite weird as there are a load of people who are employed to carry stuff backwards and forwards across the border. No, not illegal smuggling but an actual people highway where they carry things on there heads and backs but not just carry, they run all day long. I think it's because Bolivia is so much cheaper than Argentina but I'm not really sure why they don't just get a truck....

Our first port of call in Argentina was Salta. There was much anticipation for the steak and red wine... It did not disappoint! For the first night in Salta we cooked a massive barbecue and had really good steak, chorizo etc and of course a few bottles (well actually cartons, classy ladies that we are!). The following day we went horseriding at Sayta which was without a doubt one of the best days of my entire trip. We arrived and had some tea, coffee and snacks. Then we got our chaps on and met our horses! Mine was called Mimosa which I was told means something along the lines of, she´s nice and likes to be touched. She was amazing, so beautiful and well looked after. I won´t lie, I haven´t been horseriding in ages and was s***ting myself when they said we were going to gallop! Some people could actually ride and went off without a problem but the ones of us who couldn´t, had two guys with us in case we came off. I did get the hang of it and then actually really really enjoyed it. We rode for about 3 hours, then stopped and did a tug of war competition - of course my team won! Then the gauchos showed us how to lasso, pretty impressive stuff. Then lunch called, we had the most amazing steak and a shed load of red wine, didn´t want to be rude when they kept offering it! Then it was time to get back on our horses, obviously we were all slightly more relaxed this time... We did about another 3 hours of riding and then at the end all galloped together in a long line which was awesome! Then it was time for some more tea, coffee and snacks!

The next day we were a tad hungover but went up to the cable car which overlooks the city. This appears to be simpler than it actually was as the cab driver we hailed didnt seem to understand my spanish of ´teleferico´ even when repeated 4 times until he finally twigged when we did cable car actions (god knows what they looked like!) and then he realised and repeated my exact pronouciation ´oh, teleferico´ whilst looking at us like we were crazy gringos trying to speak spanish! After our trip to the cable car we then wandered around the town which was very sweet and had a lovely plaza or main square, as does almost every South American country we´ve visited so far! Then 2 of the girls and I went for a really nice meal to celebrate our arrival in Argentina, of course steak was on the menu as was some red wine.

After Salta we headed to a little place just outside where some people did rafting and some of us slightly more interested in the sun, sunbathed! It was so nice as believe it or not South America is not that hot in winter. In fact some days, especially nights in the tent, it´s bloody freezing! We stayed the night here and made the most of the log fire in the bar. Next port of call was Cafayate - the wine region! I was a tad disappointed if I´m honest. The town was beautiful and very sweet but we were there on a Saturday and most of the vineyards and closed and the ones you go to where actually quite unhelpful. I had big ideas for the wine tour but then I was expecting something like the one I did in Cape Town which was organised and not just a bunch of gringos turning up at the vineyards expecting to get pissed! Needless to say we didnt get drunk but did buy some wine to take back to the campsite and drink...

Next day we left Cafayate to see how far we got towards the Estancia. Estancia is a ranch basically and they either specialise in cattle or horse breeding. Our one specialised in Aberdeen Angus cows, was 6000 acres big and had 160 horses! Amazing. We stayed in one of the 6 houses on the land, only 3 of which are actually lived in so we ahd the whole house to ourselves! We did spend one night camping but it was one of the coldest nights sleep I´ve had out here so the next night we slept ion the kitchen floor! The kitchen floor is so much more comfortable when you´ve had a shed load of wine! We spent 2 nights here, having a wine tasting first which was awesome. Then the two days horseriding which wasn´t as intense as the day in Salta but was really nice as it was all up and down valleys and so beautiful. My horse for these two days was called Surino which means Southerner so we were quite happy with each other although he did try and get in front of a notoriously naughty horse and we got kicked! Luckily I took the blow to my foot so it didn´t hurt.

We had a brill grill that night with a lamb which they got off the estate. Quite rank though, they even cooked the head! This one of the girls then ate the eyeball from and then wehen we were least expecting it and after a lot of red wine the family dogs from the main house (which is 7km away) busted through the kitchen door! One of them rather proud with the lambs head in its mouth! Quite rank really but hilarious when you´ve had about 3 bottles of red wine...

We had such an awesome time at the Estancia and I am so jealous that people actually live their lives like that. After the Estancia we were back on the road and headed for Buenos Aires! This wasnt included in our original itinery but Luca, our guide (who was absolutely amazing) gave us the option of going there so we all jumped at the chance and it was SO worth it. We only had 2 nights there so the first night we decided to go out and get very drunk, again... We went to an amazing steak restaurant first and then out to a few bars and a club which would have cost us quite a bit to get in but we snuck in the back door, so happy!

The next day we got up for breakfast, still drunk, and then had to mission it around as it was our only full day there. We went to see Evitas grave which was weird as the cemetery isnt like our cemetery´s but all marble and stone kind of tombs. After that we went to a really cool place called La Boca which has all brightly coloured buildings and artesan stalls. There also happened to be a dog dressed up as a police man, complete with holster and toy gun. Even he looked ashamed. Ive included a photo for you all to see... Then we went to another market (which I cant remember the name of as it was about 3 weeks ago!) and ended up buying yet some more earrings to add to my collection... That evening we all decided to go to a Tango show as thats what BA is famous for. We went to one in Cafe Tortoni which is the oldest cafe in BA and so beautiful. The show was awesome and as usual with things like that, we all came away saying that we want to learn Tango!

The next morning we had to leave BA and we were all quite dissapointed as it is such a lovely city and we didnt have long enough there. But then we at least got to go there so thats a bonus. We now headed towards the Pantanel which is a massive wetland area. We had to see what the weather was like as if it rains there is no point in going because you dont see any animals plus the road out is really bad when wet... it had rained but we went anyway! We had a great barbecue and then the worst storm I´ve ever heard. Luckily we had rooms here and not tents! The next morning we had to wait for the rain to stop but then went out on a boat to see the Caymens in the marsh. We then left after lunch and headed for the horrible road... we followed the guy from the campsite incase we got stuck as the road, sorry mud track, was so wet and muddy. He left after about an hour and what was supposedly the worst section... Of course then about 10 minutes down the road we get stuck in the mud! We all had to get out and help moved Mamasitas big ass out of the mud which involved the boys digging out the mud from under the wheels and using sandboards whilst the girls then pushed. She weighs 26 tons! We managed to get her out and we carried on. This then happened another 3 or 4 times and then it got dark. We couldnt call anyone for help as there wasnt any mobile reception and we were literally in the middle of nowhere... Everytime she got stuck we were like ´ok, one more time we´ll try´ each time we´d manage to go a bit further along the road and she´d slid and end up sideways with her wheels stuck in the side of the road. We did think we´d end up bush camping there and then waiting until someone went past the next day to get them to get a tractor to pull us out. Luckily we didn´t need to as at 9.30pm we actually arrived at the end of the road and the gas station we were planning on camping at. The journey should have taken us 2 and a half hours but instead it took us 9 and a half! We were all so tired, and absolutely covered in mud, we just ate empanadas (amazing meat pies) from the gas station and crashing out. The next day we got up early and headed towars the Argentina - Brazil border and Iguazu falls. I´ll write about those next time as I´m now in Rio and have the distinct feeling that I need a beer... plus you´ve probably nodded off by now anyway! Hasta la pasta X