Left Pucon, in a storm, of course, leaving on an overnight to Santiago. Our practised upright sleeping got us a few hours kip, then a search for the right bus terminal the following morning to get us to Mendoza.

The bus jouney was amazing, taking us up a 29 hairpin twist road, nicked-named the "catapilla" (if we got the translation correct) to almost 3000 metres, where we crossed the Andes through a long tunnel and crossed the border on the other side, the descent was cool too with luna landscapes and huge canyons on both sides.

The buses took a battering though, our first giving up the ghost a little past the border, then we changed into one that has already crashed earlier in the day on the catapilla!! and sporting a fair size hole in the windscreen. 24 hour bus weary we checked into the hostel and failed to get much more rest after a snore-er hogged half the oxygen in south america all night.

Next day we crossed the road to another place and got a private room!Mendoza is a quality city, redesigned this century after an earthquake trashed it, it has all tree lined streets and great plazas and parks...not to mention all the great wine you can drink at local rates.

We exploited this like degenerate AA members by cycling around the vineyards of Maipu and popping in to plenty of the cellar doors. Along with the vino tinto we ate really well too...most memorably with a full on mobster, his four young female molls and the two blacked out limos waiting out front!!

But it wasn't all feeding our faces...we braved a full day of white water rafting, followed by abseiling down a cliff face and a cheeky little zip line over a river to finish off. What they didn't put in the brouchure was that the river was flowing from entireley glacial waters - you would die if you fell in, it was sooo very cold...and we came pretty close too! and that abseiling is liable to make you poo yourself in your very own pants.

In hindsight why would lowering yourself backwards off a sheer rocky edge after some shady spanish instruction be easy!! But Deb after an inintial tear or two did herself proud and we both got down safely, all good fun!

Still with some trace adrenaline in our system, we followed up the next day by parasailing off a mountain. The moments following the silence atop the mountain, and the instruction, "for gods sake run, run now as fast as you can.....don't stop" (off the mountain!!) were a touch nervy, but as soon as you take off, it all goes silent again, and you settle into your giant nappy and enjoy the amazing views of Mendoza and the mountains.

After a week strolling the shady avenues...we decided was it was time to head to the big city again.... We missed our luxury bed bus, because we couldn't get a taxi in time...total nightmare...so had to settle for a 60 percent refund and another 12 hours upright sleep!

In the morning we started the look for a place to live, for a short while, in Buenos Aires......