Hey gang, hope all is fine and lovely at home and it's not too cold in the UK. Conversely, it is very very hot where I am and last night we went out in shorts and without a jumper. Yes, no layers. It's like summer, so lush!

Haven't blogged in the longest amount of time, and my journal writing has also sort of stopped, but I will put this down to having too much fun; Argentina and Bolivia have both been totally awesome.

So after leaving the capital La Paz, we headed up to Potosi, one of the highest cities in the world. 4000m plus. Stayed in a lovely hostel and didn't really do too much whilst there; even walking up the street was hard at that altitude- a fantastic excuse to be lazy! Ordered a chinese and watched films all evening- lovely and lazy. The next day we went on a trip down a mine in the 'Rich Mountain' which was a big supplier of silver to the Spanish. It was a fantastic experience, something which I very much doubt I will do again. Dressed in beautiful green trousers and yellow coats (sexy), we headed down into a crumbling and dusty mine (health and safety doesn't exist out here). The minors have a horrid job, makes teaching seem like a walk in the park. Throughout the mine were statues of the devil, all with massive willies to encourage fertility. Very bizarre, but each one to their own! We were down there for many an hour- and that was definitely long enough- great experience however.

Trying to leave Potosi the next day proved tricky. There was a huge school march; loads of kids dressed as coca leaves, cigarettes and beer bottles protesting against drugs and alcohol. So many protests and parties everywhere in South America- it's great! They have a well good time! Anyway, Damo manovered Rosita out without killing any children and we headed off to Sucre.

Sucre was as it is named, sweet- a beautiful city, known for it's white buildings around the plaza. Such a lovely plaza with palm trees and the weather was nice- the city was lovely to wander around and chill out in. We had an awesome meal- 4 courses for 40 boliviano, the equivilant of 5 pounds- Bolivia is craaaazy cheap. We went out in the evening and ate lots of food and drank vino at the JoyRide cafe ( so hard to resist eating loads and drinking a fair amount (!!) when it's all so so cheap!). Had a chilled out day in Sucre to prepare for the salt flats...

The salt flats in Uyuni- AWESOME. SO so cool. Possibly the most amazing place I've ever been to. A prehistoric sea turned into a huge desert of salt and nothingness. We headed out in jeeps in the morning to a local community who exported salt for a living, then headed off into the massive salt desert. Visited a few natural salt creations, a salt hotel, then took some cool photos on the salt (the done thing if visiting the salt flats). We then headed to our salt hotel, which was cute! Salt beds, tables, walls, floors... close to everything was made out of salt. Tasty!

In the evening we headed out to watch the sunset with the flamingos (weird). It was beautiful! Had a minor slip in the mud (great), but all was well haha. Whilst their was a beautiful beautiful sunset, the boys had decided that it was not beautiful enough to hold their attention and had found a new game. Picking up sheets of salt from the flats and running through them head first. It was pretty funny. And totally cultured. Ha. After some good food and a good sleep, we headed out in the morning on a trek up to a view point on the nearby volcano. Really surreal place. Then we headed to an old train cemetary, (Dad, it had something to do with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, google away) and pretended to be 12 years old again, throwing stones, climbing on the abandoned trains, and playing on the swings and see-saw. Awesome fun. YEEHAAAA!!!

Our next stop over at Tupiza was short and sweet. One night. The boys played football. The girls were half time entertainment. Ha. Then off to Salta, ARGENTINA!!! WOOOOOO!!!

Crossed the boarded in record time, and then headed off to Loki party hostel in Salta. BBQ when we got there, with steak and Coronas. Lush. Salta is another beautiful city, lovely shops and a lovely plaza. Headed off to the Argentinian doctors with Nadja in the morning (as you do) to sort her out, then headed out for tasty lunch of pasta and had a wander around the city taking in our first Argentinian city. It was so nice after lots of drive days to spend a good few nights in Salta; granted we didn't do too much! But it was cool just to chill out and take a bit of chill out time in a lovely city.

Our next stop: Cafayate. Stopped for a vino tour at a beautiful winery on the way to our campsite. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!! HURRAY!!! Sun's out, guns out, with suncream on mind. Ha. We were taught how wine is made, and also how to taste wine; we all looked so distinguished! I will teach you all when I return- one big wine tasting night! Who knows what it tastes like though. To me it tastes like grapes. And wine. Once we had reached the campsite and set up our tents, we headed into the town and had 1/2 a kg of ice cream each. No wonder my waistline is slowly expanding... In the evening we also had a wonderful welcome to Argentina- STEAK. So much steak. And a cheese platter. Such a yum meal and an awesome welcome to Argentina.

The next day was another drive day to Catamarca, camping, so so hot. Once we had reached the campsite we chilled out and had an early night. Ready to be back on the road the next day to Cordoba. Unfortunately at Cordoba I didn't see any of the city, just the toilet bowl, a lot. Half the group were really ill, and we all spent the day feeling sorry for ourselves in bed. Yuck. Not nice being so ill away from home, especially when there is no Heinz tomato soup to make you feel better. But the next day we were sorted, good to go!

Off to Mendoza, which is where I am now. It's gorgeous! Such a lovely city, again. I know I keep saying every city is lovely, but they are. I love Argentina, so sad that I dont have longer here. But I'll come back I'm sure. Mendoza has consisted of wine tasting (more wine tasting), cycling, and white water rafting. And lots of good food, of course. Out for dinner now, so I will love you all and leave you all.

Living the dream so much, dont want to leave beautiful South America!!! But 4 days until the next adventure, and that's exciting. Santiago, to Auckland, to Sydney, to Cairns- 18hr flight...

My next blog will be from Australia then I guess!! OMG. Scary.

So much love and hugs. Keep messages from home coming, always so lovely to hear from you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx