The phrase "pulling a Melbourne" was coined by me ma when, the day after a ferocious birthday drinking session in Melbourne 2 years ago, Abs, me and mumsy couldn`t move from our respective beds. It was easily the worst hangover in human history. George Best and Oliver Reed would have been proud. I`m in that pit of despair right now, where you can`t focus on anything and need to eat twice your own bodyweight in crisps to have any chance of feeling normal...

Big cities are always pretty grubby - oversized populations sardined in between too many vehicles and multi-storeyed blocks of concrete. Santiago is no exception; busy, frenetic, bustling, but it stands out big time in my humble experience due to the ever-present layer of pollution which sits on top of everything. I´ll get to that later. It took 2 hours to flag down a minibus yesterday outside Portillo. Buses run frequently up to the resort, but due to the fact...