Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well in sunny England. Here´s the latest installment, the Argentina part of the adventure. After we left Paraty in Brazil we headed for Iguazu. This town has the biggest waterfalls in the world and you can view them from both sides of the border ie Brazil side and Argentinian side. We had booked some accommodation on the Argentinian side in another hostel and arrived early in the morning. We were a bit worried as we hadn´t seen pictures of the hostel we were just going on recommendations. We caught the local bus (called el practico - very apt) to the hostel and were pleasantly surprised to find an amazing hostel with massive swimming pool, bar, restaurant, games room ect. It was more like a hoilday resort and the sun was shining, YEEESSSS! We didn´t do too much first day just chilled out by the pool and waited for happy hour (actually ´happy hours´ as they last for 3-4) We also booked a trip for the following day - The Great Adventure. That night the hostel put on a big BBQ with as much food as you could eat, Andy actually started turning down sausages etc by the end of it! Also free drinks all round (hostels are great!) After the BBQ they had a tango show, showing us the traditional dances and getting people up to practice, luckily we didn´t get pulled up, we could barely stand up! Next day we were up early for the trip, 8am, and got a transfer to the Iguazu National Park. The first part of the trip was a jeep safari. We had to get ourselves to the pick up point following the lower trail in the park, but we got lost. Luckily we were with another girl from our hostel who was Spanish so after asking a few people we found where to go, with a few minutes to spare phew! We were told we may see cougars, vultures, toucans and pumas on the safari, however we didn´t actually see any animals. We thought we saw a toucan but by the time the jeep stopped it had flown away. Anyway, next part of the trip was the boat ride. We had been pre warned about this bit and had brought our Jack in the Packs with us. We boarded the boat and people were stripping down to their bikinis, we thought this was a bit extreme, but later on we wished we had too! We were given big waterproof bags to put our bags and cameras in then headed out onto the river. It started calmly then we entered the rapids. It was brilliant, white water rafting, tick. After 5-10 minutes we came out to an opening and saw some of the waterfalls for the first time, we actually heard them before we saw them. Never seen anything like it, take a look at the photos. We took lots of photos then they said to put everything in the waterproof bags. We then drove INTO the waterfalls, 3 times. We were completely soaked, but couldn´t stop laughing! A guy was videoing the whole thing so we bought the DVD when we got off, hope it´s not blank!! Andy, hadn´t actually zipped his jacket up so he was drenched through, i was clever and brought a change of clothes!!! Next we boarded a smaller boat over to an island. Here we had to trek to the top, it was quite steep, here we go again i thought!! At the top we had 3 viewpoints to look out from, seeing the waterfall from different angles. Each time we came to a view point we gasped it was amazing, there were rainbows all around too. We stayed looking for a while then headed down the hill back to the boat for the main island. From there we had to follow the middle and upper trails to other areas of the waterfalls. Each waterfall was different and equally as beautiful. One part was called Dos Hermanas, which means two sisters, there was also a guy painting pictures of the waterfalls with his fingers in 2 minutes, they were brilliant. We saved the best bit until last, the Devil´s Throat. We had to catch a train then climb the rest of the way. This was really special, it was so loud and powerful, you couldn´t see the bottom and again lots of rainbows. We took so many photos, over 100 in total! Then we had to rush back to the entance to get the transfer home. Once again cutting it fine, we couldn´t believe we had spent 8 hours in the park, it had flown by! That night we were exhausted so didn´t do too much. Met some nice people, some from Cheltenham, so Andy was right at home. Next day we sunbathed round the pool and again that evening there was another BBQ and this time a Brazilian Show. This was an interesting night!! While we were eating out came a scantily clad girl shaking her booty, Andy was dragged up first followed by a few other blokes. They stood in a circle and the girl went round one by one giving them a lapdance, she had quite a big bottom so that was a relief, the men enjoyed it though, it´s not often they get a half naked women girating on their laps for free! Next up was the girls, we had to do what the show girls had just done, thank goodness we could keep our clothes on. I was singled out to shake it in front of eveyone, very embarrassing! All in all a very funny night and met some more lovely people. We were advised not to go to the Brazilian side of the falls as they were no where near as good as the Argentinian side, plus you have to go through passport control to get out then back into the country. So we decided not to bother.

We booked our coach to Buenos Aires or B.A. as alot of the people were calling it (crazy fools!) after the 16 hour coach journey (i aint getting on no dam plane!) we arrived at the coach terminal. As not to move away from the theme of the trip so far we had not written down the address of the hostel so we were walking around like headless chickens looking for a map or internet cafe. This was until a person who worked at our hostel approached us (not knowing we were staying at his place) and asked if we needed accommodation. We explained we were staying at his hostel and he gave us directions - very lucky!! 10 mins on the underground and we were there. The hostel was in San Telmo (no sign of a fire) which is one of the oldest parts of the city and the hostel looked like it maywell be the oldest house in the city as well! After a very strained conversation with the receptionist - who told us how she hated her job and needed a change - we walked the 4 flights of stairs to our room. Security did not seem important at this hostel as the door frame was not adhered to the wall in some places and the AC unit could be removed by hand. This was the worst hostel we had stayed in (27 pounds a night as well!!). We took all our valuables with us and we left the room to explore the city. Arriving at the centre we walked down one of the main roads off of the central roads (the widest road in the world we were later told!!) to find a lovely old cafe that had been there for 150 years. On every corner of the street people were painting or sitting out drinking coffee in quaint cafes then you would turn a corner and enter a plaza (square) and there would be live tango shows! - very sophisticated and european so verity and i blended in really well!! Took a walk down by the rio plata (we were also told this was also the widest river in the world??) where there were some very nice restaurants, bars and cafes.

Arriving back at the hostel i saw Boca Juniors were playing the next day, but we had already decided to go to the weekly market. My argument fell on deaf ears - verity´s argument consisted of one word (inca trail). The market ranged from people selling trinkets and brick-a-brack to magicians and musicians walking the streets. It was also huge - it took us 4 hours to get around it!

We arrived back at the hostel and saw that there was a city tour the next day which we thought would be good way to see the whole city and decide which places to go to and not waste time on (also boca were playing again the day after and it was 2 for 1 on tickets!). We booked both!

The next day the city tour picked us up and we travelled around the different areas. Through Palermo (the posh place where we saw the statues of eva peron) to Boca one of the oldest parts and the one with the most culture. We were allowed to stop in boca to visit the stadium and the surrounding area (caminito street). This street was amazing every house was multi-coloured and the cafes had live tango shows outside. Verity and i took a few steps with the dancers after getting dressed up in the official clothes. There were also massive charicature statues of Eva Peron, Che Guevara and of course Maradonna (he is like a religion here).

That night we went to a live flamenco show in a restobar near our hostel. It was fantastic really good steak and red wine for less than 20 pounds. We did sit next to a argentinian person who kept talking to verity and i in spanish even after we told him we could not understand a word! - i originally thought he liked the blonde hair (which is very rare here) until he got kicked out for trying to kiss one of the band members (who was a bloke).

Next day was the boca juniors game - we were getting picked up at 3pm so we thought the kick off was around 545pm as the stadium was only 20 minutes away. We were taken to a local restobar near the stadium and told to stay there until the game which was starting at 745pm!!! I think the tour guides brother owned the bar - although we did get to meet diego maradonna (he has put on a bit of weight though!). The bus we were on was full with people we had met from Rio and Iguazu who had just arrived in Buenos Aires so that was good. The game ended 4-0 to Boca and El Quito (from ecuador) were appauling! The fans were amazing though not once did they stop chanting and singing - flags everywhere. The person behind us had his top off swinging it around his head shouting some rude comments (only to stop to take a drag of his spliff). We left the next day for Mendoza - another 16 hour coach journey!!! We´d chosen this place mainly for the wine tours, anyone surprised?? After staying in the disgusting hostel in Buenos Aires, we decided we needed a hotel for a few days, in fact the one we chose was the same price as the hostel!!! Anyway we checked in an headed out to check the place out. We stumbled across a casino, oh dear my gambling addiction was back. We headed in and actually made some money so that was good. We then went to see what tours were available but found all the wine tours would be done in Spanish. We therefore decided not to do a proper tour but rent bikes instead (AGAIN i know you´d have thought i´d have learnt after the 30 mile LA fiasco!) We booked the bike rental at Mr Hugo´s (or Dr´s Hugo as he´d later be known as) They give you a map of the wineries, a bike, some water then off you go. We booked the bikes for the following day, then carried on looking around Mendoza. We came accross ´Bar Street´ at around 7pm and basically made our way down the street top to bottom. We reached one bar near the bottom and asked for vodka but got something very different. We couldn´t even drink it, so you can imagine what it was like!! We decided to head home, it was 3.15am, whoops! We woke up the next day, well technically the same day and i couldn´t speak, still drunk and feeling very sick. Big mistake getting drunk the night before as we had to be at Mr Hugo´s for 10am. We decided it would be a silly idea to go on the trip that day so asked reception to call and postpone until the following day. Next day we were fully recovered and caught a bus to Maipu to collect our bikes, map etc. We had 6 places to vist, 4 wineries, an olive oil factory and a liquore shop. Each place gave you about 4 tasters, some were nearly a whole glass each!! (Can you see where this story is going!) We rode from place to place enjoying the scenery and weather. I´m not to good on a bike anyway and certainly not on main roads which was the route of the trip, and i fell off my bike in the road on the way to the 3rd place. I grazed my knee a bit, but no big deal so dusted myself off and carried onto the next winery. Some places took you round the wineries explaining the process etc, others just left bottles out for you to try. After we´d done all 6 we were very drunk and when we were on our way back i fell off my bike again but this time much worse. It was because the roads were narrow and a bus overtook me, and beeped it´s horn as it passed (nothing to do with the bottles of wine i had drunk!), i screamed and lost control. This time trousers were ripped open and my arm, hands and leg badly grazed. People stopped and asked if i needed an ambulance, which i considered as the graze looked pretty bad but i wasn´t sure about how our medical insurance worked so said don´t worry. We carried onto the bike place my leg gushing etc and gave the bike back. Mr Hugo spoke no english but we communicated what had happened and he sat me down so he could bandaged my leg. He also cracked open another bottle of wine, which was just what i needed right then, hilarious!! After nearly an hour of communicating in sign languague we headed back to our hotel. My leg swelled up quite badly and is still healing now but we didn´t have time to rest as we found out there was still a few days of the ski season left in Chile so rushed there.
We´ve added a few pictures of us skiing and will add more plus the blog soon. Missing you all, see you in December. V & A.xxxxxxxxxxxx