Argentina

Salta

Friday 20th April

So, our bus from Mendoza gets us into Salta Bus Terminal just after midday. First thing to do is make our way to the hostel 'Hostel in Salta', which seems quite near, as far as the map is concerned.

20 minutes later (walking!), we get to the place and are shown to our delightful 'attic' room (room 3), which has it's own bathroom. Breakfast is included here too. At the time of writing this, I can't remember how much the room cost, but it was one of the cheapest places we had stayed in Argentina, around GBP6 a night for both of us.

Walked into town and stpped at the large main Plaza (9 de Julio) and had some lunch on the square.

The plaza is very pretty and not troubled by too much traffic. The square is surrounded by orange trees and interesting Colonial buildings, which are combinations of museums, restaurants, cafes and small shops.

Nice lunch, and cheap too, and pleased/surprised to see Susanne, who we met a few weeks ago in Torres del Paine. She's now travelling with her friend Britta, since Mike went home from Calafate.

Pleased to catch up over lunch, and we plan to meet up again in the evening.

With full tums, we walk across to the Cable Car (Teleferico) to take us up the hill for vies of the city and further out.

The view are good, and the facilities at the top of the cable car are quite well done - restaurant, neat waterfall, various viewing sites. Views of the surrounding peaks slightly obscured by clouds, though it's still quite warm.

After an hour at the top, we walk back down to town, though initially getting lost and walking off towards the nearest peak. The proper path down takes you through a green wooded area, leading to the Güemes Monument. General Martín Miguel de Güemes, a hero of the wars of independence.

Trying to be organised, we went back via the bus station to get out tickets out of here, to San Pedro de Atacama (Chile), for Sunday. We would hang around here longer, but the weather forecast not so good for the next few days, and the next bus isn't until Tuesday.

Only two bus companies go from here to San Pedro (Pullman and Geminis) and both go on the same days, 3 days a week. The Gemini bus was full for Sunday, so went with Pullman - prices pretty much the same, we paid 140Pesos each, semi-cama.

Rushed back to the hostel to change, before heading back out to meet with Susanne for dinner. Had a lovely evening, though back quite early. Susanne and Britta get a 5am bus tomorrow!

Saturday 21st April

Both of us woke up feeling a little grotty, and we stayed in bed, missing breakfast.

Finally got into town around noon, and had some lunch and a litre of orange juice, for health reasons! Christine's Submarino (hot mile with a bar of choc melted into it) cheered her up.

As it's siesta time, and not much open, we walked around the interesting town bordering the main plaza.

Later, after 5pm when things spring to life again, we visited the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology. Several mummies are stored here, but only one (amazingly preserved) is on show to the public. There are some photos of 3 others recently found - 3 children, who look as though they have only recently died. The 'Queen of the Mountain' is on show - a girl offered (sacrificed) to the Inca divinities at the summit of Chuscha Mountain.

In the early 1920´s the tomb of the girl was looted and the mummy was bought by a collector from Buenos Aires. Thankfully her last owner saw fit to contact the Centre for the Studies in Applied Politics, and after 82 years the mummy was returned to the province of Salta in 2006.

The body looks quite disfigured, but you can steill see hair and teeth.

More than 200 mountains with archaelogical remains have been discovered in the Andes.

Also on show at the (quite small) museum are some objects that were found with the mummy - a necklace, shells, bowls, combs and other pottery.

After the museum, we visit the Cathedral, also on the main Plaza.

Lonely Planet right to call it gaudy! It's pink and white outside and the inside is quite ornate, with paintings and an elaborate golden altar.

Next, and also on the Plaza, we visited the Old City Hall (18th Century Cabildo). It houses religious and modern art - pottery, funeral urns, furniture, historic coins, as well as some old vehicles.

Unfortunately only 1 solitary sign in English, so not a huge amount of information gained, but interesting anyway, and worth the 2 Pesos entrance.

A little sorry that we're feeling grotty on our last night in Argentina, and not too excited about the early start tomorrow... (which also means we'll miss breakfast again!)

Sunday 22nd April

The hostel ordered a taxi for us to take us to the bus station, glad that it turned up on time at 6.30am - worst nightmare is to miss a bus!, especially in a place where the next one isn't for 2 more days.

Anyway, we're on time and get some cheap croissants at the bus station and use up the last of our Argentinian Pesos.

The bus leaves pretty much on time, and leg room is pretty good, on this semi-cama bus, which is mainly full of tourists.

The route takes us via San Salvador de Jujuy and we pass some amazing mountainous scenery, where we remember that we're feeling the effects of the altitude.

Food served onboard is basic, but welcome.

Took quite a while getting through the border control - we've been lucky so far, usually we done within 20 minutes, but here at least an hour.

Arrive in Chile for the last time...

to be continued on next thread...

Sunday 15th April

Mendoza, Argentina

We remember Derrick on his Birthday today.

So, another travelling day, and we're up early to squeeze in breakfast before heading to the busy metro for the few stops to the bus station. Hopefully, being quite early on a Sunday, the metro won't be too busy.

Yep, it's fine and we get to the bus station before 10am for our 10.30 departure.

A little odd when we check-in to where we bought our tickets - we're led to the booth next door and seemingly signed on to another bus/another company, though this bus is due to leave now, at 10am.

Turns out fine, maybe even a little more comfy on this semi-cama bus, which is going all the way to Buenos Aires, via Mendoza. Also, as we leave the terminal, there's not too many people onboard, so should make the border crossing a little quicker.

As well as the treat of snacks during the journey, we're also treated to some loud music courtesy of the driver. Curiously, it seems that whenever he looks down and touches the volume control (by his feet), the bus veers into the centre of the road. We should be safe, it was Friday 13th a couple of days ago.

A couple ofours into the journey and the terrain gets hilly and mountainous. Set against the clear blue sky, it's a great sight.

We're essentially climbing to the border and pass the nearby Parque Provincial Aconcagus, which has the western hemisphere's highest summit, at 6960m.

Took a little while to cross the border (we had been used to getting a coachload through in 20 minutes, but took an hour here, but it is a major road border between Chile and Argentina.

Impressive scenery as we continue the journey, though our driver seems in a hurry, and these roads are a little narrow, with steep drops to the side.

Went through Uspallata, a pretty valley (especially due to the autumn colours creeping into the trees. This place was where they filmed '7 ears in Tibet' (Brad Pitt).

Passed a few of the rafting sites along the way and as we neared Mendoza, though the water looks pretty flat, and not a lot of fun.

At the bus terminal, arriving an hour or so later than expected, we're met by a guy who would like us to stay at his hotel. He seems fine, the place looks good, and we get our own apartment for 70Pesos (just under GBP12) a night, including breakfast. Mendoza would have been a good place to meet up with other travellers, but the lure of our own bathroom, cable TV, small kitchenette is a good lure. It's also a minute from the centre of town - it's called Providencia Apartments, on San Juan, and neear to the tourist information 'hut' by Avenida San Martin.

It's evening, so we have a wander around town - Mendoza is quite different to what we expected, a lot more busy, though not suggesting it's a bad place. Good vibe in town on this Sunday evening - the main plaza (Plaza Independencia) busy with market stalls and open air performances. Quite a few police in town to keep an eye on revellers out to watch the Boca Juniors v River Plate game on tonight.

Had a bargain dinner at a local pizza/pasta restaurant -washed down with a local beer. Nice to be back in Argentina and enjoying the amazingly good prices, and even moreso that it's even warmer here than Santiago - in fact, nudging on the humid side.

Had a further wander around the Plaza - Christine wishing her sister, Julie, was here for them to enjoy spending aaaagggggeeeesss at the jewellery stands.

Managed to make a collect call back to the UK - you need to call the international operator on '000'. Convenient to have an English speaker at the other end to save Paul from his limited Espanol. Seems that Morgan Stanley have sorted my account from the recent misuse by some ponce in New Zealand.

Watched a little bit of telly, before a good nights sleep.

Monday 16th April

Easy morning - a little bit of internet, and caught up with Kim online, arranged to meet for late lunch with her and Rebecca.

Chris did a some research on wine tours while Paul caught up some more with the blog.

Had lunch at a great vegetarian restaurant, called Green Apple, a little bit out of the centre of town, but easy walking distance. It's an 'all you can eat' buffet, and the range and quality of food is really good. Was 15Pesos, excluding drinks - nice people run the place and we're looking forward to at least one more visit while we're here.

Realised again that Mendoza is much bigger than we thought.

Found out about a 'huge' mall near the bus station and decided to walk down there. Wasn't quite where it was pinpointed on the map for us, and it turned out to be a few kilometres up the highway, though literally a few minutes bu taxi. A nice place (if you like that sort of thing), though not a huge amount of shops. There's a multiscreen cinema there too. Didn't spend too long here before the taxi back to town.

Met back up with Kim in the evening (her truck leaves town in the morning), and the three of us grab some food and beer at a local restaurant in the pedestrian area. Great steak sandwich!

Were joined by a couple of dogs, though it was unusual to see one of them (with a limp) being aggressive to the other. Ended up in a bit of a fight (started by the disabled one), that was broken up by a couple of local guys. The disabled one hobbled off, limping, and yelping.

Tuesday 17th April

Making the most of our nice apartment and took it lazy again in the morning. Enjoying having breakfast brought up to our room!

Paul doesn't think it's worth going on one of the expensive all-day wine tours, that include lunch. It's between USD105 and USD125 each. Neither of us is that 'into' wine, and we're not sure how good the inclusive lunch will be, especially for veggie Chris.

Instead, we take our chances on a half day tour, that will visit two wineries, including one that is listed inthe top-20 in a magazine we picked up at reception. This tour costs 40Pesos each, less 5% discount for being good HI members.

Had a semi-picnic lunch in the park-like Plaza before getting to the nearby HI Hostel to wait for our transport. Sod's law at work here - arrived a few minutes before the suggested pickup time of 2.30, to be collected at 3. Also a little cross to find we have a coachload of 24 people, when we were told that the max is 14. Grrrr.

The first winery we visit, about 40 minutes drive from town, is 'Weinert'. The tour wasokay, though the commentary in a mix of Spanish and English - a little rushed. Nice to see a traditional cellar being used to store the wine in huge oak casks. ( metres deep, and the walls a metre thick.

Got to taste a white, a red and a dessert wine. Chris preferred the latter - Paul still prefers a cool white.

Next winery stop - French-owned 'Fabre Montmayou', rated 17th out of 20 in Wine Republic magazine.

First we saw the vines, which are covered by an expensive neting to prevent damage by seemingly frequest hail storms, which is despite the area receiving little rainfall through the year.

Different to the previous winery, the wine here is fermented in huge, modern, stainless steel tanks and then stored in smaller wooden barrels. These barrels are only used 4 times, whilst the huge barrels at the previous winery are used for over 100 years, with regular, thorough, cleanouts.

Their white wine is bottled within several months of harvest, and their longest-barrelled wine (and the most expensive) is stored for 16 months and then bottle-stored for a further 12 months.

We learnt a few things today, including that the barrel (from California) gives the wine some of its flavour, including chocolate, pepper and leather (??!!??) - the tannins coming from the wood, and the higher oercentage of tannins, the longer the wine will keep. This therefore explains why 'young' wines do not keep (low tannin content, as they're not stored in barrels).

Chris was happy to also learn that the indentation the the bottom of the wine bottle indicates the quality of the wie, though surely this is just a gimmick. We're also told that the winery use different labels for the same wine, but for different world markets. Again. more marketing gimmick'ry.

Of course, tasted a few more wine here, including our first ever (we think) Malbec. Not sure if we could really taste the difference between this and other red wines. The Malbec vine is Argentinian, though initially it came from France but didn't suit the soil there as well as it did here. That said, we still weren't that fussed!

This tour was very informative and it was better that the English speakers in the group had their own guide.

Had hoped that, time permitting, we'd also be stopping at a chocolate factory. Instead, we were taken to a church which contained a 200 year old statue of the Virgin Mary, broughtover from Spain in 1666. Of course, Paul is very glad we came here rather than the chocolate factory.

We get dropped off back in town around 7ish and buzz about for a while before heading back to the apartment, and watch The Fantastic Four.

Wednesday 18th April

Oops, took it even easier this morning - caught up with some internet stuff, than a coffee at McDonalds.

Considered another half day winery tour, but the vineyards they are going to today aren't listed in our Top-20 magazine, so we don't bother and head off to another part of town to buy our bus tickets to Salta.

It's an overnight bus ride, so we've gone for 'cama', which gives us a bed of sorts, though not quite as good as the Premier Class, which gives a proper flat bed. We're travelling with Andesmar, who aren't the cheapest, but the service has been recommended several times.

Next, we head up to San Martin Parque, really enjoy the walk (20 minutes or less) through a fancy part of town, nice houses. The park is huge and we only walk around to the lake, where we see folk rowing.

We're really enjoying Mendoza more and more, it's a really smart place - wide, tree-lined streets, smart bars and restaurants, lots of cafes. Interesting to see people in suits on their mobiles, drinking coffee, and getting their shoes shined. All at the same time.

Anyway, back at the park, we sat on the short bank by the water and enjoyed the afternoon sun. Chris caught up on some diary, Paul had a snooze.

Late afternoon and we return to town via the Plaza. Nice Christine did some clothes washing at the apartment, then we stepped out for some food and to make another collect call to the credit card company. Not sure if I mentioned before, but to make a collect call from Argentina, dial the International Operator with '000' and select from the brief menus - not sure what the options are, but you'll get through to an English speaking operator, who will help with your Cordo Revertido.

Thursday 19th April

Our last day in Mendoza today, and we check out at 10am. Did consider paying 35 Pesos to keep the room until 6pm, but didn't bother in the end. Our bus to Salta is at 8.30pm.

Unfortunately we probably wasted the day today - Paul couldn't be bothered to get the local bus to Maipu and visit some vineyards on our own. On reflection, he's sorry we wasted the day and should have got his ass moving. Christine kicks herself for not going it alone.

Not the best weather today, but we head back to the Park again and enjoy some fresh air by the lake, though it got a little chilly so we walked around the lake watching some afternoon runners.

Thinking ahead, we had picked up some picnic food on the way. Whilst we were joined by a couple of dogs, they didn't seem interested in helping Paul eat his ham sandwiches. Felt very sorry for one little one who had an injury just above his eye, and was also suffering from the suds (a cold). Poor little thing had a crusty eyes and a dry crusty nose - he was sniffing away, but still managing to wag his tail. Hopefully we haven't caught anything from him...

Not a lot else happened today, and we returned to town to pick up our bags and head to the nearby bus station. The bus leaves on time, and we're motoring just after 8.30pm. This is our first ride on a double decker coach, and we're upstairs.

A pretty comfortable ride through the night, and the food we had for dinner was fine, including the wine! Slept okay, though not as good as the ride from Pucon to Mendoza - it seemed a little more noisy this time.

16 hours later, we arrive safely in Salta...but gutted that the route the bus took wasn't the '68', from Cafayate - the scenery would have been better.

to be continued on next thread...

Thursday 22nd March

El Calafate

Another early start for a travelling day - back across the border from Chile to Argentina, and the small tourist town of El Calafate. Mike along for the ride - he's flying out of Calafate to Buenos Aires this evening.

The journey not too bad, though another bus with small legroom and seats that recline too far.

Crossed the border into Argentina with no fuss, and arrived in El Calafate by lunchtime. We're booked into the I Keu Ken hostel, which was recommended to us. We're already pleased that we were able to change from a dorm bed to a double room (quite pricey at Pesos120 (about GBP20 a night)).

Very friendly welcome at the hostel, which is a few minutes walk away from town, up a dusty road, though that shouldn't put you off. It's really nice, and we feel very welcome after 2 minutes of being here - the room is nice too, looking back over the town and across the water of Lago Argentino.

We head into town for some food, stopping for slightly expensive, but nice, sandwiches at El bar, before going on to the chocolate factory.

Bumped into Melody and Marcus on the way - they cut their Torres del Paine trek short cos of the weather.

Nice chocolate freebies at the factory, and we get to see some chocolates being made. We then have some more free chocolate.

Bit of shopping in town with Mike, who is looking for a Mate (equivalent of our tea) cup/straw, also some Mate itself. Had a farewell drink with Mike at the hostel before his taxi came for the airport run. Really pleased we met Mike and Susanne - hopefully we'll see them later this year, in either Norway, Germany or London. or all three.

Chris got some information for the various glacier trips, before we went to the big nearby supermarket for some dinner bits.

Friday 23rd March

We were booked onto a trip for this morning, taking a boat out to get close to some of the glaciers in the nearby national park.

Whilst we'd remembered to change the time on the watch as we crossed back into Argentina, we (Paul) forgot to change the time on the phone, which is being used as a backup until the watch battery finally dies.

Of course, the watch finally gave up during the night, and our alarm call was a knock on the door, 5 minutes before our bus was picking us up! Very lucky that we didn't have a more important date to get up for, and we're also very grateful to the guys at the hostel who gave us a call - we wouldn't expect this to happen elsewhere.

So, into the National Park Los Glaciares (entry, 30 Pesos) and on the boat onto Lago Argentino - the largest in Argentina. Annoyingly, we're the last on the boat (there's over 100 people on board) and miss out on window seats. Too many people on board - irritating.

Our first stop was at the magnificent Glacier Speggazzini - impressive, fantastic blue colour. It's one of the highest glaciers - between 80-135 metres high, and 15+ miles long and a mile wide. It's also unique as it continues to show no signs of receeding. The boat feels tiny as we get close to the huge walls of ice.

Moving on, we pass Glacier Seco, a hanging glacier, and then onto Glacier Upsala.

Again, we pass through the water with huge icebergs floating by - all a brilliant blue.

Glacier Upsala is the largest in the National park, and the longest in South America - 37 miles long, with a height of 60-80 metres and 5-7 kms wide. We're told that it is receeding at a fast rate - 5kms in just 20 years. Really stunning - HUGE!

The boat then droppped us off at Bahia Onelli and we took a short trail through the forest to Onelli Lake, from where a further 3 glaciers can be seen - Onelli, Bolado and Agassiz.

The lake was littered with small, grey, icebergs.

After lunch by the lake, we head back to the boat for the return to the port.

Really enjoyed the trip, though the number of passengers was a problem for us - bit of a squeeze.

Success later that afternoon - manage to change the watch battery, though not sure if I've sealed it back up properly, so will keep it out of the water in the meantime.

Grabbed more food from the supermarket for dinner (it's quite pricey to eat out in town), and chatted with some other travellers before bed.

Saturday 24th March

Another trip set for today, more glaciers.

Managed to get ourselves up on time, but the transfer bus arrived early, so a little rush to get out of the door. Paul leaves without brushing his teeth ;(

Our trip takes us back into the National park, but another area. Also, another 30 Pesos each for entry.

This time we're visiting Glacier Perito Moreno, and our first view is from the wooden viewing platforms opposite the glacier face. Wow - we're so close, and as well as a great view, we can now also hear lots of cracking and crashing as the glacier inches it's way forward. Literally, it is constantly moving - 2 metres per day.

Felt very privileged to see this sight, especially to catch some parts of the front of the glacier plunge into the lake in front of it. The scale is HUGE!

Occasionally, the front of the glacier meets with the peninsula, forming an ice dam that obstructs the flow of the water around it. the force of the water eventually produces a tunnel, which ultimately collapses, in spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, we only get to see photographic evidence of the last rupture.

After the view from the front, we drive down to a small port where we catch a boat to the other side and where we'll start our trek on the glacier. At the port we meet up with Tony, who is travelling on the Dragoman truck, and it's very likely we saw him back in Rio a few weeks ago.

Our guide for the ice trek gives us some information about the glacier, before we put on a pait of crampons that will enable safe walking up and over the glacier.

It's quite slow going with the crampons - your feet are kept flat, so walking seems a little odd, but safe with the crampons really digging into the ice. Also, our group is a fair size, 20 or so, and we need to keep quite close together as we ascend the ice.

Lots of beautiful blue cravasses that we walk over, though quite safe - maybe too safe, we thought this might be a bit more of an adventure. Nevertheless, still really cool to be walking across the ice, and the view changes from blue sky and sun, to quite dark grey storm clouds - both giving great contrast when looking ahead.

Whilst the storm clouds were around us, it only spits a little rain and we're treated to a nice 'Famous Grouse' on the rocks ('rocks' courtesy of the glacier) before we make our way back off the glacier. Had less than 2 hours on the ice, but it was a great trip.

Back on the boat, then the coach trip back to town, where we desperately needed some cash to settle our bill before we leave town in the morning...

Sunday 25th March

El Chalten

ZZZzzzz - another early one, 6.30am and we're up to get ready for the bus trip to El Chalten - about 5 hours on the coach. Basic coach, no toilet, but the best legroom yet in South America.

Certainly reminded that we're in Patagonia - the landscape as we drive through is very barren, though huge mountain ranges appear in the distance every now and then.

Just before we arrive in the small town of El Chalten, we stop at the National park office for a short presentation of the various activities/trails in th area.

Checked in at the Albergue Patagonia, with Duron from South Africa, who we met up with in El Calafate, but also at the last Refugio in Torres del Paine. Went out for some lunch (not a lot of choice in El Chalten - very quiet place) and then set out for a couple of short walks from town.

The first took us towards the National Park office, where we stopped to watch a short documentary film of the first climb of Mount Fitzroy, from 1968. The walk was then just behind and up the hill, giving a nice view of the whole town, and some occasianal glimpses of the snow covered peaks in the distance.

Not a great view of Mont Fitzroy from here, a little too cloudy.

Chris didn't join Duron and I for the second walk - choosing to do some research instead for tomorrow and for the Carreterra Austral - she's still struggling to shake a cough and cold from our wet trek in Torres del Paine.

Our short walk takes just a couple of hours and to a pleasant waterfall.

Cook some pasta for dinner, then chat with the folks in the hostel, including a couple who are sharing our room who live less than a mile from us at home!

The wind gets up a little this evening and the creaking carries on through the hostel, through the night. Despite the distraction, we all sleep well, ahead of a lengthy walk tomorrow...

Monday 26th March

So, big walk today and we set off at 10am for the Mount Fitz Roy walk, 'Laguna de Los Tres'.

Chris not feeling on top form but we make good progress, and the beautiful clear sky keeps the spirits up and we look forward to great views.

The first part of the walk is a little uphill, but it's not too bad and we soon get to the first lookout for the Fitz Roy mountain - wow, what a view, it's incredible and we feel so lucky to have the conditions just right - really couldn't be better. Just to the right of the peak, there's also a small (well, it's probably quite big, but compared to the peak it looks small) hanging glacier.

Another nice touch is that today we can see the first signs of Autumn coming and there's a red hint to lots of the greenery around us.

Walking on towards the main viewpoint, another couple of hours away (it's a 4 hour one-way walk to our goal), the trail gets steep and quite tricky, but we all eventually get there for pant-wetting-ly good views of Fitz Roy, and the Laguna de Los Tres. The sun is shining bright, keeping the chill away, just.

Whilst the mount is only 3805 metres, it's an awesome sight and we also spot a glider circling high above.

We made good time on the way up, so decide on an extended route back to El Chalten, which gives more of a loop, than a simple return walk.

This route takes a triangular loop, past two lakes and to a trail giving a great view of the other big mountain here, Cerro Torre. Unfortunately the great weather changed for the last couple of hours,and some low cloud came in, preventing good views of the peak.

Effectively we've completed two walks today, though we could have walked further up the valley to Cerro Torre, but 9 hours was quite enough, thanks.

Finished a great day with a meal a the restaurant next to the hostel - quite fancy, though it seems slightly out of place - too civilised. Really enjoyed the food - first class. Our first beer in a couple of weeks too.

Back in the hostel we chatted with two Aussie girls and an Argentine girl, and learnt some (more) Spanish.

Yep, an amazing day - hard work, but very rewarding.

Tuesday 27th March

Los Antiguos

Were booked on the 9.00 bus to Los Antiguos and said goodbye to chum Doron, who is staying on here a couple more days.

Completely freaked out when we realised we had not paid our second night's accomodation in El Chalten.... eek!

The bus journey was long, didn't arrive until after 10pm, though pleased that the room (Hostel Padilla) was nice - it even had a bath.

The journey was pretty uneventful - mile after mile of gravel road, but comfortable and enjoyed the scenery.

By the way, it's also not a cheap trip - 180 Pesos each - 30 Quid! - again, not even a toilet, though top marks for the legroom.

Stopped at an estancia on the way, saw a family of Guanaco's in the garden attached to the food stop.

Back in the room, we had to share with a couple of ******* (nationality witheld) girls - complete *****!. After we had all spent the day on a bus, we just wanted to get to bed - they were happy to chat with their friends and come back to the room at 12.30 - switch the light on, chat at normal volume, then one of them decides to have a shower, and generally piss around and disturb us. Yep, always difficult when sharing a room, but these twats were the limit.

continues on next thread...

Ushuaia

Wednesday 7th March

Paul still, er, loose, but not feeling too bad.

Didn't get going until quite late in the morning, and had a walk around the small town - strangely has a Christmas feel about it, though there's no decorations. Perhaps Paul is now seeing things...

Yes, it is a little cold, but we're wrapped up, and the sun is shining, here in the most southern city in the world (though we think that Puerto Williams in Chile takes that honour, but is smaller).

Got our hopes up with making enquiries about a 10 day Antarctica trip. We had hoped to arrive here and get onto a boat at the least minute and save a few quid. All was looking good, we filled out the forms, and the boat was due to leave on Friday. For the record, the price they were offering (USD3000 each) is something of a steal - we were put in touch with a local/reputable agent for Antarctica trips, Alicia Petiet.

Whilst we were 'nearly' booked on, we still had to wait for our forms to get faxed through to Chile, and we'd be contacted later. Unfortunately in the meantime, we hear that the trip has been cancelled for mechanical reasons. Bugger! This is confirmed the next day.

However... - read on, for our second hope.

Chris was depressed in the meantime - it really is a golden opportunity to go somewhere so remote - will we ever be down this way again???

Didn't really do much else today, Paul was flagging, and Chris was down in the dumps...

Thursday 8th March

Paul wakes up with no change to his sewage system, so he stays in bed for the rest of the morning, Chris goes off to make further enquiries about Antarctica trips.

Also, we're only booked at this hostel one more night, so dreading having to move on. (They're full)

Well, we've got an excursion for later in the day, a boat trip up the Beagle Channel, which will take in some waterside Estancias (ranches), as well as a Penguin colony, and a Seal colony. We booked with Canoero Catamarones, and paid Pesos150 each - the boat etc, was fine, though there's always more folk onboard than you'd like, but not too much of a crush.

The weather was kind to us, though the wind as we ploughed through the water was rather breathtaking. The boat trip was about 5 hours in total, taking us a far up as the Haberton Estancia (built by the Anglican missionary Thomas Bridges in 1886), about 90kms away. On the way we passed the wreck of the Sarmiento, from 1912.

Arriving at the highlight, Martillo Island, home to the Magellanic and Gentoo Penguins (the former are bigger than the latter). Whilst the bulk had already emigrated north, there was still plenty to see and enjoy. Not quite sure what they make of the boat pulling right up to the beach, though I don't think we hit any...

Fantastic being so close, though lots of folk on the boat wanting to get to the front to see. It's good to be 6' 1" sometimes.

Some of the penguins are changing the feathery coats and we understand that they don't go out into the sea at this time.

As well as the penguins, there's flying birds too, including Black and White Albatross and Southern Skuas. The latter sit amongst the penguins, all happy-like.

On the return journey we stop off at the South American Seal colony, and also a small rocky island inhabited by Cormorants.

The water is nice and flat on the way back, and the setting sun reflects off it beautifully, with the Andes in the background.

Paul's stomach remains explosive.

Friday 9th March

OOps, Chris drops her engagement ring and it smashes into 3 pieces. Not sure if that's a sign, though thankfully she has a spare one to wear in the meantime.

Bumped into the Irish couple who first mentioned the 'cheap' Antarctic trip - they tell of another that is going on Sunday, and there's some last minute berths going.....

In town we go into one of the chocolate cafes, Chris enjoys a Submarino - a mug of hot milk, in which you drop in a bar of chocolate.

We then face the prospect of lugging our gear down the road to the Yakush Hostel. We fork out for the two of us the take over a 4 bed dorm whilst Paul is still suffering. We've booked in for 3 nights, but the bookings they already have means we have to change rooms each day. Not ideal, but the place is nice (we do prefer Antarctica), and the folks are friendly and helpful.

We visit Alicia again to find out the deal with the other boat trip - yes, she thinks there is availablility, but we would be separated and in same-sex dorms. Not what we want to do - it's a lot of money, and we'd not want to be split up and/or run the risk of sharing a room with some undesirable. Not quite the spirit, but really not what we want to do, and maybe not the best idea if Paul's stomach doesn't improve. Chris is depressed again.

Well, we need to make the most of the area, and take a short hike - the Cerro del Media trail, 4.6kms (mostly up!). Walked through the residential area behind town - some of the houses are like flimsy shacks - don't know how these people keep warm!

The walk is a little more difficult that we expected, but it was nice to get past the treeline and enjoy the view of Ushuaia below, and stretching out over the Beagle Channel etc. Sadly, no wildlife to see, except a few small birds. Had a brief snowball fight at the top.

Got back after about 3 hours, which isn't bad when the literature suggests 3 hours each way. Felt shattered and Paul got grumpy as we trailed up the main street a couple of times trying to decide on which food we should have. The diary I'm copying from reads that Paul was 'out of order' being grumpy. Whatever....

Had a mediocre meal at the Irish bar in town, then fairly early to bed.

Saturday 10th March

Both slept well, though Paul's condition remains the same, despite having starved for 20+ hours over the last 2 days.

Bit of a hassle in the morning whilst we wait in the hostel between checking out of our current room and checking into the new one, though please to be back into a double room.

Caught up on a little bit of the blog, whilst Chris tracked down the bus tickets out of here and visited the Museo del Fin del Mundo (Museum at the end of the World). Really interesting, and plenty info in English.

Ushuaia sits within a region called Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fires) - so called because of the campfires spotted by passing ships. The indigenous Yamanas people kept permanently lit fires in sealion skulls.

In the 1500's, the Europeans weren't interested in the land and so sailed through, and didn't settle until the 1800's.

The first mission in Ushuaia was opened in 1869, and Thomas Bridges (one of the first missionaries) even compiled a 32,000 word dictionary, which is now of great significance as the language of the Yamanas people has died out.

The Yamanas were essentially 'canoe indians', living off raw sea food and sea lions. Before the missionaries came, they essentially wore no clothing. Studies from the mid 20th century show that the Yamanas ' body warmth was 2 grades higher than that of most humans - they also had more body fat, probably due to their diet. Also, they would smother themselves in seal fat to keep warm.

Sadly, and God only knows why, 4 Yamanas (2 adults, a boy and a girl) were taken to London in 1830. Their names - Boat Memory, Fuegia Basket, Jemmy Button and York Minster. Boat Memory died in London, though the 3 others returned.

Ushuaia was officially founded in 1884.

Not a lot else done today - grabbed some food from the supermarket etc etc.

Sunday 11th March

Chris took herself off to the Museo Maritime, and joined the English language tour - very interesting, though quite pricey to go into the museum, 30 Pesos/GBP5.

Up to 600 inmates were held in the building, in 380 small cells. It reminds Chris of Alcatraz.

Wing 1 has been kept mostly original - very cold and gloomy. A huge amount of information is available in English.

The jail was built between 1902 and 1920, all the construction work carried out by the convicts, though the it was closed in 1947 for humanitarian reasons.

One of the best known inmates was Santos Godino, aka 'Big Eared Man'. Criminologists performed surgery on his ears whilst in prison - they believed his violent behaviour was due to his big ears!

Chris back to the hostel in time to move rooms for the last time - Paul stayed in bed in the morning.

Had hoped for a trip into the National Park in the afternoon, though Paul not up for it. Instead, we walk along the pretty shoreline, and enjoy the amazing reflections around us.

Christine had her 'best ever' hot chocolate in town, but was then depressed to see the Antarctica boat leave the harbour.

Bought some sweets and crisps from the supermarket. Early night...

Monday 12th March

Travelling day today, and we're off on an 11 hour bus ride to Punta Arenas. Paul is pleased that things 'down there' have pulled themselves together.

Bit of a misunderstanding on the bus with the seats, and we miss a chance for Paul to have two seats to himself. It's all Chris's fault, and the legroom is pretty poor. Paul forgives Chris, but Chris doesn't forgive Paul for being nasty to her.

The scenery as we drive along is pretty and mountainous, with lots of reflections in the still lakes below, though this soon changes to flat and barren lands. Thank goodness for the wonder of the Ipod Video, and the makers of Family Guy.

Whilst the landscpae not that interesting, we spot a few Rhea (flightless ostrich-thing) and Guanaco, a member of the camel family and related to the Alpaca and Llama.

Getting across the border to Chile is really quick, even though we're a coachload, and the hours drift by as we watch the vast open spaces around us.

We have a short ferry crossing with the coach (crossing the Strait of Magellan) - Paul stayed on the coach but Chris had a look overboard and was rewarded with some Black and White Dolphins swimming nearby, also a Magellanic Penguin popped its head up out of the water.

Arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile around 7pm-ish...

continued on next thread...

Buenos Aires

Monday 26th February

Aaah, pleased to be waking up in Buenos Aires again, we REALLY like it here. We feel especially comfortable after leaving Rio, happily unscathed.

Yep, despite the storm, we have slept well, and appreciate the peace and quiet at the Garden House - glad we're staying here

Enquired about flights out of BA, down to Ushuaia - just need to decide when...

So, arrived at the Obelisk to meet David at noon - still no show, could be a number of things. Give it twenty minutes, then head off to an internet shop to get the photos finally onto DVD. Not much luck, the memory card reader (or Lector de Memoria, as we find out) seems broken. More AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Whilst waiting for this, we see that we've had an email from David, and eventually track him down and meet up at near the Museo de Jamon (Ham Museum(!)), which is actually a reastaurant. Not sure what they do there...

At last, we meet up, and it's good to see a friendly face and catch up with this'n'that. Not sure that David should be wearing shorts with those lard-white legs. Or even wear shorts, full stop.

After some lunch and banter (I remain the funny one (Paul)), we split up for a bit, and we try and find a new card reader. Success, eventually.

Late afternoon and we meet up again at the Obelisk, and agree to accompany David over to Palermo (nice part of town), where he's signing up for an apartment rental. Spent AGES whilst the paperwork was being done, then lent him as much as we could withdraw for his deposit. There was a promise of a ice cream for our patience, but this didn't show....today.

Joined David and the letting agent to the apartment - nice place, a studio, on the top floor of a 3 storey block. Not a bad way to shell out for accomodation in BA if you're staying for a week or more. The guys at BA Apartments seem a good bunch, and of course nice and easy with speaking English.

Palermo is a nice area to socialise, and there's a bunch of bars and restaurants nearby, including Dashi, (a sushi place) where we head for dinner.

Paul and Chris nearly wet themselves when David walks into the plate-glass front door as we exit the building, leaving a very clear forehead-sweat mark at the 6-foot level. This remains funny (to us) for most of the rest of the evening. Sorry DB.

The restaurant is a little fancy, so we feel underdressed, but no problem, and we sort a table in no time.

This was Chris and I's first sushi experience, and, too be honest, it could have been worse, though neither of us is into raw fish. Along with the 'traditional' sushi rolls, we had a couple of extra dishes to share - tofu, fried veggies, rice, japanese steak - all of the dish names are long forgotten. All washed down with a tasty bottle of Pinot Noir.

Excellent meal, and worked out about GBP40 for 3, with wine.

Splashed out on a GBP2 taxi to the other side of town.

Tuesday 27th February

Before we head out, Manuel at Garden House sorts out our tickets to the Boca Juniors/San Lorenzo game next Sunday afternoon. It's a tour, rather than just the tickets, so return transport and a snack included. Not sure if it covers insurance for getting done-over whilst at the match...

Next job, we finally manage to get our photos onto DVD, though it still took a couple of hours. Wish we had been able to travel easily and safely with a laptop so we could do our own. Lots of wi-fi spots on our travels over the last few months.

Learn today that a friend at home who has been suffering cancer is very poorly. Our thoughts with Louis and Chris.

After our internet session, and having caught up with David, we head into Cafe Tortoni, one of the most famous cafe's in Buenos Aires, for a drink and nibble. It's not long before David is reminded about last night's incident with the front door.

After, we jump in a taxi (SOoooo cheap here!) and head over to Recoleta Cemetary (we've been there before) and take a walk around, including a stop to see Eva Peron's tomb.

Same as our last time at the cemetary, we follow with a trip to the Freddo icecream shop nearby. Pleased to have a quick chat with Mr Cole-Johnson in Vegas, though sorry that Clarky didn't answer his phone. Neither of them are probably reading this, so, whatever!

Apres icecream we split up again, Chris and I head back to San Telmo to get changed before returning to Palermo, for wine at DB's apartment, then Caiprinha's at a nearby bar, where it's currently 2 for 1. Chris not really enjoying her drink, so Paul gets 3.5 for 1. Paul leaves bar with hot cheeks.

David and Chris find it HILARIOUS when Paul gets a small tree branch attached to his earring. Funny, yes, but not as funny as the door incident.

For din-dins, we track down steak-favourite restaurant Rio Alba, on the south side of Palermo. Food great, though Chris stuck with an 'okay' omelete. In fact, it's described in the diary as 'mediocre'.

Taxi home, and, again, to bed with a full stomach.

More stormy-ness overnight, but we sleep well anyway.

Wednesday 28th February

Realising that he's thoroughly out of shape, David has employed a personal trainer whilst in BA. He's also on the lookout for a cheap manicure. Anyway, he has no session (with the 'chunky Central-American') today, so we meet at 11am and make our way on the subway to Retiro station, where we'll get an overland train for the hour-or-so ride out to Tigre.

Ridiculous, it costs about 30p each return for the ride, and the train is fine. That is, until we stop for about 20 minutes before we've reached the third station on the line. We also realise that this second station is just a stonesthrow from where David stays. Of course, had we planned to meet up on the train, there's little chance it would have worked out.

Arrive in Tigre just after lunch and stop for a naughty McDonalds before we catch a boat out into the network of waterways - Tigre is situated on a large delta.

David not impressed with his 'chicken in a bun' - I didn't realise he was pointing at the next picture when he said 'one of those'.

Onto our water-taxi and we chug through the delta area (Delta del Parana) for about 45 minutes, then we take our first stop, which looked like it was someone's back garden. The narrow path along the waters edge took us along to one of the many bars/restaurants that are dotted around the area.

Unfortunately we don't have much time to sit down, before we need to be back on the pier for the next boat that will take us further into the delta.

On the pier we bump into an American guy, the sort of character that ends up in blogs like this. Cue, Avi Baum. More of him later.

Tigre, and it's waterways, are very odd - beautiful, but odd. Lots of houses (lots on stilts) sit by the water, though not many people around. We think a lot of these houses are holiday homes/weekend retreats. The water level seems quite high, as our wake laps into people gardens.

The mozzies here seem to be on steroids, they're huge - and we jump off the boat at the main tourist spot, taking a walk around the streets of water, until we hit a deadend. Notice as we walk back that the water level is a bit higher, and our path quite waterlogged.

Back at the pier, we stop for a beer whilst we wait for our boat, bumping into Avi Baum, a Jewish New Yorker, who seems to be one of those folks who has travelled for years and years without returing home. He also has occasional vocal outbursts, a little like a controlled Tourette's! It's at this point in our short relationship that he tells us that he was vegan for most of his life until he found that he had a low sperm count/'low ejaculatory volume' (his exact words), and was now a reborn carnivore.

We also learn that he is a Doctor, though has yet to actually practice (he's well into his 40's we reckon). He also doesn't elaborate, on further questioning, as to what area of medicine or whatever he is in.

Whilst we feel quite safe, none of us would be surprised to find a severed head in his bag, or at least some relics of his time in 'Nam, when he would have been about 10.

Back on dry land, we say farewell to Avi, and make our way to the train station for the return to Buenos Aires.

Uneventful retrun trip, and David jumps off at his stop, and us back to Retiro, then the subway to San Juan.

To keep things easy, we meet up again at the Obelisk, and make our way for dinner at Italian restaurant 'Broccolini'. We arrive to see that it is Gnocchi (Noquis) Night - there's some strange tradition about having Gnocchi on the last night of the month.

The food is good, especially the bread basket, though Chris was hoping for a spicier sauce. Also, the Tiramisu was disappointing. On a positive note, the wine was great.

Walked on to Confiteria Ideal, a Cafe during the day, then a Tango Club (Milonga) in the evening. Not quite a nightclub, but a place for those interested in Tango to meet, drink, dance, fall over. We don't see any of the latter, and all is very civilised and entertaining.

Had a great time watching the dancers, of different abilities, though all 'well-into' what they were doing.

The etiquette to dancing at a Milonga is for a man to nod to the woman, who will then discreetly accept, or not and join him on the dancefloor. Any conversation seems to be parkeduntil the dance is over. Often, the dancers will close their eyes whilst dancing (possibly sheer concentration, as it's a difficult dance, to do well).

Unfortunately David only stayed a short while - thankfully we stayed on and were treated to a dance by 2 professional couples who are in town for the Tango Festival.

Both were excellent, though performed different types of Tango's. the first couple performed in a traditional dress,using handkerchiefs, whereas the second couple danced what we thought to be 'true' Tango. Wow, seemingly efortless, though absolutely energetic.

After this part of the show, the 'amateurs' then performed a different style of dance, in a row facing each other, with lots of clicking of feet, twirls, and arms aloft.

Glad we stayed around to watch this - would love to take part, though need a few lessons first...

Walked back to the hostel, slept well.

Thursday 1st March

Wow, time is flying, only 4 full months left of this trip. Plenty of time!

Chris and I make our way to Recoleta, where we are to join the free English language tour of the Cemetary. Arrive at Pueyreddon subway station to see water flowing down to meet us, and sheets of water falling from the sky.

We make a dash for the surface, and see that the streets are like rivers. Umm, we'll not be joining the tour today, and get back on the subway to the next stop, Bulnes.

Of course, we're not far up the road and the rain is just as heavy here, the streets just as wet. To avoid the rain we aquaplane across the street and step into the shopping mall here. The rain is so heavy - Chris doesn't want us to go to any of the upper levels after seeing floods of water coming down inside the mall.

We walk around for a bit, then decide to see if there's anything on at the cinema - it doesn't look like the rain is going to stop for a while.

Watched The Last King of Scotland - a powerful movie about Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker deserving his Oscar trophy.

After some lunch, we walked on to the Plaza de Mayo, to witness the 'Madres de la Plaza de Mayo' demonstrate (well, probably more of a weekly vigil) in front of the Casa Rosada. Every Thursday since 1977, they have gathered at the square to proclaim the greatest injustice in Argentine history - the 'disappearance' of the children during the Dirty War.

Each mother (now evidently in their 70's and 80's, or more), strolls around the main monument with a large banner, and some carry a photo of their offspring, with details of when they disappeared. The madres also wear a white scarf on their heads, embroidered, in blue, with the words 'Let the disappeared reappear, alive'.

It is said that some 30,000 'disappeared' (imprisoned, tortured, murdered).

One very elderly lady in a wheelchair wore a large black and white photo around her neck - her daughter hisappeared exactly 30 years ago today, 1st March 1977.

The women walked around for 30 minutes, then quietly left the square.

Christine is currently reading 'Bad Times in Buenos Aires' (Miranda France), which explains how, during the Dirty War, men and women were drugged and then thrown out of planes into the Rio (River) Plata. Also, pregnant women were imprisoned during their term, only to be murdered after the birth of their child. The children were then 'adopted' by the torturer/killer of their parent, in turn, 'righteously subverting the wishes of the murdered parents'.

In 1983, the government set up a Natural Bank of Genetic Data, where blood samples from the relatives of disappeared children were stored. the Grandmothers of May Square were investigating 217 reported cases of missing children. 25 children (now teenagers etc) were returned to their biological families, though there were cases where the children did not want to return, having been raised 'by their true parents'. Sadly, these children ended up in care.

This 'Dirty War' came about due to President Jorge Videla creating a basis for eliminating corruption, and his primary target were the Montonero - a Peronist guerilla group, who also acted violently in their own cause - but the dictatorship did not distinguish between those who assisted the guerillas, or simply sympathised, or spoke out against the bruatilty.

At the opposite corner of the Plaza de Mayo (opposite the Casa Rosada) is the Cathedral, which we briefly visited with David (we'd been there before).

After, refreshments (coffee and cake) at Havana. Havana make the tasty cakes/biscuits known as Alfajores. These are a kind of triple-decker Wagon Wheel, but without the spongy stuff, though tasty nonetheless, and in loads of flavours, including the national favourite, Dulce de Leche - a caramel sauce, which seems to be applied to most sweet foodthings.

After, we took off in a cab to Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, an old, attractive, part of town.

Not looking for a late night tonight, so enjoyed some good food and wine(s) at the Plaza Dorrego Bar - very quaint and atmospheric. Enjoyed the gratis monkey nuts.

Mr Briggs took a cab back to Palermo, leaving us the short walk back to the hostel over the other side of the multilane highway that separates us.

Friday 2nd March

With Tango season in full swing, there's lots of free events going on. First thing in the morning we snagged ourselves some free tickets at the Teatro President Alvear for tonight. Whilst not a tango show, we'll be seeing (or listening to) a group performing/singing tango inspired music.

Spent some time on the internet before meeting David in the afternoon, and walking onto Puerto Madero (the, fancy, port area) for some food at Asia Cuba.

A very nice setting on this sunny day, though the food expensive, and not the best by a long way. Just whiled away the afternoon, overlooking the port channel, and the steady stream of cyclists, runners and walkers going by.

David is off to a wine tasting evening tonight, so we go our separate ways, Chris and I head back to change for a night at the theatre.

The band 'Proyecto Cuided Oculta' are - a pianist, a cello/double bassist, a guitarist and a bandoneon (squeezebox-er). All very talented, and were joined by a different singer (4 in total, 2 guys, 2 girls) for each song they performed. Would have been great to see them accompanied by tango dancers.

A shame our Spanish is not so good - there was a speech and presentation at the beginning of the show, but sadly it was right over our heads. An elderly chap, no doubt connected with the arts, was presented with a plaque and flowers, and warmed by huge applause from the audience.

Very enjoyable evening - even better that is was FREEEEEEEE!

Next plan was to head over on the Metro to Palermo and meet David. Unfortunately, plans didn't work out, so just a short distance from his apartment we get a text to say he's not there, and at a busy restaurant on a table for two...... About turn to the Metro, which is now closed.......... so get a taxi back to Plaza Dorrego and our fave restaurant in the square, for some more nice wine. We still don't know a good wine from bad, but we've certainly had some practice this week!

Whether fate or not, an evening together gives us a chance to talk about what we'll do when (if) we return home in the summer. Ultimately, despite all the options being available (moving somewhere else in the UK, moving overseas, extending our trip, changing careers), we decide that we actually quite like what we've got and look favourably at returning home and seeing how it goes. Of course, in the meantime, our employers may have changed their minds about taking us back.....

Feels good to have made a decision about the near future.......lets see what happens.

Saturday 3rd March

No rush to do anything today, but Paul does need a haircut so we get that sorted nearby. Sadly, we're a bit early for the happy hour at the barbers, which serves Dacquiris, post-trim, from 7pm.

Spent some time walking around Centro and the shops. Stuff here really is cheap - wish we had some space in our packs. Had a snooze in the afternoon, before meeting up at David's in Palermo for some wine, and dinner on him! Drinks at a local bar, then to Sudestada, an asian place. Wow, great to have some spicy food again, and thanks for the treat, David.

Taxi home, and a fairly early night.

Sunday 4th March

Sunday is market day in San Telmo, and around the Plaza Dorrego . Doesn't seem as many stall today, as there was a few weeks ago - probably to do with the weather overnight, lots of rain and wind. Paul also suffered wind last night.

Chris bought a couple of nice tango drawings, though again, there's lots of nice things here, but no space to carry them. Of course, we can post them home, but some of the antiques are bulky and would cost a fortune to ship.

The market continues down Defensa, and past the antique shops.

Paul finds some Mint flavour Alfajores (triple layer choc sandwiches).

Would like to have soaked up some more atmosphere today, but we're heading off to a football match this afternoon, at Boca Juniors.

So, we're finally getting to see Boca Juniors play at home, today, against San Lorenzo. We booked the tickets (well, a package including transport) at the hostel - it cost 120 Pesos, about US$40.

Perhaps not as much of a ripoff as the football package we took up in Rio, but quite a markuip on the face value of the (standing) tickets.

Anyway, for GBP20 we're quite happy and excited about the game, which is said to be a sellout.

Quite a few fans walking around as we approach the stadium in the minibus - we remind ourselves that this isn't the safest of areas, but happy we're in a guided group.

Before we get to the stadium, we stop at a small cafe for a free (well, included in the price) snack. Christine even gets a veggie option. The sausage roll is okay, but the sausages here not as good as home. Note to self - must get mum to do sausage, chips, beans, fried onions when we get home. 4 sausages please, not the chili ones.

The streets get busier as we get closer, so does the police presence. Never sure if that is a good sign or not.

Our tickets our for thet stands at one end of the stadium. The area is already crowded with noisy fans when we arrive, but the atmosphere is a mix of electric and overwhelming. Opposite us we can see numerous banners, and huge flags draped across wide areas of the terrace.

Strangely, whilst the stadium feels big, the pitch looks quite small.

Glad to have picked a spot to stand which isn't overlooked by the terrace above us. Firstly, it'll give us protection if it starts to rain, but more importantly, to shield us from the San Lorenzo supports above us, who, before kick off, are dropping water on the home fans below. Well, we think it is water, though the guide book warns against being hit by a bottle of piss! Sorry mum, I meant urine.

The livliest BJ fans were opposite us - loud repetitive drums, flares, the most banners.

The game was 'okay', though it was a shame the home team lost 3-0 -they beat San Lorenzo by 7 goals at their last meeting. Would have been good to see the home crowd erupt to a home win, or at least a consolation goal or two...

Really enjoyed our afternoon, and pleased to make it in one piece out of La Boca.

For dinner we went to ex-pat haunt, the Gibraltar 'pub'. Nice place, with tones of home. Good to have a proper pint, and teh food was great. They also serve Sushi tonight, and David tells us it was very good - actually, better than the Sushi restaurant we were at a few days ago.

Took ourselves on a short bar crawl, though at the first one, it's mostly soft drinks and cheesecake.

We end up at the Tasso Torquato (Milonga Hall, though this is also where we enjoyed an evening of guitar music a few weeks ago). Tonight was simply where anyone/everyone (except us) enjoys the dance floor to perform their dramatic tango.

The more we listen to the music, we feel a twinge of Parisien atmosphere - perhaps it's the Bandoneon. Also, for the pre-recorded tango music that is playing, it sounds like a bunch of old 78's grinding away on an old music centre - lots of crackles and feedback!

More wine enjoyed here, before another great nights sleep.

Monday 5th March

Wasted most of the morning at the main post office, wanting to send a small parcel home. Queued for ages, only to find out that you need to show your passport in order to send an item overseas. GGGGRRRRRRR.

We're now stuck with carrying the parcel around for the rest of the day. Bugger.

Oh well. David leaves for Mendoza today, so we head over to Palermo for lunch, which was nice.

Said our goodbyes - and we make our way back toward centro. Chris goes back to the hostel to get a passport, Paul cracks on with updating the blog.

Another chore today is to try and sort out the credit card, which has been misused. We're only carrying it as back up, luckily, but it has been such a hassle trying to sort it out.

It does also give me the opportunity to slag off Morgan Stanley, who are absolutely useless. I happened to notice some rogue transactions on the card last week - I emailed all the details through to Morgan Stanley, but they haven't bothered to reply. A chaser email to their Anti Fraud department also got nowhere and transactions (to Vodafone, in New Zealand) continue to go through. By the way, we didn't use our credit card in New Zealand, except as for a guarantee for car hire (with Spaceships), when an imprint of the card was taken. Maybe the two are connected....

Anyway, I went out of my way to phone MS to see what the ·"?¿ was going on an they, without any hint of sarcasm, tell me that they aim to reply to email within 45 days! Really helpful, eh....

Even more helpful that the card needs to be stopped, and they can do nothing to get a replacement card out to me.

Whatever, we've completed some declaration form and faxed it back - still not sure if anyone is bothering to deal with us.

The post office is open till 8pm, so we go back towards the end of the day, and our spirits are lifted by a kind man you gives us a queue number that is 30 places before the one we took from the dispenser.

Our package will take a couple of months on the high seas...

Nothing fancy in the evening, and we feel the need to detox after the late nights and rich food.

Tuesday 6th March

Oh goody, a travelling day today, flying down to Ushuaia, where it'll be cold and cloudy. Well, at least cold.

That's enough to get the day going badly, however, Paul's mind is taken off that with an explosive bout of diarroea (or however it is spelt - an internet search reveales several messy options), which beats him to the bathroom. I leave the fine detail with your imagination.

Whilst we have a few hours until we need to get to the airport, Paul is happy to stay in the vicinity, but it gives us a chance to catch up on a few things, including calls home, one of which brings tragic news. Our love and thoughts with Chris, and we feel desperately sad to be so far away.
=======

Later that afternoon, things fairly straightforward at the domestic airport in BA, though we're soon hit with news of a delay, though we're not fairing too badly compared with David who left us yesterday, but his flight was delayed considerably longer, about 12 hours. Never fun when the flight itself is only a couple of hours!

With our flight being delayed, we are sorry to miss the mountain views as we head towards Ushuaia in the far south. On landing, we're reminded that we are close to the Antarctic, and decide that our exposed legs and arms need covering, quickly. Out comes the fleece for the first time since mid-December. And thankfully, Paul has no repeat of this morning...

In the taxi going to the hostel (Antarctica - very good, recommended) we can see the moonlight on the snowy mountains surrounding the town - very pretty sight. Apparently it snowed yesterday, so a bit of a treat for us.

Yep, our room at the Antarctica Hostel very nice - especially the underfloor heating.

Slept okay, but Paul's stomach still not right....

to be continued on next thread...

30th January, Day 1 - Buenos Aires

Sorry to leave our nice accomodation in Palermo, thanks to the lovely folks at Caseron Porteno. We had tried to book a room for our return to BA at the end of February, but no luck, as there is some kind of Tango Mondial happening. Boo hoo!

Taxi'd it to the Majestic Hotel where we will spend at least the first night of our overland trip and checked in.

Despite this being the first day of our trip, there's no activities planned and we have the day to ourselves. Again, it's annoying that this is considered part of the trip. To raise a smile we get out of the early afternoon heat and head to the cinema and watch A Night in the Museum/Ben Stiller. Not bad.

After, and with pre-planning in mind, we head over to the San Telmo area to check out the Garden House hostel. Yep, all is good and we book up for our return on 25th February. It's 63 Pesos a night for a double, breakfast included. Not the best area, but we're happy with it, and it's close to the subway. With taxi's being so cheap too, it's not a problem.

Good news - the itinerary for our trip has been tweaked, so we get out of town a little earlier, tomorrow lunchtime. Thanks Kim!

Met up with Sarah back at the hotel and the three of us went for some food, before making our way back to Cafe Tortoni for a Tango show.

Disappointing venue, and our seats are at the back, which wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the waiters continuing to serve during the show. Also, the stage is not that high off the ground, so you don't really get to see the leg-action. It's all about the feet! Shame, because the performers are good, the band too.

31st January - Day 2

A few things to do before we leave, including getting our memory cards onto DVD, then some food before we head off in the truck.

Strangely, we get down to reception for the agreed departure time, to find no-one else around. Soon realise we are an hour early, though very mystified as to why the watch has changed by an hour and 15 minutes. Spooky.

So, at the proper time, we return to the truck and the group get their things packed into the under-seat lockers. With 18 on board we've not got as much room as the last trip, where we had 2 lockers each. We soon get things wedged in okay.

All done by 2pm and we hot the road, RN14 to be precise. The scenery out of town not great and the land around us very flat.

Got to our first campsite at the end of the afternoon and cracked out the dome tents, which will hopefully go up quicker over the next few days.

Our leaders, Kim and Duncan, get dinner started and most folks muck-in to get the food ready. Ate, and chatted, with our group. Also spoke in our basic Spanish to a group of Scouts who were on a camping trip. Communicated surprisingly well.

By the way, so we don't forget names in years to come, our group are; Sarah H, Emily, Neil and Jill, Tom and May, Andy and Gerry, Mike, Graham, Andy, Celia, Sarah K, Richard and Natasha and Julia. All a good bunch, from 19 to 67. It's good to be somewhere in the middle.

Didn't sleep too well on our first camp night - a little hot.

1st February - Day 3

Up at 7ish, glad for a shower, though the facilities pretty grotty, and I hate it when there's no locks on the toilet doors, especially if they are 'squat' toilets.

After brekky we hit the road at 9am - scenery not really changing, and not too interesting at this point. Grateful though, for the breeze whistling through the truck.

Arrived at Santo Tome (the river is teh boundary between Argentina and Brazil. The water is murky, though nice to swim in. We are warned not to pee in it, otherwise there's little critters that will swim in your peepee hole, and they don't come out easily.

Nice setting for a camp here, right next to the river.

After dinner most of us strolled into town, where earlier we saw them setting up for a 'mini' Carnaval - great timing, arriving today.

Cost us a few Reais to get into the main street to take our bar-seats for the procession. The youngsters go off first - lots of floats and skimpy outfits, even for the toddlers! Not quite bordering on bad taste though.

Quite funny to see the guys sprinting along the road to plug in their floats to electricity. Also, feel sorry for the participants, who are being towed at a snails pace behind some kind of vehicle that is coughing up its last horrendous, black, fumes.

The adults follow soon after, and this is when we start to see some backsides hanging out of cheesecutter undies. Mike soon runs out of blank discs to record onto. I think his camera zoon has also jammed.

Some folks at the side of the road selling aerosols of foam spray - of course, would be rude not to join in. Most of us get a coating, though we seem to be picked on by the local kids. At least we don't resort to using the empty cans as weapons.

Great night out, and in bed past 2pm, though the procession continues. Nearly get attacked by dogs on the way back.

2nd February - Day 3

Up early again, and on the road. Mostly driving today, though we stopped at San Ignacio Mini Jesuit ruins. Pretty impressive, though pretty hot under the sun today.

Seems odd, we're parked up on what seems like the village green, and we're sitting down with all our lunch stuff spread around. Unlike Asia, we don't seem to attract too much attention - we miss that!

In the ruins, there's a large area where the houses and shops would have been,, with a large square and church. The Jesuits arrived in 1610, and although the aim of the priests of The Jesus Company was to evangelise the Indians, they did desperately try to protect them from the Spaniards, who were using them as slaves. The Jesuit mission was subsequently destroyed by the Paraguans in 1817.

After our village-green lunch we moved on, arriving at our campsite, on the Argentine side of the Iguazu Falls, at Puerto Iguazu. Popular, and busy, campsite - has two pools, though both quite busy. Opt for the one with less kids. Water a bit murky, and a little too warm.

After dinner, just hung around and 'shot the shit' as Duncan would put it.

3rd February - Day 4

Arrived at the Falls for 9.30 ish.

Got ourselvs the 'green card', which covers most of the excursions within the Falls park. Our first sector is a ride through a rainforest area. Little information given, and not a great deal to see.

At the end of the track, a speedboat awaits to take us 6km down towards the falls. Did some skimming over the wake of the speedboat ahead of us - a few tight turns here and there, but nothing to cause a sweat.

At the falls themselves, we get 'quite' close - enough to get soe spray. Falls look huge from the bottom, and they are very much spread over a wide drop area. Everyone gets a soaking.

The boat drops us off at the start of the upper trail and most of the rest of the day is spent walking around the various view points. It's very well done, though full of tourists. Devils Throat particularly impressive - moreso, we think, than what we remember of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Nice when the breeze blows the spray in our direction, as we swelter under the buring sun.

As well as the falls themselves, we get to see some wildlife around - a cayman, lots of butterflies (some of which land on us to suck up some salty sweat) - also, some large black and white lizards and Howler monkeys. Spent some time amongst a family of Coatis (cute critters from the racoon family).

All of us meet up at 6pm for our minibus back to the campsite - from there we make the short trip to the Argentine/Brazil border. Took a while to get through, not arriving at the next campsite until 10pm, though we're told that dinner will be waiting for us. Turned out to be very nice, especially the chocolate sponge pudding.

The campsite (perhaps not quite the right term) is packed, lots of overland trucks in town. In turn, it's noisy and the facilities are not so good. Get our first experience of Brazilian showers, which have electric heating elements in the shower heads. Also, lots of dangerous looking wires with water flowing over them. Do I dare slide the button over to HOT from COLD????

4th February - Day 5

Brazil continues on next thread......

Buenos Aires

Touched down in BA at 7.20am - a little tense moment trying to sort some accomodation from the airport - again, wishing we'd immersed ourselves in Spanish many moons ago...

Transport from the airport nice and easy - there's a booth just past the customs gate and several choices, including a minibus, which makes stops all around downtown, or our own taxi right to the door.

Plumping for the latter (about GBP13 between the 3 of us) we get to the Hostel Inn in San Telmo. Unfortunately we can't checking for a couple of hours and end up split up in single sex dorms, with 8 beds in each. Great, that'll be a quiet nights sleep tonight then....

With map in hand we hit the pavements towards Plaza De Mayo and Florida Street (the main shopping street in Centro). As well as buying some new shorts, Julie tried to wreck the shop by pulling a clothes rail of its hinges.

Walked up to Plaza de San Martin and sat around in the park watching the world go by, whilst eating a bargain bag of Peanut M&Ms.

More walking in the heat takes us to Puerto Madero, saw the bridge which is meant to resemble two people dancing. Can't quite see it ourselves, though we are a bit tired today, after our overnight flight. Paul makes a mental note of the Hooters restaurant by the quayside. Nearby theres a 'replica' of Sydney Opera House.

Walked our way back through San Telmo to the hostel and showered before Chris and I walked back to Centro for some cash. Bit of a music event warming up in the gardens at the Plaza de Mayo, so sat down in the late afternoon sun. Nice, doesn't get dark here till 9ish.

Picked up a couple of Pizzas on the way back and stuffed ourselves before a, supposed, early night.

We're all for a lively hostel, but it sucked tonight, with music echoing around and folks quite happy to talk loudly/slam doors/leave doors open etc etc. Nevermind, it speeds up our departure over to Uruguay and nudges us that we'll need to book ahead for our accomodation in South America.

Uruguay - Colonia

18th January - Nice and early taxi (wow, taxis really are cheap here) to the Buquebus ferry terminal - the main option for getting across the water to Uruguay.

Thankfully we err on the side of caution and get to the ferry with little time to spare for getting tickets (you book you ticket at one desk, then pay for it at another, before checking in elsewhere, then finally going through immigration - both the Argentinian and Uruguayan guys sit next to each other to stamp you in/out).

We're on the fast ferry for a 50 minute trip to Colonia del Sacramento - nice and clean, fast etc. We even get a little breakfast given to us on the way. Notice that the sea is a dirty brown from one international coast to the other.

Arriving across the water we grab our bags and walk straight for accomodation, which turned out to be the Colonial Hotel (it's a hostel) - thankfully we snag the last 4-person room for the three of us. Feel a little bad for the older couple who arrived by taxi to a full house. The rooms are basic, but clean and cheap, and the atmosphere around the place is nice.

Walked to the old town area, very quaint and laid back. Enjoyed drinks at the San Pedro Cafe at the Plaza de Mayo before getting back to the hostel in the early evening - again, an early night. This time, little noise, though a little hot and the fan doesn't oscillate.

19th Jan - Up at 10 ish and skip the free basic breakfast at the hostel for a 3-course/GBP2 one just up the road. Looking forward to more Creme Caramel...

Back into the old town and we followed the walking tour from the Lonely Planet guide, adding our own diversions, via drinks/snacks/ice creams. Went through Plaza de mayo, Calle de Los Suspiros (colonial houses), past General Lavellejas residence and the ruins of the 17th Century Convento de San Francisco and up the lighthouse. To the coast and to the Plaza de Armas (ruins of a house) and went into the Iglesia Matriz - amazing lit-up Nativity displayed here. This is Uruguays oldest church, though has been rebuilt twice - reminds me of Trigger's aged broom, with 3 new heads and two new handles.

Walked across to the Port - Puerto Viejo - and the surrounding streets.

Paul continues to suffer with a minor athletes foot (does this need to go in here???) and at the pharmacy does a good job of asking for the appropriate treatment. We must look up the Spanish word for 'spray', though 'Tsst-tsst' served us very well this time.

Back at the hostel we sort out our next accomodation in Montevideo. We'd also sorted our onward bus ticket to Montevideo.

Back in town, Chris and Julie go into the various museums - Museo Municipal, Museo Espanol - unfortunately not a lot of info in English, but interesting to see the buildings, especially the tiny Portuguese house.

Dinner in town, with beer by the litre.

Glad for a restful time in Colonia - not a huge amount to do, but a nice couple of days.

Uruguay - Montevideo

20th January - Two and a half hours bus ride to the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo - no problems and we arrive right on time. Taxi to our accomodation (Che Legarto - recommended, nice bunch of folks) right in the corner of the Plaza de Independencia, facing the Mausoleo de Antigas - Uruguays Independence Hero.

Wandered around town, quite busy with folks. Visited the mausoleum - a curious, large, underground room, with two guards keeping a perfectly still and silent watch.

Walked down Sarandi to the shore, then onto the Puerto where the Queen Mary 2 is berthed. What a size! - would have been nice to get a peek onboard.

Walking through Plaza Zabaia we are stopped by an elderly man, speaking nothing but Spanish, though we make out that he's not after our valuables, but pointing out a nearby 'palace' (Palace Taranico) at the corner of the Plaza. He walks us there and, continuing in fast Spanish, tells us about the house as we walk around. Very ornate and beautiful (the building, not the man).

Inside we meet an English couple who are on the QM2 - we find out that the ship is on an 'around the world in 80 days' trip, though they're on for just 2 weeks.

After trying to sort out accomodation for Punta Del Este, and failing, we head for dinner in town and we notice some old folks dressed 'up to the nines', whatever that actually means. Julie and Chris watch a chorus perform in one of the squares - Paul went back to the hostel.

21st January - decide to stay on another night in Montevideo.

The local area a little quiet today, being the weekend, though we're advised to visit the local market - said to be the biggest street market in South America. Well, yes it's a whopper and there's everything here - from fish to bent CD's, with all kinds of food inbetween.

Pizza for lunch for the girls, Paul had a monster steak sandwich (Chivito), about 20 centimetres high.

After a welcome siesta Chris and Paul walk down to the shore and watch the locals enjoying the glorious weather. Back at the hostel we crack on with some cocktails (Cuba Libre in particular). Ahead of dinner (BBQ at the hostel) we head out to watch a street performance by some old folks.

Waited ages for the BBQ, but enjoyed it when it came.

22nd January - On the 11am bus to Punta Del Este - excited to be heading to the beach for a few days. Not a huge ride and we're there by 1.30, though spent at least an hour trying to sort out our return journey to Montevideo, which was to include the boat back to Buenos Aires. Glad we got it sorted, rather than panicing on the day of departure.

We're actually staying about 30 minutes bus ride up the road in Manantiales, at the YHI hostel there. Finally get to our digs at 4pm(!). Hostel is 'okay' - not quite situated where the bus drops you off, but 500 metres off the track. Also, the availability of lockers turns out to be one small safe for everyone to share.

Annoyingly, realised too late that we needed more cash, so back on the bus to Punta Del Este - no ATM's in Manatiales. No big problem as we spend the rest of the evening in town.

Back at the hostel, struggle to sleep - room must be 5000 degrees, and our room sits in the middle of two sources of loud music. Thanks for that! Again, the hostel not getting too many plus points. Oh, and the bathrooms are pretty crap too. At least there's a friendly puppy, with sharp teeth.

23rd Jan - Up late, 10-ish, had free brekkie at the hostel and then walked 10 minutes to the beach.

Considering that Punta Del Este area/Bikini Beach is 'the' beach spot in Uruguay, it's not great and the water is as murky as the South Coast of England, though there's no turds here.

Burnt our feet walking across the sand, though pleased to get hold of a couple of umbrellas. Water pleasantly cold inbetween sunbathing sessions. Late afternoon we head back into Punta Del Este and walk along the seafront to the harbour. Beautiful sunset and watched an opera singer entertain a restaurant crowd.

Found ourselves some dinner at the Blue Cheese restaurant - nice, but quite expensive - a little change from GBP25 for 2 of us. And, only a couple of beers.

Back to our room by midnight - still very noisy and hot, we managed a few hours broken sleep.

24th January - Back down to the beach. Bit of action a little way up the beach - a car (unmanned) rolled down the road and crashed onto the beach. Seemed a big deal to the huge group of locals that gathered.

Noticed a plane fly along the coast, trailing a banner for 'Seal - Conrad - Tonight'. Put 2 and 2 together and worked out that Seal was in town - which was confirmed on his website.

Made our way down to the fancy Conrad hotel that night, but put off by the ticket price - some GBP35. Happily spent a lot less on Pizza and Ice Cream, whilst humming 'Killer'.

Another hot and equally noisy night at the hostel, with special thanks to the Irish lads who kept us up, and entertained. They were hilarious. Really.

25th January - tired of being tired, but glad to be moving on, back to Buenos Aires. We hear that one of the Irish boys has gone missing after last nights 'fun'. After a local helps them get through to the Police to report it, the monkey turns up in another room. Class act!

Back to Buenos Aires

The journey back to Argentina is nice and easy, if not quite expensive - over GBP100 for the 3 of us.

Arrive at our pre-booked accomodation in Palermo - 'Caseron Porteno' by 5-ish, after losing an hour with the time difference - very pleased with our lovely room, and happy to pay US$40 a night in these surroundings. Wow, we even have our own private bathroom! Looking forward to breakfast, and no rush - anytime up till noon.

Very clean here, nice garden with friendly cats. Free tango lessons available too, though we skip that for dinner instead. Enjoyed a healthy organic/veggie dinner at Bio. Not too expensive.

26th Jan - Slept in, very comfortable. Nice breakfast, served, rather than help yourself. Yummy pastries, yoghurt for the first time in months, and plenty fresh toast, jam, cheese and ham. Oh, and freshly squeezed orange juice too.

Took a cab down to Plaza de Mayo, had hoped to get into the Casa Rosada, but it's closed until March for a refurb. At the other end of the Plaza is the Cathedral, which inside houses the tomb of General Jose de San Martin - the revered liberator. Very nice inside the Cathedral.

Then walked down to the Obelisco - the tall concrete needle in the middle of the widest street in the world, supposedly.

After that, to Plaza Lavalle to take a look at the National Theatre. Found ourselves in the court instead. Once we found the NT, again we find ourselves in the middle of a refurb till March.

Back to the shops on Florida and a visit to the Galeria Pacificos.

Started hammering with rain as we left - sought refuge in McDonalds.

In between showers we made our way up to Plaza de San Martin and saw the monument to th Argentinians who died in the Falklands/Malvinas conflict. Nearby is their 'Big Ben' - or, Torres de Los Ingles. The Brits gave this 76m high clock tower to Argentina back in 1916.

Walked back into Centro via Plaza De Mayo and along Avenida De Mayo to visit Cafe Tortoni - the most famous cafe in Buenos Aires. Popped inside for a quick look at the amazing decor, though passed on refreshments this time. Had planned to book in for the following night's tango show, but wanted to get some advice on the best tango shows from the folks at our accomodation.

All the rain in the world seemed to be falling as we left - got absolutely soaked crossing the pavement to a taxi.

Back at the digs, Chris and Julie join a Tango lesson - Paul chickened out this time.

Ate locally, in a busy restaurant - rolled home, again, uncomfortably full.

27th January - early start to the day, 7.30am, and walked the 30 mintues to the Cemetary, hoping to find Eva Peron's grave. Spent a while looking around the cemetary site, though despite following the directions in the book to find her bit, we're still lost. Things become clearer when Paul marries up the name of the cemetary we need to be at, with the one we are actually at. You've guessed it. It was a nice place anyway, if not the wrong one.

Dropped our valuables off on the way back, before getting on the Subte (Metro/subway) towards La Boca. By the way, the 'underground' system is very efficient and really cheap - we felt absolutely safe too. Took a taxi from the subway, just 5 minutes to La Boca, home of the Boca Juniors.

Known for its multicoloured buildings, painted using any leftover paints from the shipyards nearby, the tourist area was quite busy, but interesting. Many restaurants luring tourists in with Tango dancers outside.

Whilst wary of walking outside of the obvious tourist areas, we walked down to the BJ stadium, and stepped inside the museum area. No match on today, hopefully we'll catch something when we return to BA at the end of February. Interesting murals decorate the outside of the stadium, and despite no game today, plenty of folks around and in the team shop.

Taxi and tube back towards Centro, and we make our way to the Recoleta area, where we'll make a proper visit to the cemetary where Eva Peron rests. Very impressive site - huge marble family monuments, though sad to see some in a poor state of repair. There was a small crowd continually gathered around Eva Peron's tomb.

Sat down for an icecream after all the walking - Chris and Julie taxi it back, Paul decides that his 3-scoops demand sweating off, so he walks the hour or so back to Palermo.

Relaxed back at the accomodation, before the girls enjoy their second Tango lesson.

In the evening we head off to the outskirts of San Telmo for an evening of guitar music, courtesy of Juanjo Dominguez, and Hugo Rivas. Incredible stuff, never seen guitar played so perfectly before. Really enjoyable evening - bought a couple of his CD's.

Afterwards, we had hoped to visit a Milonga (tango club), but the one we planned to visit was closed, for maybe a private lesson.

Didn't bother trying to finds another, and jumped in a taxi for the 100mph ride home. Arrived safely and seemingly a few minutes before we actually left!

28th January - Up early again, enjoyed our lovely breakfast. Chris and Julie not so fussed about having cakes so early, but Paul more than happy to take their share.

Tube'd it to San Juan station and walked down to Plaza Dorego to visit the antique market. The market continues along Defensa, and is closed to traffic, so we enjoyed a lazy stroll amongst the crowds.

Stepped inside the Basilica de Santo Domingo (18th Century - British sought refuge here during the invasion of 1806 - shrapnel marks still evident in teh left tower).

Visited Cafe Tortoni again, this time enjoyed some coffee and cream. Watch a waiter enjoy the last dregs of someones wine that had been left on a table. Hmm, classy.

From Catedral station we head to the big park area of Plaza Italia. Chris and Julie walked from here to the Eva Peron Museum. Certainly an amazing woman - her father died when she was young - she and her mother came to BA, where she got herself into films. Married Juan Domingo Peron (the President in 1946) and became a hugely popular first lady. She formed a powerful social assistance foundation, known as Evita, which helped lower class women - she also fought for the right to vote.

Tragic that she died of cancer at 33 and very odd that the military took her body and secretly buried it until eventually handing it over to her family who finally laid her to rest in the cemetary in Recoleta.

It's Julie's last day today, so back at the room there's some frantic packing and we all head off in a taxi to the airport.

We stayed around until Julie went through security - some last minute tears. Of course, the girls only, I'm a bit too tough for all that.

Later that evening, back in town, we find a food court above the big supermarket in Palermo and eat heartily, with change from GBP3.

29th January - and then there were two, again. Today is the day we join our group trip from here in BA, up to Rio de Janeiro. This is our second Exodus trip - hopefully this'll be as good as the last one, through Tibet and China.

After (Chris) doing a bit of laundry, we head off to find the Majestic Hotel (our meet point for the trip). We find out that we're not on the same truck as Sonja (our leader in Asia), though it looks like there's two trucks going up at the same time.

Annoyingly find out that we need to bring our passports, so need to go back and get them. On the way back, stop in Recoleta and treat ourselves to the cinema.

Got our tickets for Babel, after ensuring that it is in English. Of course, the English bits are (in English), however, we forgot about the Japanese, Moroccan and Spanish bits which are subtitled for the locals. Despite this setback, the film mostly made sense, to the extent that we left the cinema mildy depressed. Certainly not a comedy.

Cheered ourselves up with some food at the Galeria Pacifico, before joining our group at the pre-departure meeting. Please be a good group. Please. Please.

Only 8 of 18 show up for the meeting, all seem fine. Meeting not off to a great start when we're given the trip itinerary and it shows that we're in BA for 3 days, when we were expecting to be heading out of town tomorrow - as the trip notes say, if you want to see BA, get in a few days before the trip starts. Others in the group also not happy about the proposed itinerary. Our point is made, though it sets a negative tone for the rest of the meeting - shame, as everyone is still excited.

After the meeting we head off to Cafe Tortoni to book a Tango show for the next night - nice Sarah from our group joins us, and we go via coffee and cake at McDonalds.

Continues on next thread.....