With a day lost to travelling, a lack of sleep and an extremely irritable Paul, the bus trundled into Puerto Iguazú. From the bus station, we took a taxi to "Hostel Inn Iguazú", a large, pokey hostel lacking any atmosphere or staff with any kind of brain! We freshened up, fed and watered and due to the crappy weather just bummed around the hostel.

The next day we were up bright and early and on a bus to "Iguazú Parques Nacionales", home of Iguazú Falls, a collection of around 275 individual cascades plummeting across a 2.7km horseshoe shaped cliff. A quick bus ride to the entrance, tickets bought and we were on a train through the jungle toward "Garganta del Diablo" - The Devil's Throat. We walked across a vast expanse of water atop a metal walkway. The remnants of the previous walkway destroyed in 1992 by flooding was a tiny bit unnerving, considering it was several feet taller than it's replacement! At the end of walkway was a viewing deck perched precariously above the plunging horseshoe cascade known as the "Devil's Throat". The ferocity of the waters motion threw plumes of mist high into the air causing producing a fine rain on the approach to the platform. Above the falls, the wind produced by the sheer volume of water whipped the mist into columns of water which soaked the platform! Very invigorating.

We head back to the train to get onto the "Paseo Superior", a 650 meter trail across the top of the falls offering stunning views across the gorge with vivid rainbows stretching across. The final path, "Paseo Inferior" was a 2.5km circuit around the plunge pools with platform extensions into the path of the falls. We descended into the valley and down to the waters edge, we ponchoed up and boarded a powerboat which took us right up into the path of "San Martin Falls". The wind produced by the cascading water was insane! Absolutely soaked, we had to change on an exposed rock face, very indignities and I ended up mooning an elderly couple...


Changed, dry and adequately warm, we began the long walk back to the bus. The evening passed by and I managed to book a bus ticket for Rio de Janeiro with the Hong Kong Girls, my itinerary has well and truly gone to pot! The next day was spent sunbathing, my first chance of sunbathing in South America, the day was wiled away and the following day we boarded our 24 hour bus to Rio.

With the days cultural exploration done, my cultural activities didn't stop there. That evening; Margot (an avid fan of musical theatre), Rodrigo, Brendan and I head to a studio theatre to see "Los Últimos 5 Años". A musical portrayed as a series of monologues between a failin couple, starting from her point of view at the end of the relationship working back to the day they met and his role working in the opposing direction. Despite the entire thing being in Spanish, it was easy to appreciate the emoion within the songs and the feelings which were trying to be expressed. I was incredibly impressed and it made me think about my life and how different people perceive the same situation. We went for a drink after the play and were home by 11.30P.M., despite a Milhouse party, we went to bed and chatted into the night. I've met myself a really nice group of people!


The following morning involved a bus ride to 'La Boca', an extremely poor port district of Buenos Aires. Regardless, it is home to the Tango and the Boca Juniors! I had heard some real horror stories about muggings and the crime in the area so I was quite nervous about visiting. We wandered down the colourful cobbled streets lined with a cute craft market and brightly painted buildings. After a quick stop for food, we visited PROA - a modern arts gallery with an exhibition on Futurism. Brendan being well read in the arts was very up for the whole thing, I wasn't against the idea but my understanding wasn't as deep. I still found the exhibition very interesting, different from any others I have seen! A bus carried us back into the centre of town where we walked through a plaza in which we found the "Madres de Plaza de Mayo", a charity comprised of mothers and grandmothers campaigning to have 'lost' sons who disappeared under the dictatorship returned. Apparently they can be found every Thursday afternoon simply carrying a banner round the plaza holding placards with photos of their lost relatives, it was truly harrowing! From here, we continued walking to 'Puerto Madero', a recently renovated dockland which truthfully could have been anywhere from Sydney to San Fransisco! The evening was passed with a Milhouse party and a trip to 'Club 69', Buenos Aires' best drag club...very random. I managed to arrive in a taxi with a very random group of South Americans. Unfortunately, I missed the majority of the show due to my first experience of crime struck and Ellie had her camera stolen. That was a definite mood killer!


The following day, after a suitably Argentinian start to the day, I had arranged to meet up with one of Matthew's friends from Russia; Charlotte. Late as ever, I jumped on a tube (first time alone in SA!) and head to Palermo. South America is spoiling me with friendly faces, despite the potential for some obvious awkwardness, Charlotte was very sweet about the whole situation and treated me to a Starbucks 'dulce con leche' - a South American obsession which was like heaven on earth with all the calories you'd imagine. After a long chat and some BA tips, I head back to the hostel and met up with everyone and we had another Milhouse party. I had planned to go out with the Hong Kong Girls but they totally abandonned me (Alice!). Later in the evening, Liat and Alice returned after Liat had had her camera stolen. South America struck again! I ended my evening by hiding Rodrigo's recorder which over the past few days he has insisted on whipping out at every opportunity to play some rendition of 'The Corrs' (crazy Mexican!).

My penultimate day in Buenos Aires was fairly unstructured as I attempted to decide my next destination. After speaking to the HK Girls (Hong Kong Girls from here on in!), I decided to join them north to the Brazillian border. With some resemblance of a plan made, the day slipped into evening and we set out for 'Grab Cafe Tortoni', a supposedly world famous tango show. If I'm honest I wasn't particularly enthused about the whole experience, it seemed to me to be an extremely exploited and touristy spectacle so let's just say I had my doubts. I was soon proven to be way off the mark. The entire show was nothing short of epic. The musicians, the singing, the dancing - everything was beautiul. It is one of my favourite experiences since travelling! Being my last night in Buenos Aires I wanted to go out Argentinian style so back at the hostel, despite 'Team 307' not up for a nigh out I head out with some other guys from my hostel and we had a blast. The night slipped into day and I slipped into bed for three hours sleep. Check out and gradual farewells to my Buenos Aires possé as we all went our separate ways and I found myself at the bus station with the HK Girls on a 17 hour bus to Puerto Iguazu...

A taxi from the transit station deposited us on Avenida de Mayo outside Milhouse, our home for the next few days. Room 307 was where the party was at! Rosie, Ellie and I checked in and met our roomies - Beth and Claire. For our first evening, we made our way to Palermo to meet up with Margot, Brendan and Rodrigo and a host of others. Ellie and Rosie knew them from elsewhere in South America. They were a really nice bunch, bar Margot who proceeded to spike everyones drinks with 96% proof Bolivian miners spirits. We all got relatively sozzled and ended up heading out to one bar but the Argentinians in the group conspired against us and we ended up in a very latino club called Pagana. Despite our abduction, the night was amazing. We danced salsa and everyone had an amazing time. The Argentine way of life is bizarre, clubs don't open until 2A.M. and stay open until the very early hours, it must be said that the people of Buenos Aires do look tired! We finished the night in search of food. Job done and we head to bed.

The following day started slowly. Rosie, Ellie and I again hunted for food which we ate whilst watching the "Bicentenario" Parade, celebrating 200 years of Argentinian independence from Spain. Partial nudity seems to be another big part of Argentinian culture, some of the womens outfits were beyond revealing! Rendezvous with the guys and we head out for a steak dinner...when in Rome. Good food, good wine and good company put me in - well, a good mood. We head back to the hostel for some drinks and later in the evening we head out for "Amerika", Buenos Aires largest gay club with all you can drink! It was a strange affair, the Argentine love for nudity shone through. An interesting night passed in which we managed to all get lost!

Slightly worse for wear, the following day was spent exploring San Telmo. A quaint area home to an antiques market and cobbled streets where tango music filled the air. En route home we got mixed up in another parade with people in traditonal dress surrounding us. Rain meant we had a desperate sprint for the hostel and the day was ended with noodles we ordered in, happy days! My hostel was fast filling up with familiar faces, the Hong Kong girls I had met in Mendoza had arrived.

The next day was another day of culture, different culture but culture nonetheless. We head out to "Estadio River Plate" where Argentina were to play Canada in their final match before the World Cup. Having passed through more security than Terminal 5 and bought a host of Argentinian clobber, we took a seat in the tourist stand. On a hunt for facepaints to really get in the spirit, we head into the locals stand where the party was at...naturally that's where we stayed. The match didn't start for what seemed like an eternity but we were distracted with a marching band, a trio of bombers flying over head and insane amounts of blue and white confetti. The game itself was fairly dull according to those who actually follow football but we loved it, we were dancing and singing with the crowd for the entirity of the match. Argentina did completely trounce Canada 5-0 but for me it was more "Goooooools" which was way more fun! Following the match, they literally tried to blow the stadium to pieces. There were crazy fireworks that seemed never ending! A fun day was had by all. The evening was wiled away with a Milhouse party.

The crazy Argentinian lifestyle exacted it's reveng upon me the following day and the day was lost to bed. Arrival of Jess, a friend from secondary school was extremely welcome, it is such a nice thing to see old faces every now and again just to bring some grounding to life on the road. I think it's easy to forget so much of what is waiting back home whilst travelling, the people in your life become so transient and seeing old faces brings things back into perspective. We had a catch up, grabbed some food and went out partying. We were all extremely gutted that we missed the closing fireworks for 200 years of independence. From what we heard (from the other side of the city!!), the football fireworks would have paled in comparison. A very American mentality, celebrate your country by blowing a piece of it up!

I'm actually in love with Buenos Aires, it's fast becomming one of my favourite cities, I'd recommend it to everyone!

Arrival into Argentina was less than glorious. Having planned ahead and booked a hostel in Chile for my arrival into Mendoza, it totally slipped my mind to take note of either the address or even the name of the hostel. This potentially worked in my favour, having hopped of the bus and collected my bag, I got speaking to Rosie and Ellie - two delightful girls from Twickenham. We got chatting and in our search for an ATM, I decided to tag along with them to Hostel Independencia. A very dodgy taxi driver took us from the bus station which to be fair considering there were kids tossing a dead mouse between them, I would have got into a car with anyone! A short drive to the Hostel, we checked in and head out for food. With our belly's filled and the piss sufficiently taken out of our almost handicapped waitress, we head for bed. The following day we threw ourselves into the Argentinian lifestyle, we set out to get some lunch at around 1P.M. and didn't leave the restaurant until well after 3P.M. Happily filled with my first Argentinian beef and a glass of red wine, Ellie sufficiently peppered in bird poo from the critters above and through with being hasseled by homeless people - we set off to find something to do in Mendoza. That was easier said than done, in the end we found ourselves in a cinema watching 'Robin Hood' which was actually surprisingly good! The evening was wiled away with the staff from the hostel who ended up taking us to a locals club...very strange place but good times were had by all. Homeward bound and bed, we planned to take part in the main activity in Mendoza, the bike wine tour. Unfortunately we slightly overslept...


Another day passed us by and so we decided to do something constructive with our lives so we head to the supermarket, bought some steaks, potatoes and salad and rustled up home-made steak and chips with a healthy dose of red wine. It was delicious! I met the 'Hong Kong Girls' in the kitchen at the hostel, they have since become my official stalkers! The following day was  the day of the wine tour. I managed to recruit Sarah the evening before into coming with us so breakfasted, showered and checked out, the four of us head for the bus stop to Maipu. Under Ellie's guidance we spent a good 40 minutes waiting at the wrong bus stop, thanks to the help of a concerned elderly lady we finally found the right bus and were off! Standard travelling protocol meant stalking the nearest people of similar ethnic background to find our goal - 'Mr Hugo's'. A jolly Argentinian who made a living getting travellers drunk and then renting them bikes! We got our bikes and set off on the streets of Maipu visiting select wineries and chocolate producers.Sampling the wines, chocolates, conserves and liquers was actually a lot more interesting than just a piss up on wheels. One paricular winery tour involved going inside a fermenting chamber and in the tasting session, we had the flavours and aromas explained to us and how these differences were achieved. My favourite winery was called 'Tempus Alba', granted I was assaulted by the gay manager but the food, location and wine was just incredible. I could have stayed all day! I was very tempted to buy a bottle but alas I don't think it would have made it back to the UK intact, luckily I do have the name of a guy who imports the wine so all is not lost.


The whole day was just brilliant, sampling the different delicacies of the region against the beautiful mountainous backdrop was such an experience. As light began to fade, we head back to Mr Hugo - escorted  by the police, I'm not sure if police presence in South America makes me feel more comfortable or in greater peril! Back at Mr Hugo's, he literally insisted on pouring us more wine, as much as I enjoyed the day it, it was getting a little ridiculous. My enjoyment of red wine is still blossoming but there are definitely limits...


Mr Hugo's escaped, it was time to head back to the hostel from which we set off for the bus station. The time had come to leave Mendoza and head for the bright lights and bustling streets of Buenos Aires. The bus journey was verging on the grotesque. If you have ever had a red wine hangover, try surviving that at 4.30A.M. on a bus that is almost as hot as satan's bum crack with no water! I think my travelling low point manifested when I sucked on a tap on board the bus and genuinely contemplated drinking out of the toilet, I was desperate - when thirst hits a physical level, you know times are bad. Thankfully Rosie woke up, watered me and I made it alive to Buenos Aires. Off the bus and into a taxi, our adventures were only just beginning...

Having left the glittering beauty and modernity of Sydney and arriving into Santiago was potentially the most depressing element of my travels to date! The city was shrowded in fog and the people were extremely pushy. The language barrier which granted is purely my own fault was a lot greater than I had been expecting. Having minimal French can be useful in Spain, not in Chile. I spoke to a Spainish woman who told me that the verb to take in Spanish actually means to...well, to "fornicate" in not so many syllables in Chilean! Having been on a plane for 17 hours, being harrased by taxi drivers was the last thing I wanted!

This said, I did manage to make my way to a hostel I had prebooked on the Plaza de Armas. It was on the top floor of a beautiful colonial building with extremely friendly staff, warm showers and comfy beds. Regardless, I was a grumpy shit! I had the beginnings of a cold and the fact shorts and flip flops was no longer a viable dress code deeply upset me. One highlight to my arrival was the guy at the hostel, he was on his own little planet which could brighten anyones day!

Santiago offered very little, I spent a great deal of time catching up on my journal, writing postcards and blogging. I did befriend a lovely American girl, Alex, who was in Santiago to learn Spanish before being shipped off to Patagonia to do some volunteer work for a few months. We took a walk around the city, on a Sunday in a Catholic country this wasn't a great plan. Although I did see a more appealling side to the city, everything was closed! We walked through several different neighbourhouds from the very affluent to areas where a shanking was pretty much all there was to do! We saw some very cool graffiti though, apparently in Santiago, a lot of restaurant owners will pay artists in food in return for some wacky mural! In an attempt to brighten my life, Alex and I had a pizza party complete with party hats! The locals staying in the hostel were confused to say the least when they asked whose birthday it was and we replied nobody's...



My final days in Santiago ended with the decision to totally sack off Chile all together, the weather literally put a dampner on all of my plans. The parts I wanted to visit were apparently near on innaccesible and therefore unless I wanted to stay in Santiago for a few weeks, it was time to high tail it out of there! I'll have to come back when the weather is a little more accomodating...Chile isn't going anywhere fast! A bus booked, a mad dash to the bus station and I was on a bus through the Andes, Argentinia bound!