PUERTO IGUAZU

Crossed over into Argentina following 3 nights in Foz to see the Argentine side of the falls. Puerto Iguazu is a much more laid back place than Foz with some great restaurants. Emma finally had steak the way it is meant to be ... big, thick (we´re talking 2" thick) and bloody ..... it was delicious!!!!! We stayed in a beautiful Pousada here and again spent a few days exploring the falls. Managed to find a beautiful spot with a waterfall that was just ripe for swimming .... my apologies to the Argentinians who had the horror of witnessing me swimming in my pants!

BUENOS AIRES

After 5 very relaxing days in Puerto Iguazu we caught a flight into BA. The journey by taxi to the airport was a little strange as the taxi driver appeared to trying to get his taxi to take off .... at one point we were actually travelling faster than one of the planes! Nevertheless we made it into BA Local airport and were greeted by a teeming, hectic and cosmopolitan city. Headed straight for the IBIS hotel in Congreso where Emma asked for a room with a view of the Plaza ..... the receptionist did us proud and we opened the door of our room on the top floor to see a spectacular view of the Plaza, Congreso and the city .... fantastic and I knew then that I would be spending several hours with a bottle of wine admiring the view. BA is a fantastic city and one where both Emma and I could imagine living. It is beautiful with a very 19th century French style of architecture. We spent the first few days wandering the streets just soaking up the atmosphere of the antique markets of San Telmo, Recoleta cemetary and the various districts which are all unique. We then hit the museums and art galleries which are all excellent ... even convinced Emma to come with me to the Police museum housed on the 7th floor of a very dodgy looking tower block. The museum was large and great especially as we were it´s only visitors .... I don´t think people like going into a police building and asking to see it´s museum ...maybe because it´s not actually advertised anywhere (is´nt The Rough Guide great!?). Managed to get some great restaurants in again and went to one of the ´famous´ ones called Chiquilin which was ok but over-rated. Also headed to the famous Cafe Tortoni to watch a great tango show and spend some time people watching. Spent a long time window shopping and wishing that we could buy stuff to send back ... problem is that a). Postage is very expensive (and not that reliable) and b). it´s made INCREDIBLY difficult by the various rules for posting on Mondays, Thursdays and Wednesdays and whether the item is in a blue wrapper or if it is over 3 kgs or if contains a shirt AND a book .... etc etc .... we just gave up in the end.... We did, however, manage to dissappoint two would be muggers who wanted to deprive me of my wallet .... they used the ¨Madam you have some ketchup on you which we have just sprayed on you in order that we can divert your attention whilst robbing you¨technique. Luckily we had read of this and told them to bugger off which they did ...... Also spent some time in a cafe that is run as part of the organisation that is still trying to establish / seek justice for the 1000´s of ´Dissappeared´ who went missing during the seventies and early eighties. It was quite moving to see people showing one another old photographs and letters from what I presumed to be their sons or daughters ....... makes one realise how lucky one is. Also popped over to Colonia in Uruguay for the day .... almost didnt make it as the security guards took exception to my pen knife. Colonia is a beautiful town (a UNESCO site) with a lot of history, had a great day wandering around seeing the sights and having a fantastic meal at a place called the Drugstore which was featured in Conde Nast a little while ago.

Thought we should also try some of the Argentinian national drink `mate`whilst we were here. You see people everywhere with their thermos of hot water and carrying their mate gourd and bombilla (straw to drink it through). Had read it was an acquired taste - they were`nt wrong! Blurgh - very bitter! Have brought some mate teabags to see if we can learn to like it!

Throughout S America we have also been spotting some classic translation boo-boo`s - a favourite from BA were the ´chicken winds´we spotted on one restaurant menu....
After 8 glorious days in BA we sadly left for a flight to Ushuaia but are determined to return to BA again ........

USHUAIA

Ushuaia airport in Tierra del Fuego has to be one of the most spectacularly set airports of anywhere in the world ...... even better than San Francisco, Hong Kong or Tahiti (in our opinion anyway). Given the fact that it´s at ´the end of the world´on the southern tip of South America you can imagine that it´s an area that is not despoiled by high rise buildings and scattered houses. The airport itself literally sits in the middle of the Beagle channel between Argentine and Chilean territory and when the pilot makes his approach you feel as if he is going for a splash down landing! Ushuaia itself is a slightly wierd ´city´ in that it is very small and has a slightly world weary feel to it. Everyone is really welcoming (apart from the people who frequent the Islas Malvenas Veterans office)....... for those of you too young to remember .... this was the Falkland war of the early eighties. Again managed to find a nice Pousada which had lovely views over the Beagle Channel and a slightly eccentric owner who was a psychologist in her spare time. Also discovered another really good restaurant called Le Boudoin which we both thoroughly recommend to anyone visiting .... In Ushuaia we did the usual tourist things of sailing on the Beagle Channel to see the sea lions and the host of other wildlife and also visited the National Park here to do some walking. Whilst the park was lovely I felt a little disappointed by the fact that we had come thousands of miles to the tip of South America only to be told to stick to the path (admittedly the path took us 6 hourse to walk but it was still a path). None of your wander where you will here ! We did, however, find a route into the mountains directly behind Ushuaia where we were free to pick a mountain and choose our own route up it .... much better and much more beautiful I feel as it was not covered with other tourists!!!!

Almost booked a lastminute trip to Antarctica but having spoken to a few people around andhaving looked at reviews on the web decided to spend more time inPatagonia.

EL CALAFATE

After 4 nights in Ushuaia we caught a plane upto El Calafate for three nights in order to visit the Moreno Glacier. Again checked into a lovely Pousada called Neunkelen overlooking Lago Argentino.... (I should point out here that after 2 nights spent in a dodgy hostel in Rio de Janeiro we took the decision to spend the extra and stay in simple hotels / pousadas .....the internet is such a wonderful invention) and set off to explore the town. This did not take too long as the town is essentially one very tourist orientated street whose architecture (on the ground floors at least) has been lifted from a swiss ski village. It was in El Chalten that I realised that Emma has an uncany knack of finding really good restaurants as we had dinner in one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at ( we were to return here twice again). Emma ordered Bife de Lomo and was served the best steak either of us has EVER eaten and I ordered Patagonian Lamb which arrived on it´s own hotplate the size of a butlers tray .... it was, quite simply delicious amd all washed down with two bottles of Bianchi Chablis ..... Anyway, I digress as we were here for the glacier .... hired a car and the next day headed to the Moreno Glacier early to avoid the tourists which we did (we were the second couple there ). The glacier is breathtaking and even more astounding is the noise that it makes when a piece of ice the size of a three storey house breaks off and crashes into the water!!! We were both mesmorised and spent the next five hours simply staring at it ..... didn´t even notice the busloads of tourists who started arriving a few hours after we had got there. We even managed to reach an ice berg that had floated up onto the shore .... I had my first taste of 10,000 year old water ... deliciously cold !

PUERTO NATALES (CHILE)

4 days after staying in El Calafate we were back on a bus heading along Route 40 to get down to Puerto Natales in order to visit Torres Del Paine in the National Park which has to be the most photographed area of all Patagonia. The ride down was amazing in respect of the fact that it was basically justa dirt track and the fact that in the entire journey of 280 kilometers we saw only 4 houses. The isolation of this area is truly it´s most outstanding feature. When we arrived in Puerto Natales I was a little shocked as I had expected my first impression of a Chilean ´city´ to be one of well laid out and neat buildings. In reality the streets are the dirtiest of any place I have ever been and countless numbers of stray dogs roam the street foraging in the rubbish that appears to be permanently piled up outside peoples houses which themselves look as if they are about to fall down. Given the fact that this is unquestionably a hrd environment to live in I had expected the houses to be a sanctuary but they are simply ugly wooden boxes with tin sheets nailed to them in order to afford some protection from the incessant wind. Sorry if this sounds a little bleak but this was my first impression of the place. On the plus side - Chilean drivers are a lot more pedestrian friendly - they even indicate when turning and wait at the traffic lights!We spent a day orientating ourselves, going to the excellent local museum and then found a sanctuary called El Living which had a fantastically laid back feel to it ... just the place to sip wine, taste our first pisco sours, leaf through magazines and just relax. The next day we took a tour (against our better judgement as we prefer to organise the trips ourselves) to Torres Del Paine .... in retrospect we are glad that we did so as we cannot recall ever laughing so much. The day, however, did not get off to a good start when we were greeted by Jose who was meant to be bilingual in Spanish and English but clearly could neither speak nor understand English. It went further downhill when he told us (in Spanish) that we had to pay extra (on top of the all inclusive price that we had paid) to get into the Milodon Cave. The day was, however, saved when everyone started to see the funny side (even the native Spanish speakers) ..... a few classics of Jose the knowledgable guide were "on your left is a hill" and " back along the road a few kilometres ago I saw a Guanaco". The ultimate being "in Patagonia there are 3 million chavs" - we almost died laughing (never did see any that day though). The bus became it´s own tour guide with people pointing things out that they could see and relating bits of the history and geology of the area that they had read. The actual Torres Del Paine mountain range is magnificent, truly beatiful and inspiring but again there are so many people all walking in the same ´wilderness area´. Still a beautiful sight though. The next day we borrowed two bikes and headed off to the Borries Meat Freezing and Packing Museum. This may sound like a wierd day out but the museum is amazing. The buidlings were designed and built by the British at the beginning of the 19th Century and are especially imposing in that they are the only large brick buildings in the city ... 100 years old but they still look newer than the latest built houses elsewhere in the city. The museum is not exactly a museum in the true sense of the word as there are no ´exhibits´ behind glass cages. Rather, you are allowed to wander around un-chapperoned to see, smell and touch the history. It really felt as if you were a part of the place as it has all been left untouched down to the fact that the paperwork in the huge walk in safe is still there !!!!!! The machinery too still looks as if you could flip a switch and get it to work again..... had great fun turning all the handles on the industrial lathes ( I guess it´s a boys thing). It was especially good as we were the only ones there. One are especially brought home the horror of working in a place like that which was the tallow room ... even after more than 25 years have passed the smell of that room still makes one gag .... Emma could spend no more than a few minutes there.

EL CHALTEN

From Puerto Natales we took an early morning bus back to El Calafate in order to get an onward connection to El Chalten. We spent the intervening 4 hours in our favourate of places La Tablita and again had huge portions of steak all washed down with copious amounts of wine .... cannot think of a better way to wait for a bus! We got into El chalten after a 5 hour bus ride across unmade roads and were greeted by the twinkling of fairy lights which made the place look very much like a Swiss ski resort. Stayed in a great place that had just added an extension and it looked like we were the first to stay in the room. El Chalten really is a frontier town (not suprising given the fact that it was only estqablished in 1985 in order to stop Chile claiming the territory). There are no banks, no supermarkets and the local shop only stocks rotten vegetables and rotten fruit (I kid you not) but despite this it has a really great feel and I think that the town is going to look very different 5 years from now. The whole Fitzroy area around here is quite simply stunning ...... probably the most beautiful mountain ranges we have ever seen. Needless to say we spent the next few days walking our socks off, returning to base exhausted and hungry but very very happy. This state was further helped by the fact that El Chalten probably has the smallest micro brewery in the world. It does not sell its beer anywhere else and the brewery has a seating capacity of around 20 people .... beer was delicious.

BARILOCHE

Flew from El Calafate (via La Tablita) to Bariloche which is meant to be the premier Argentine holiday resort. It was all very lovely, very pretty and very touristy. It´s also the chocolate capital of Argentina and needless to say, Emma and I indulged wildly. Stayed in a couple of places whilst we were there - the best being Hostel 1004 (a bargain at only 5 pounds pppn). A very friendly place with phenomenal views over the lake (reason being that the hostel was at the top of a high rise on the lake front) and gave Tony the longed for opportunity to do some cooking!

Took a cruise to some of the protected islands in the lake and generally just chilled out. Bariloche would be a great place for a skiing trip and we intend to return with this in mind ...... skiing in August sounds good to me! We had 6 days here but decided to head off into Chile as the buses were getting booked up.