Week 13 - Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales, Navimag (Chile)

The third day of the ‘W’ trek in Torres del Paine national park started with a 2.5 hour trek up the central branch of the ‘W’ to the closed climbers camp, Britanico then a further 45 mins to the Britanico viewpoint. Having left our bags and tent at the campsite the walk felt really easy and we quickly made our way up the valley to the glacier viewpoints. Sadly it was pretty overcast so the view was limited but rumours of a puma sighting spurred us on. 

After retracing our steps back to camp to pack up the tent we carried on a further 2.5 hours to Cuernos, another pay campsite with hot showers and an indoor area for cooking (after the fires they are quite strict on where you can use stoves and where you can set up camp). The second half of the route took us along the lake again and across a stone beach, all of a sudden we were out of the fire zone and there were birds and wild flowers everywhere you looked. All the plots were on wooden platforms so we couldn’t peg our tent and had to make do with rocks and boulders. 

As we got into bed than night the winds hit. Our tent stuck it out for a few hours before a gust of wind pulled up the back and we were left open to the elements (as we’d hired the cheapest tent in town it should be of no surprise to you that it was barely of the standard to survive a British summer nevermind a Patagonian one). We got out and pinned it down again under some heavier boulders. Within 20 minutes the wind had dislodged it again and we realised there was no way we would make it through the night and had to pay a small fortune to stay in the outside dorms owned by the refugio – bunk beds in a sturdy tent shaped like half a golf ball that were so cold we slept in our sleeping bags and liners underneath the blankets.

Day 4 we left Cuernos and the lake side behind and headed further east to the final valley of the ‘W’. We left camp in blazing sunshine, by the time we reached the top of the first peak the winds started and by the second peak the snow started. We ploughed on for 3.5 hours to a refugio where we stopped for a hot chocolate to defrost before heading a further 1.5 hours to our free camp at the base of the torres. We got to the wooded campsite relatively early and spent an hour pitching the tent and building a wall to protect the tent from the winds before brewing a cuppa to celebrate our impressive tent skills. Then we noticed the clouds had cleared and we could see blue sky at the top of the torres so we grabbed the camera and pretty much ran the last 45 mins up the side of a mountain incase the weather was too bad the following day. By the time we made it to the top the clouds had drawn back in and we had a quick glimpse of the towers before the blizzard really started and we headed back down in a white out. That night we were in the tent at 7pm with the snow gathering outside. 

After a very cold and uncomfortable sleep we were up at 4am to pack the backpack with the sleeping bags and stove for a second climb to the torres to see sunrise. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as we’d hoped but still a sense of achievement to know we’d made it with only minor arguments and minor injuries and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. We ate breakfast while the sun rose before heading back to camp to pack the tent for the last time. 3.5 hours later, most of which was downhill we completed the ‘W’ having walked almost 100km in 5 days and sat in the sun drinking beer waiting for the bus back in to town and to civilisation, hot showers and clean clothes. By the time we had put our laundry in and taken back the hired equipment we were shattered so we had an early dinner at an amazing pizzeria on the square before climbing into bed.

The next day we were still feeling pretty worn out from the hike and Rhys’s knee was so sore he could barely walk. Rhys stayed in the hostel to rest while I spent hours trying to find him a decent Christmas present for £5 in town. Rhys joined me for lunch and we headed back to the hostel to watch films and chill.

Our last day in Puerto Natales Rhys arranged to meet up with Simon, a guy we’d met in Bariloche and run into on the ‘W’ to stream the Chelsea game. After the game I joined them and we spent a couple of hours in Simon’s hostel with drinks before the guy Simon was traveling with, another Simon who we’d also met in Bariloche got back from the national park. A few more drinks later and we headed out back to the pizza restaurant for take out.

We left Puerto Natales on Tuesday, Christmas Eve. After checking out of our room at the hostel and checking our luggage in at the Navimag office we had 9 hours to kill before we could actually board the boat at 10pm. The Navimag is a 4 night ferry ride from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. The boat takes 250 passengers alongside cars and cargo – our boat had cows, sheep and horses on board. It’s not luxurious but it’s better than a lot of the hostels we’ve been staying in, you get 3 meals a day and lunch and dinner are 3 courses and in the cheapest beds, where we were, you got a bunk bed with a curtain around it in a group of 4 beds off of the main corridor, we even had a port hole. 

The first night we boarded, settled in to our bunks, explored the decks, took photos of the sunset and congregated in the bar on the top floor for empanadas, cheese slices and a glass of bubbles to meet the other passengers. We got talking to 2 Australian guys, Ty(rone) and Brad and an English girl, Sarah who became our Navimag buddies for the rest of the trip. The boat left port at 5am on Christmas day.

Camping at Cuernos (the night the tent blew away).

The Torres of Torre Del Paine at sunset.

Cosy, watching the sun rise at Torre Del Paine.

Rhys at a river crossing, day 5 of the 'W'.

Me hiking, day 5 of the 'W'.

Rhys on the home straight of the 'W'.

Rhys at the finish line of the 'W'.

The Navimag in Puerto Natales.

Onboard the Navimag on Christmas Eve.

Week 12 - Ushuaia, Torres del Paine (Argentina, Chile)

After a bit of research we realised it was going to cost £160 each for a return to the Chilean town, Puerto Williams on the southern side of the Beagle Channel, so we extended our 2 night stay in Ushuaia to 5 nights (this also meant we saved ourselves another 4 passport stamps, our passports are starting to fill up with all the weaving in and out of Argentina and Chile already and they need to last us the two years). Yet again we had a great hostel with 360 degree views of the port and the snow capped mountains from the top floor common room so staying longer than anticipated was certainly no hardship. For the first time since we've been in Argentina we came across protests over ownership of the Falkland islands (Islas Malvinas as they're known here).

The first night in Ushuaia we got talking to two girls from New York/Baltimore, Alex and Bailey, and a northern guy living in Sydney, Matt. Since the weather the following day was forecast to be good we all decided to book a transfer and head out to the Tierra del Fuego national park a couple of kilometres out of town. The end of the world really isn’t as dramatic as you’d expect, it kind of gently fades out, the mountains aren’t as high or as jagged as further north, the wind is calmer and there is grass rather than the scrub in northern and mid Patagonia – feels a bit like home. After walking along the shore of the Beagle Channel and an empanada in one of the lodges we decided to hunt beavers on the beaver route. We got a little lost and walked in a circle and when we finally found the beaver lodges and dams there were no beavers in sight, still some impressive architecture for critters so small mind.

Back at the hostel that night a game of ring of fire started involving a giant penguin, chins on the table for swearing (where Rhys and Matt spent most of the night) and a lap of the room on all fours. Being so far south it barely gets dark, even at 3 o’clock in the morning the sky was still blue. 

Surprisingly enough we spent the next day recovering watching endless episodes of Entourage and only venturing out of the hostel for lunch. An amazing offer for a 9 day cruise to Antarctica came up at 40% off and USD$3,100 each (if you ever want to go check in to a hostel in Ushuaia and be ready for a last minute deal). We were so close to going before we worked out the return date and checked flight schedules and realised it meant that we wouldn’t be able to make the Navimag that was already booked and paid for – it’s also just been pointed out to us that if we’d gone nothing else we’d have done in Patagonia would have lived up to it, we’ll come back.

Our last day in Ushuaia we booked a boat trip out to the sea lions, cormorants and the lighthouse at the end of the world (which isn’t really at the end of the world). The sea was calm and so flat it was like glass and everything is shades of grey, really beautiful. The sea lions were out in their hundreds. The final stop on the boat trip was an island where the indigenous Yaghan used to live naked and slathered in sea lion fat (there’s now only one Yaghan woman still alive and living in Puerto Williams).

We left Ushuaia the following day with a bus to Punta Arenas then on to Puerto Natales, another border crossing back in to Chile leaving Argentina for the last time. At the ferry crossing to get back to the main land the queue was about 3kms long (bear in mind the ferry only holds about 20 vehicles and takes 20 mins), our bus driver didn’t seem to see this and crossed into the oncoming traffic lane and booted it all the way to the front so we were on the next ferry. We arrived into Puerto Natales late that night.

The following day we went to a renowned Torres del Paine talk at Erratic Rock, a hostel in town. It was so helpful in making us plan our route and prepare us for what we were letting ourselves in for on the ’W’ trek in the park – for instance the wind can reach 260km per hour and it is expected that you will experience all four seasons in the 5 day trek – they weren’t wrong. The rest of the day was spent hiring equipment and buying 3 minute noodles and a ridiculous amount of dried fruit.

Monday was out first day of hiking. We were picked up by the bus from the hostel and drove 2 hours to the park where we paid our entrance fee and I managed to immediately lose my ticket which left us panicking that they were going to check it before letting us on to the actual trails. The bus dropped us at the catamaran pier which took us across lake Pehoe to the start of the trails.

As soon as we got off the boat we grabbed our bags and headed out towards Refugio Grey, an 11km hike up to a glacier, the western side of the ‘W’. When we got to the Refugio, we pitched our tent and continued for another hour to a mirador and up to a disused campsite for views of the glacier and of the southern Patagonian ice field, one of only 3 places in the world you can actually see it. The ice field is the world's second largest contiguous extrapolar ice field covering 16,800 km² - 80% of the landmass of Wales. We got back to camp, had a hot shower and ate our 3 minute noodles before bed, just as the rain started.

Our second day of trekking followed the same path as the previous day back down to the southern edge of the ‘W’ and continued along the lake shore to a free campsite, Italiano. As the first day the walk continued through the area that was devastated by the December 2011 fire – started by some stupid Israeli who was pirate camping and decided to burn his rubbish and run off when the wind took and spread the flames. The fire burned for 10 days and destroyed 85 km². A similar fire in 2005 destroyed nearly 3 times more of the park, started again by human negligence, it’s not until the fourth day of the trek that you start seeing the impact of the earlier fire and appreciating just how long it takes for the flora and fauna to recover. As you walk through the charcoaled forests and see the singed scrub you really feel the impact of the fire, the views are still stunning and the lakes and mountains are as breath-taking as ever but it feels quite eerie. 

Day three of the trek falls in week 13….

Rhys, Bailey, Alex and Matt looking for Beavers, Tierra del Fuego.

Beaver dam, like Hoover dam but smaller.

Anti-British poster, Ushuaia.

Sea lions in the Beagle Channel.

Lighthouse at the end of the world, Ushuaia.

Day 1 - 'W' trek, fresh faced, Torres del Paine.

Day 1 - 'W' trek. Torres del Paine. 

Day 1 - Lago Grey, 'W' trek. Torres del Paine.

Day 2 - Fire damage, Torres del Paine.

Week 11 - El Chalten, El Calafate, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia (Argentina, Chile)

For our second day in El Chalten we had booked a trip out to Glacier Viedma. After a short bus trip with stunning views of the Fitz Roy mountain range we boarded a boat to take us to the glacier. An hour of weaving through icebergs and plenty of photo opportunities later we docked at the foot of the glacier (20 years ago the rocks we landed on had been covered by ice but the only reminders now are the incredible scuff marks, like if I dragged a fork across a freshly iced cake, and the bright colours from the minerals in the ice).

Compared to Perito Moreno there was hardly anyone there as only one bus load had left El Chalten that morning and only 5 of us were signed up for ice climbing. We tied on our crampons, tightened our harnesses and put on our helmets and headed out onto the glacier to the first crevice our instructors thought reasonable for beginners to climb. The instructors drilled holes in the ice to hold the ropes and we rappelled into the crevice – the only way to get out was to master the ice picks and climb. Turns out ice climbing requires a certain amount of upper body strength especially on the compressed blue ice, something I am severely lacking - although I managed to complete 2 of the 3 climbs, Rhys was a star and shot up all 3. It was so serene on the ice, listening to the glacier cracking and the run of the melting ice while condors swooped overhead. 

After a short trek, a stop on the ice for lunch and a 4th climb for those hardcore among us (neither of us even attempted it as if you couldn’t do it you’d just be stuck 20 metres down), the trip ended with the guides taking us to a spot at the side of the glacier where you could walk underneath the ice in a cave glowing blue and handed us a Bailey’s served over freshly chipped glacier ice, unbeatable. 

That night we treated ourselves to a meal out and headed to a BBQ restaurant where we had a ridiculous amount of meat and a wine penguin (turns out penguin isn’t a brand but a litre carafe in penguin form of unidentified wine). 

Waiting for our bus back to El Calafate the following day, we braved the wind to hike to the Condor Pass for views over the town but no actual condors then warmed up over apple pie and brownie at a bakery in town. 

From El Calafate we caught a bus to Punta Natales then after a run around the town to find a bus company with spare seats to get out that evening, a bottle of wine and a game of ‘how many US states can you name’, we completed the trip to Punta Arenas. As we’d already seen a million penguins the previous week and there’s not much else to do in town we spent the time recouping at a hippy hostel, browsing the stores at the duty free zone, eating rhubarb jam and drinking with a British couple and an American couple in town. 

We managed to get a bus out on Monday (buses get really booked up here) and headed down to Ushuaia where we are now – the fin del mundo/end of the world. The trip south was long, a 12 hour journey that you can only do in day light hours because the ferries don’t run at night. The ferry across the Magellan Strait was brilliant, dolphins in the strait were playing in the wake of the boat and followed us half way across but apart from that 45 mins of excitement the journey was uneventful. We’re so used to Chile/Argentina border crossings now that we had the apples and garlic out ready to hand to the guy at customs and can fill out the forms with our eyes closed, urgh.

Rhys ice climbing, Viedma Glacier.

Ice climbing, Viedma Glacier.

Me underneath the Viedma Glacier.

Rhys licking the Viedma Glacier during the Bailey's stop.

Dolphins following the ferry to Ushuaia.

Week 10 - Puerto Madryn, El Calafate, El Chalten (Argentina)

At the start of the week we were still in Puerto Madryn and following our successful day whale watching had booked a bus trip down to the Punta Tombo penguin colony, the most important Magellan penguin breeding ground on the continent with over 200,000 of the little critters during the breeding season when we were there (more than doubling at malting season). As soon as you entered the reserve you could see penguins sitting on eggs and chicks, under bushes and shrubs and hiding in holes, they were everywhere. It was so cute to watch the parents greeting each other after one had been at sea for 10 days eating, before they switched roles and the other headed out.

On the way back from the colony our bus stopped at a welsh speaking settlement, Gaiman. All of a sudden there were welsh flags and signs written in welsh everywhere. The welsh settled in 1874 because they wanted somewhere secluded where no one would bother them and they knew no one else wanted to live in the Patagonian wilderness – they’ve done pretty well with the place. The village is lush and green with cute little houses with sash windows. Famous for its high teas we thought it rude not to join in. The Ty Gwyn was a quaint little old school café with recipes for welsh cakes and pictures of welsh castles on the walls and for a small fortune we had a pot of tea and more cake than you could shake a stick out (no welsh cakes though).

The next day was a chill day in Puerto Madryn followed by an overnight bus to Rio Gallegos for a connection to El Calafate. We’re getting a little sick of getting off of night buses and needing a whole day to recover so splashed out on a ‘cama’ (Spanish for ‘bed’). The seats were like leather lazy boys with hot meals served and a special helping of a sweet swiss roll filled with ham and cheese, delightful.

Our hostel in El Calafate was perfect, a little house on the hill overlooking the lake. Our first full day in town we took a bus out to the Perito Moreno glacier in the Los Glaciares National Park. At 19 miles in length and 97 square miles in size it was a pretty impressive sight. After a boat trip through the icebergs to see the glacier up close we headed to the board walks to spend a couple of hours viewing it from every possible angle – we have a billion photos to prove it which Rhys very much enjoyed culling. The glacier moves at 2 metres per day so there are constantly bits cracking off and falling in to the water, even a little sprinkle makes a noise like thunder. 

That night we arranged to meet some guys from Bariloche in a bar in town and ended up drinking more fernet and cokes than really necessary. After balking at the USD$1 entrance to the casino we headed back to the hostel. 

Before heading to El Chalten, a colourful little village a couple of hours north inside the national park, we decided Converse and Etnies really weren’t going to be the best shoe wear for serious trekking and spent a small fortune on shiny new trekking shoes (Ceri, you’ll be glad to know it probably means we’ll be home a couple of days early!). 

In El Chalten we checked into the cheapest and possibly the worst hostel in town (over run by loud obnoxious travellers and super basic) and headed for a 6km walk along the track out of town to a waterfall. 

Our first full day we decided to test the new shoes with a 27km hike out to the Fitz Roy mountain range. Boy was it a hard days walk but I have to admit the new shoes made me feel like a spritely mountain goat when it came to the steep bits, shame they didn’t help with the overall stamina. The hike was worth it though, the view was stupendous, absolutely breath taking. At the end of the trail was a glacier lake full of ice bergs at the foot of Fitz Roy. By the time we got back to town we were both shattered and ready for an early night.

Pinguino - Punta Tombo.

More penguins - Punta Tombo.

Rhys enjoying his welsh tea, Gaiman.

Perito Moreno glacier.

Perito Moreno glacier.

Glacier lake at the top of the Fitz Roy trail.

Fitz Roy mountain range.

Week 9 - Bariloche, Puerto Madryn (Argentina)

This week we’ve been extending our ‘dorm etiquette’ rule book – 1) Do not press snooze on your alarm 10 times 2) Do not treat your dorm bed like a private double if you’re a couple 3) Do get a private if you snore….

Other than that we’ve had a brilliant week, starting with a stunning 7 hour bus journey from Puerto Varas to Bariloche. Leaving Chile behind and heading back into Argentina, the road wound over the Andes to the border then down through the Nahuel Huapi National Park where it continued following the lake shore into Bariloche, a tourist hub.

Trying to find the bus into the centre and failing we got talking to a NZ girl and a German guy and ended up walking about 45 mins with our rucksacks to get to the hostel. It was so worth it. The hostel was amazing. We checked in to a 6 bed dorm but ended up in a private room with a bunk bed, a couch and a stunning lake view. After check-in we met up with the people from the bus station and went for one of our poshest meals yet at a little wooden restaurant. We ended up in a little bar down a back street enjoying happy hour beer and playing drinking games with some foul pepper shots and a spinning top, urgh.

The next day we met up with Pip and Paul again to head to Cerro Catedral, a big ski centre where the mountain peaks resemble cathedral spires. After an expensive cable car ride, a very windy chair lift and a 2 hour scramble across the last of the snow and massive boulders we were at the top. It was breathtaking – the views down to the lake and across the valley were absolutely amazing. We had a picnic at the top before heading down and grabbing a hot chocolate in the après ski bar.

Back at the hostel that night we booked a slot in the free Jacuzzi and spent an hour drinking cheap bubbles watching the sun set over the lake.

When we woke the next day we caught a bus to the start of the Chico Circuit, a 36km ring road out on the peninsula where we hired bikes. Not a single kilometre was flat and 9km was on unpaved tracks – it was hard. Rhys ‘Wiggins’ Kingdom here with his childhood idolisation of Lance Armstrong had me sprinting round the route completing the 6 hour ride in 4.5 hours.

The rest of our time in Bariloche was spent touring the expensive chocolate shops for free samples, playing pool, chilling in our upgraded superior double room with stunning lake views and making the most of the Jacuzzi.

Our next stop was Puerto Madryn, another overnight bus journey away where some super sensitive police dog thought my malaria tablets were worth getting me to empty out my entire bag for.

Puerto Madryn itself is pretty bland, the Patagonian landscape is just mile after mile and hour after hour of scrubland. Puerto Madryn though is a base to explore the wildlife in the surrounding areas including the Peninsula Valdes. We took a tour from the hostel where we stopped at a few points on the peninsula to see elephant seals and a few penguins and took a boat trip out into the golf to see the Southern Right Whales. They were so close to the boat, mums with their calf’s swimming underneath and alongside and so big – 16.5m long for a full grown male with each testicle weighing 500kg (the only fact Rhys actually remembers from the whole tour) – definitely in our top 5 experiences of the trip so far. That night to finish the week we taught some Danish girls and two guys from Essex the rules of trumps while drinking copious amounts of vodka.

 

Jacuzzi, TangoInn Downtown, Bariloche.

Jap snap, Cerro Catedral, Bariloche.

At the top of Cerro Catedral, Bariloche.

Bike ride with fab helmet, Bariloche.

Rhys looking nonchalent at the whales, Puerto Madryn.

Whales!! Puerto Madryn.

Week 8 - Pichilemu, Pucon, Valdivia, Puerto Varas (Chile)

Thursday morning we boarded the Pachamama hop on hop off bus for the southern leg of the lake district route. The bus meant we could cover a lot of ground quickly without missing out on the sites along the way and it was a nice break from having to lug our bags around trying to find hostels and waiting for buses.

Leaving Santiago there were only 5 of us on the bus plus Tanya our guide and Pedro our driver. The first stop of the day was in Pomaire, a small handicraft village known for it's clay pots. After refueling with empanadas we drove to the Rapel Dam, a small hydroelectric dam on route to Pichilemu where we were spending the night. In Pichiemu we found a little drunken man outside our hostel who had horses to rent on the beach. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. The horses just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. Rhys having never been on a horse before was suddenly trotting through the forest being jiggled to death and cantering along the beach holding on for dear life. Back at the hostel we caught up with the van again and two American girls who had 'hopped on' and headed out to Punta Lobos, a rocky point where the surfing national championships are held, to watch the waves crashing in and Brendon falling on his ass (twice). A game of ring of fire later and we went to bed.

The second day we left Pichilemu and headed to Santa Cruz to visit the Colchagua Museum. Even Rhys enjoyed it. The museum displays the collection of Carlos Cardoen, a guy who was on the FBI top 10 most wanted list for allegedly selling arms to Iraq in the 1980's. His collection is incredible, from an F1 car to Incan mummies to the pod used in the Chilean miners rescue and a ridiculous amount of fossils and guns. The drive from Santa Cruz to Pucon skirted along the banks of Villarrica Lake while we played power ballads at full blast and saw away enough beer and spirits to sink a ship before pulling in to the backpacker mountain town. At the hostel there weren't enough beds for everyone so me and Rhys ended up topping and tailing - a great way to save some cash.

Day three we spent in Pucon. Along with Brendon and John we caught a taxi out to Huequehue national park since the bus from town left stupidly early and we'd been out the night before. Having intended to complete a 5 hour hike to three small lakes we gave up once the heavens opened and the trail became a small river not appropriate for hikers in Etnies and Converse - we may have persevered had the mist we'd had all day not reduced the visibility to about 20 metres. After an extortionately priced coffee to warm up we headed back into town to pick up the van for a lift out to the Pozones hot springs to sit and soak as night fell. Turns out they're very strict on alcohol consumption at the springs and having nearly been thrown out a couple of times we thought it better to continue the party in town.

Leaving Pucon the bus took the seven lakes route (very bumpy but very picturesque) to Valdivia. Once there we stopped at a brilliant little street food market by the beach and filled up on meat skewers and fish stews whilst some country Chilean musician played and locals watched in awe at the tourists at the market. Our next stop was to a fort then on into town to see the biggest sea lions you have ever seen in your life, the highlight being when one sneezed on Rhys.

Our final day on the bus brought us to Puerto Varas where the party broke up with the 3 girls continuing north and the 2 guys flying south. On the last night together Tanya our guide took us to her friends house for an evening of red wine and guitar hero.

Yesterday we spent the day exploring the town and catching up on well needed sleep. It's a bit like being in the Alps, all the buildings are made of wood and there are little coffee shops and chocolate shops all over town with views out over the Llanquihue Lake, the second biggest in South America and to two snow covered volcanoes.

Today rather than take an expensive organised tour, we jumped on a local shuttle bus to the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, to the Petrohué falls. Despite the hoards of American tourists on coach trips it was beautiful. After the falls we walked to the Laguna Verde where we were alternatively scorched by the sun and hailed on then caught a bus back into town.

 Rhys and Brendon horseriding in Pichilemu.

Pachamama crew, Punta Lobos. 

Me hugging the lighthouse, Valdivia.

Pachamama power ballads, Pucon.

Pachamama crew, Puerto Varas. 

Rhys, Huequehue National Park.

Sealion planking, Valdivia.

Puerto Varas national park and volcanoes.

 

Week 7 - Las Canas, Mendoza, Santiago (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile)

From Fray Bentos bus terminal no buses went out to Las Canas, a village with a river beach, one shop and 3 bar/restaurants about 8km out of town, so we jumped in taxi. When we got to the hotel it was all locked up with a sign on the door to ring a number to be let in. We’re not carrying a charged mobile phone. While Rhys stayed at the hotel with the bags I walked down to the beach and in my pigeon Spanish managed to get directions to the pay phone. The phone didn’t work. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to explain to a guy at one of the bars that I needed to borrow a phone, all fun and games. An hour after arriving in the village we finally we got let into our room.

The next morning we took a cab back into Fray Bentos to pick up our bus tickets and to visit the Fray Bentos factory museum – not a whole lot of English just photos of tinned pies and corn beef cans. Back in Las Canas the two Belgian guys we met in Punta del Diablo checked into our hotel with a Chilean guy they’d met along the way with a rental car. After a few beers in one of the beach bars we drove into Fray Bentos for dinner then back to Las Canas for a bonfire on the beach.

We had booked tickets to Mendoza on the twice weekly bus and the guys dropped us at the international bridge where we had to sit by the immigration post to wait for the bus to come through. After clearing customs we were out of Uruguay and back into Argentina and had an 18 hour overnight bus journey to look forward to. The buses here serve food and drink, although of very differing quality depending on the bus company. We’ve heard of people getting free wine and even champagne and hot dinners. Our bus served us crackers and biscuits followed by some crisps and peanuts and a choice of either a shot of whiskey or vodka straight to help you sleep, lovely.

Arriving in Mendoza we booked to go up into the high Andes and on a wine tasting trip to some vineyards. The Andes trip was brilliant although involved spending a long time on a mini bus, about a 3 hour drive out of town, stopping at lakes and viewpoints along the way, we arrived at the base of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Southern and Western Hemispheres at 6962m. It was really majestic, the Andes are really rugged and the national park was beautiful.

The wine tasting trip was less majestic. We’d been lucky to have a good group on our trip the day before but the crowd for wine tasting was a lot older and the whole thing was quite ‘conveyor belt’ as in you arrived at the vineyards with loads of other buses, got a quick tour, a dribble of wine and back on the bus to the next one. I can happily say though that we are now more knowledgeable about both red wine and olive oil (and Tim, we hope to visit your parents wine cellar again soon).

That night back at the hostel we discovered Rhys’s bunk had bed bugs. Urgh. Last week he was ready to declare war on the mosquitoes, this week it’s bed bugs, not a happy Rhys. We were moved into a different dorm so they could fumigate and they managed to throw my PJ’s out with the sheets. It’s a good job I have another pair because sleeping naked in dorms really wouldn’t go down too well.

We were ready to leave Mendoza after that and the next day took the most scenic road ever to Santiago so yet another border crossing but only a 7 hour journey. The road winds through the Andes past all these little ski resorts to the border and then it’s all hairpin bends the other side.

The hostel here is brilliant, pool table, big TV room, foosball, great people and right in the centre of Bellavista, a really cool area with hundreds of bars and restaurants lining the streets. Last night, after a few drinks on the roof terrace we headed out to a bar. We had intended to do a walking tour of the city today but it didn’t happen so I have to say we haven’t really seen much of the city but since we weren’t planning to come at all and the last hostel was such a dive it’s been nice to just chill out – the couches here are so comfortable and having a couch at all is a novelty!

Beach bonfire for Mathieu's birthday, Las Canas.

Rhys at the Fray Bentos factory.

Rhys in the Andes, Mendoza.

Aconcagua Nacional Parque, Mendoza.

Rhys wine tasting. Mendoza.

The road to Santiago.