Alot has happened since our last blog entry from La Paz, Bolivia.
We entered Argentina via the North as we were coming from Bolivia, with optimism and excitement about our pending stint in Argentina. Most people we'd met in S. America ranked Argentina as the best country they'd visited, and filled us in on how Argy had the biggest steaks, the best football and the most beautiful women....which sounded good enough to us!
After our freezing cold sober nights in the Bolivian desert we headed for Salta, which was supposedly a pretty buzzing city, however when we arrived it was a bit of a ghost town to be honest. The city itself was very nice with loads of coffee shops to sit out in the square and watch the latin life go by. The first thing we noticed about Argentina was how much more developed it is compared to Bolivia and Peru, it felt almost like we were in Rome, Madrid or some other European city which was a nice touch.
After a couple of nights in Salta, mainly playing Pro Evolution soccer with some locals we borded the bus again and headed for Iguazu Falls, which is a fair old drive (24 hours). We arrived dazed and confused in the heat of the day by the small town of Port Iguazu where we checked into a really nice hostel, with a pool and evrything. By this part of the trip we had all decided to grow a beard until we got to Argentina, and this started in Cusco, Peru. We looked like sweaty beardy gits by the time we arrived in Iguazu, and after our first day we decided enough was enough so we after a 2 hour shearing session we were clean as a whistle again. Iguazu Falls itself was definitley one of the most spectacular sights of the trip, one point it felt like you were standing at the edge of the world, it was pretty amazing.
After Iguazu Falls our next destination was the capital, Buenos Aires, somewhere we'd heard alot about and although feeling pretty tired by the overnight bus journey down Argentina again we were excited about being in a big bustling city again, and BA does not disapoint. On arrival at our hostel the local recepetionist told us 'if you've come here to sleep, you've come to the wrong place!' We managed to prove her wrong but only slightly. The whole timezone of a day in Buenos Aires is a nightmare for someone from England, we would go out for dinner at 11, be back at 12 and then think about finding a bar at 1 or 2, and so we wouldn't be back to the hostel by until 6 or 7, by which time breakfast was starting to be served and we couldn't miss the free food, and so we'd touch our heads down on the pillow by 8 or 9. Being men who need their beauty sleep (especially fergus) we usually got a good 6-8 hour sleep in aswell which meant half the day was already over by the time we got up! This didnt happen everyday, but enough to mess up our body clocks. Buenos Aires itself was probably our favourite city of Argentina, the plazas and sqaures around the city were great for playing cards or just chilling in the sun by the many fountains a patches of grass. We also found a steak house which served the most tender steaks for less than a Burger king cost, and so we felt obliged to spend a good amount of eating time there. Everyday the roads were blocked off by huge crowds marching down the street, which we found out later in New Zealand from some Argentinians that these were workers strikes, and that they were the norm everyday in Buenos Aires, can't imagine that going down too well in London. The nicest part of Buenos Aires is defintley the nearby suburb of Palermo which has loads of parks and musuems and all that sort of stuff to fill your day in Argentina. The highlight of Buenos Aires for all of us was 100% watching the decisive World Cup Qualifying match, Argentina Vs Peru at River Plate's stadium....it was mental! We went down with a group from the hostel which included a couple of Argentinians who gave us running commentaries throughout about how Martin Palermo should be starting and that Maradonna was a great player but is a terrible coach, which we already knew to be fair, but was funny to here it from the horses mouth. The stadium was great, the atmosphere was buzzing and we got to watch Lionel Messi dribbling with the ball and Maradonna standing on the sideline, that was enough in itself. The game itself was close with Argentina going 1-0 up looking comfortable to qualify. By the 2nd half the heavens had opened and the rain was smahing down as the the Argentinians were chating all game long, punching the air and climbing the fencing all around...we were loving it! With 5 minutes to go Peru equalised, meaning Argentina were knocked out of the World Cup, the whole place was completley shell shcoked with the word 'Puta' being screamed freely. However an injury time winner from the cult here Martin Palermo saved the day for Argy as the stadium went mental and Diego Maradonna did a Klinsman dive onto the side of the pitch.....it was genius!
Buenes Aires was excellent, but after a 10 day stint we had to leave for Puerto Madryn and some rest.


Puerto Madryn as you may have guessed form the name is a town in Argentina founded by Welshmen, which itself is pretty surreal. We even visted some towns that had all Welsh street names and even still had church sermons in Welsh. However our main reason for visiting this region of Patagonia was for the whale watching and visiting a penguin beach. We were right up close to a family of whales in the water which was incredible.


After Puerto Madryn was Mendoza.



Mendoza was a far cry from Buenos Aires, it was a pretty and peaceful town with a laid back feel to it. on our second day here we went on a wine tasting tour on a bicycle, which is not something we'd usually imagine ourselves doing but it sounded like a good laugh. We had no idea what we were drinking on the tour but it got us feeling quite tipsy and jolly as we cycled through the vineyards and wide country lanes in the sunshine. We also ate steak for dinner every night in Mendoza, which was pleasing.


After Mendoza we headed for our last stop in Argentina, Cordoba.

We stayed in Cordoba for 3 nights, 2 of which were spent aorund the bars in the student area of the city, as it has a massive student population. The city was a lively bustling city, and we wanted to make the most out of our last major stop in South America, which included going for a coffee and a beer in the sunny main square and watching the Boca Juniors Vs River Plate derby in a local bar. We also attempted to go for a few jogs here as there was quite a nice decent sized park nearby, it wasa pretty lame effort as we strugged to regain our former pace, but we knew that was going to be the case.

And so after our 3 nights in Cordoba we headed off hungover with our massive bags in the 30 degree heat of Argentina, said our farewells to all the adoring Argentinian women and headed for Santiago, Chile, to start a new continent in New Zealand.

The highlights of our 2 months in South America would have to be:

- The Inca trail ,followed by Cusco (Peru)

- playing an international beach football match against some locals in Ilhe Grande (Brazil)

- The Death Road Cycle (Bolivia)

- Buenos Aires, and going to the Argentina Vs Peru football qualifier.

Our 2 and a half months in South America was struggle at times but flew by really as we loved every minute of it.

Ciao