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Our day in Colonia was short and sweet. It´s a beautiful little town with cobbled streets so we just walked around and enjoyed in the sunshine before Chris and I hopped on the ferry to Buenos Aires.
I fell in love with Buenos Aires on our first night just from seeing a bit of it from our taxi journey. It´s vibrant and just has a really cool atmosphere. On our first night we went to meet my friend Chicho, a friend from exchange, at a bar in Palermo. It was great to catch-up with him, whilst drinking some tasty Argentinian wine which he paid for! The next day we went to meet our tour group (they had spent the night in Colonia) at our hotel... Chris and I arrived at the hotel and thought we were in the wrong place - it had red carpets and chandeliers and was a 4* hotel! We felt like fake backpackers for the few days we spent there! After meeting the group, a few of us went to the San Telmo area for the Sunday market. It was on one street, which was miles and miles long, and had people selling all sorts, but there were also lots of street performers (tango dancers, artists, brass bands, opera singers etc) which made it more entertaining than most markets. We had lunch in a little cafe at the end of the market which was run by 5 old Argentinian men who didn´t speak a word of English but did ask us if we wanted whisky once they worked out we were Scottish! On the way back through the market we had a bit of retail therapy before heading back to the hotel.
The next day the group headed to La Boca, quite a poor area of the city which is painted in very bright colours. We had lunch at a restaurant on the street and had tango dancers as our entertainment! Argentinian food is my favourite so far - the steak is unbelievably tasty and the wine is amazing and cheap! After lunch, we got on the bus to go to La Recoleta Cemetery, but unfortunately Paul took us on the wrong bus so it took us 3 hours to get there... the journey was hilarious though and we got to see a lot of the city so we didn´t mind! The cemetery was unlike any other cemetery I´ve been to - it was like everyone there had a shrine instead of a gravestone. It´s where all the famous, rich and important people of Argentina are buried, including Evita. It was really interesting to see, although a little creepy as well. We headed to back to the hotel and got ready for the evening. It was our last night with that tour group and Paul (although 10 of us continued on the next leg of the tour) so we went out to a nice restaurant where we had amaaaazing steak and unlimited wine. Needless to say it was a messy night! After dinner we headed to a tango show, which was incredible. I wasn´t really bothered about seeing one but I´m so glad I went - it was so well done and just a great show in general. We then headed out to a club in Plaza Serrano and danced the night away! The next day was written off by our hangovers, but we met our new tour guide and the 3 new guys who are all cool. I then went for dinner with Chicho for the last time, which was lovely.
The next day we left tog et our 22 hour bus to Bariloche. It was really sad saying bye to Paul and the others, and the bus journey was OK but we´ve had better. We arrived in Bariloche and were just stunned by the scenery - it´s a ski town so surrounded by huge snow-capped mountains, and it sits next to a beautiful blue lake. We were staying a really cool hostel which was like a log cabin, and we spent all 3 nights sitting in the living room playing drinking games and getting to know the new people in the group! One day we went kayaking which was really good fun, although Ian (who was sharing with me) may disagree with me on that one! Apparently I have no rhythm and am very hard to follow, especially when we had a kayak with a mind of its own! The lake we kayaked round was beautiful, and the scenery reminded me of Scotland, only bigger and better! My favourite thing about Bariloche was the fact that there were St Bernards everywhere!! Sooo cute, I kept making everyone go to the main square to look at them because they were adorable!
After Bariloche we headed to Puerto Varas, Chile. Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt were a poor start to Chile to be honest - not much to see and the weather was terrible so we couldn´t do any activities so we were all glad to leave and head to Pucon, where I am writing this from now. Again, we´ve got great accommodation - we´re staying a kind of chalet-type house, with a living room and a real fire so we´ve been able to keep ourselves warm with that because it´s rather chilly here! Pucon is also very picturesque - a little town with wooden buildings which is surrounded by huge mountains and 3 snow-covered active volcanoes (one of which some of the guys climbed today). It is known as the outdoor adventure haven of South America, so we´ve had a busy couple of days. Yesterday we went white-water rafting in the morning which was scary but great fun. I was terrified I was going to fall in but I managed to stay in the raft the whole time and really enjoyed it - I think Chris and I are going to do it again in New Zealand. In the afternoon we went to the canopy, which is a zip-line with 12 stops. This was more petrifying than the rafting, and I didn´t enjoy it until the 5th or 6th one! It was eventaully really good fun and we went over the river and through the trees, the adrenaline rush was fantastic! My least favourite part was having to climb all the ladders and stand on platforms in the trees! Today, I faced my fear of horses and went horse-riding. I was mroe scared of this than I was of white-water rafting or zip-lining! I didn´t enjoy it at first but by the end of the day I managed to canter and it was really fun. We went through the forest round the bottom of the mountains and went through a little village where some natives live. Polca, my horse, was lazy and didn´t like to go fast too often so we were well-suited!
Tomorrow, we leave Pucon and get another night bus to Santiago, where we´re going to start my birthday celebrations a week early! Still having a great time, missing everyone back home but just wish you were all here with me!
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