We booked our jeep trip into the Atacama desert and on to the Bolivian salt plains. As usual we went with a company recommended in Lonely Planet. A bit more expensive (I mean 1 or 2 pounds) but a company with a good reputation. Unfortunately tales of overcrowded vehicles, bad drivers' even drunk drivers are many. Cordillera are a family business who do one tour and that's it. San Pedro is an oasis town. In recent years it has boomed with the tourists using it a...

Salta has an archaeological museum so we decided to pay a visit. It's not very large but it does give an insight into the history of the area. The northern region of Argentina has uncovered some of the oldest fossils and skeletons on record. In the early 1900's a team of archaeologists had gone on an expedition into the high Andes to look for relics of the Inca civilisation. During that expedition they unearthed the remains of 3 perfectly preserved children's b...

We stepped off the bus in Salta. 18 hours further north from Mendoza. It was wow. I thought I was back in Cambodia. It was hot; everyone was outside the bus station. Big family groups with all their belongings huddled together and they were all much darker skinned. The south of Argentina had a very European feel but these guys were more indigenous in their appearance. Off to the taxi rank where a guy calls forward a taxi then puts your bags in the car. Then he...

Mendoza is one of the major wine regions of Argentina, producing many well known types with Malbec being the local variety. We spent Sunday and Monday exploring the city. It was destroyed by an earthquake in the late 1800's. When they re-built it they rather pessimistically created a low level city with big wide streets. The streets are lined with trees which give a shady retreat from the 40 degree temperatures of the summer. There is only a very little rainfal...

So where was I? Oh yes we had arrived in San Martin de los Andes. A very smart little town in the Andes. Lots of designer stores and sporting shops. I think Jill was remembering a past life of Karen Millen and killer heels. As I said previously the apartment was fab and it seemed we were the only residents in the complex. The town had a road in and a road out. At one end was endless mountains roads and at the other an amazing lake. On the first day we decided ...