Feeling on top of the world at the end of the world

Ushuaia otherwise known as 'fin del mundo' or 'the end of the world' is the southernmost city in the world and also the main gateway for people heading to Antartica, which is only 621 miles away.

I arrived under the cover of darkness so it wasn't until the next morning I got to see it in all it's glory. Flanked by the snowcapped Fuegan Andes peaks on one side and the Beagle Channel on the other it really is a stunning place. Needless to say the climate here was quite a lot cooler than what I had been used to further north.

The main street has a bit of a ski town vibe about it with lots of outdoor adventure shops, souvenir stores, travel agents, restaurants and cafés.  

As well as catering to backpackers, the city has a steady stream of cruise ship passengers passing through and it is also a popular starting/finishing point for many trips. I met a couple of New Zealanders in their early 70s who were about to set off on a motorcycling adventure all the way to Alaska, which they estimated would take 9 months!  

The city did gain some notoriety in the UK and Argentine press last year as it is where the Top Gear team were chased out of town due to 'that' number plate. Up until now, I hadn't really seen an awful lot relating to the Falklands conflict.

Ushuaia was the point from which the Argentine warship, General Belgrano, set sail before it was sunk by a British sub six days later killing the 323 men on board. The memorial to those who lost their lives in the conflict is much larger and more prominent than the one I saw in Buenos Aires, which gives the impression that what happened 33 years ago is still very much a sensitive subject here.

This was confirmed when I wandered down to the port and noticed a sign painted on the wall to the entrance which read 'Prohibido el amarre de los buques piratas ingleses' or roughly translated 'English pirate ships are prohibited from mooring.' I also found a leaflet in the tourist info office regarding arguments for Argentina's claim to the Falklands. Unlike the Top Gear crew I didn't encounter any hostility during my stay and all the locals I met were friendly enough.

That aside and other than being the southernmost city in the world what else does Ushuaia have to offer? Well, there's lots of hiking to be had, boat trips and there is even a glacier. During my stay I also got to experience Carnaval, it might not have been Rio but it was still good fun.
I was in Ushuaia for 7 days, but you could easily manage to do most of the main activities the city has to offer in 4 or 5. 
 

As I mentioned above, the Martial Glacier overlooks the city. It is possible to walk all the way to it from town and as it was a nice sunny day I decided to walk the four miles from my hostel to the start of the trail. However, you can also get a taxi to this point.

 The first 30 minutes of the trail were the most punishing as the incline was quite brutal. There is a chairlift you can take for this stretch of the trail if you don't feel up to it. Once you get to the top there are a few different routes to try.

To start with I went along the Sendero del Filo path, which ends at a viewpoint where there are amazing views of the city and bay. After that I went back and took the Sendero del Glacier trail. This was quite challenging as it is mostly scree and rocks.

Just as I reached the edge of the glacier it started snowing so I can now say I have experienced pretty much every sort of weather since being in Argentina. Thankfully it passed just as quickly as it started and before long the sun was back out again.

I wasn't all that blown away by the glacier as it was covered in snow so it just looked like snow on a mountain to me. However, the views from the top were amazing and made the walk well worth it. All of the trails are well marked and it's possible to get a free map from the info office at the beginning of the main trail where there are also toilets and a small café.

The day I went there were coach loads of people being dropped off to make the hike. Although, as another guest at the hostel and I both remarked a lot of these people didn't look very well prepared for a hike up what is essentially quite a strenuous trail and as I experienced can be quite changeable in terms of the weather conditions.  

Tierra del Fuego National Park, which is about seven miles from the city is one of the main attractions here. I went with three other people I met while staying at Cruz del Sur Hostel. The hostel organised our transportation, which cost 200 pesos each for a return trip and we each had to pay 100 pesos for entry to the park.

The park is massive but there is only a small part open to the public so the majority of hikes are all ones you can do in a day.

I was a little underwhelmed by the park, I think perhaps I'd been spoilt by the views from the glacier. The park is a big draw for the area so it has been made very accessible to attract more people, which means there are a lot of coach tours at the more popular viewpoints. A few times we ended up jostling for space. However, we did find a couple of trails, which were a bit quieter.

The highlight of the visit had to be Lago Roca not only did we see a red headed woodpecker in one of the trees on the way, the lake itself was spectacular. The water was so still and clear it was like looking in a mirror. Across the lake you can see Chile as the border crosses the far side of it. 

Finally, the last outing I did was to Laguna Esmeralda. The hostel organised my transport, which cost 120 pesos return. When the bus arrived to pick me up I was the only one on it and when we pulled up to the trail I thought I was just going to be dumped in a dusty car park and left to figure it out. Thankfully I was shown the path and in a mixture of Spanish, broken English and hand signals the driver explained there would be a sign further down to tell me about the trail.

On the walk I experienced different terrains and scenery from forests of lenga trees (tall deciduous beech trees) to crossing vast peat moss fields called turba (this feels like you're walking over a mattress it's very springy). I also saw evidence of a few beaver colonies along the way although unfortunately I didn't spot any actual beavers.  

I didn't have a map, but the path was easy enough to follow as there are blue markers to direct you.

It took me about 1.5 hours to reach the lake and it was beautiful. It is a blue/green colour as a result of rock movements from the glacier above it. It is possible to walk around the lake too, but I was on a bit of tight schedule due to being tied to bus times - if only I had left earlier in the day.

On the way back from the lake I did get lost as the land is very open on this part of the walk and quite disorientating because the blue markers are harder to spot. I ended up following a group of 3 people as I thought they knew the way - nope they were as confused as me. Thankfully after a little detour the Dutch guy who headed the group managed to get us back to the main path - phew. Definitely taught me a valuable lesson to be more observant when doing walks like this where I don't have a map.

When I got on the bus to make the return journey back to Ushuaia the driver offered all the passengers tea or coffee and he even brought some pastries along too - yum! I hadn't been expecting anything like that so it was definitely a welcome surprise after an afternoon of walking. 

Seven days in Ushuaia was definitely more than enough and by the end I was certainly ready to continue on with the next stage of my journey to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno glacier.  

Journey from Patagonia to the Land of Fire

I am writing about my journey to Ushuaia purely because nothing I had read beforehand about taking an overland route really went into detail about what happens, so as you will see below I was fairly unprepared. This makes for a good story afterwards but at the time was a little stressful and bewildering (especially when I had already made a 20 hour journey prior to this one).

Most buses to Ushuaia leave from Rio Gallegos, which is where I picked mine up from too. Firstly, the best piece of advice I can give to anyone travelling by bus in Argentina is (in my experience) that most will arrive at the final destination later than scheduled so if you are getting a connecting bus leave at least 2 to 3 hours between them to be on the safe side.

I was travelling with Tecni-Austral and when the coach arrived it looked more like a police riot van with a big heavy grill over the windscreen. I'd heard that some of the roads were unpaved so assumed this is why they had the added protection and not because we were going to be attacked by pitchfork wielding locals - but you never know!

The coach wasn't the best I've been on, but considering the journey should take around 10 to 12 hours and was during the day I wasn't too worried. 

At the Terminal de Omnibus in Rio Gallegos make your first port of call the desk of your coach provider. For part of the journey, which I was unaware of at the time, the coach will cross into Chile so it is sort of like checking in for a flight but not so stringent. The person at the counter will check your ticket and cross your name off the list of passengers due to travel. 

The only reason I went to the desk was out of habit to check the bus was running etc. However, a couple of passengers didn't do this and had to rush back inside to do so before they were allowed on-board.

Unless you want a hefty fine, make sure you dispose of or eat any fruit and vegetable products you have on you. I don't know if this is true of all the coach companies but the host on the bus I was on came round just before the border with a bin for any food you might want to throw away.

I panic ate the two carrots I had on me much to the amusement of the host and some of my fellow passengers. Well, they were likely the only vegetables I was going to have that day so I wasn't going to waste them. I also had a couple of bananas but they hadn't travelled well so I was happy to dispose of them.

The border formalities took a little while as you have to be stamped out of Argentina and stamped back into Chile as well as putting all your hand luggage through an x-ray.

Back on the bus and by this point having consulted the map app I have on my phone, I guessed we would be reaching a water crossing. The map wasn't wrong and soon enough we reached it.

The weather by now had turned and was windy, rainy and cold so I'm not going to lie I probably didn't appreciate crossing the Strait of Magellan as much as I could have done.

Also, bearing in mind I had come from further north than a lot of people on my coach I looked like that one tourist who comes back to the UK from warmer climes still in summer clothes.

Unlike the majority of other passengers on the coach, who looked liked the contents of an outdoor adventure store had thrown up on them, I'm pretty sure I was the only one rocking flip flops! I did have a fleece and was wearing trousers albeit of the thin cotton kind so I didn't look entirely like a fish out of water.

Once we reached the other side we got back on the bus and had another couple of hours driving along unpaved roads - imagine a coach swaying from side to side like a boat rocking on a rough sea and that's pretty much what the journey felt like!

We reached the next border crossing and were stamped out of Chile (this was much quicker than getting into the country). Don't worry at this point if you haven't got a stamp stamping you back into Argentina as the Argentinian border post is a bit further up the road.

When we reached Rio Grande, which is about 3 hours from Ushuaia, we are told to get off the bus as there will be another coach arriving to take us the rest of the way. No indication as to how long this might be, but at least I wasn't the only one in this predicament as the majority of people on the coach were going on to Ushuaia. After about 30 minutes the new coach arrived we all piled on and 3 hours later arrived at the end of the world only 3.5 hours late!

Despite all the faff involved and getting on and off buses and ferries, I'm glad I took an overland route. Although the scenery did get very monotonous at times, it was stunning - vast plains of windswept, sun bleached emptiness occasionally punctuated with the odd hill, lake or lone estancia. 

As we drove into Ushuaia, even though it was dark, I could tell we were in Tierra del Fuego as the terrain became more mountainous and I imagine in daylight it would have been quite spectacular.

Sun, sea, penguins and seals

After a mammoth 48 hours of travelling I arrived in the sunny seaside town of Puerto Madryn a bit dazed and confused.

During the two coach journeys it took to get there I watched the landscape change from lush, green rainforest to dry, dusty and sun bleached.

I stayed at Chepatagonia Hostel in Puerto Madryn, which was literally just 100 metres from the beach. The hostel was lovely and I would highly recommend it, it is run by a husband and wife team, who were really helpful and welcoming.

Puerto Madryn itself is a typical seaside town and being from the coast myself I always feel more at home by the sea.

As with a lot of seaside resorts the main town beach was quite crowded so I decided to give it a miss and instead wandered 3km in the opposite direction towards a headland. The further out of town I got the quieter the beach was until it was just me and a handful of other people all seemingly doing the same thing.

At the end of the beach I walked up across the rocks, which were pretty smooth except for a few hollows - handy to sit in. This end of the beach is also the point where the first Welsh settlers arrived in Patagonia in the 1800s. There were a few dug out caves in the rocks, which is where they sheltered.

Before I realised there was a Welsh connection in Patagonia I thought some of the place names, particularly in this area sounded a little Welsh. There is a town called Trelew about an hour away and even Puerto Madryn doesn't sound particularly Argentinian. I had read that you could get Welsh cakes in this part of Argentina too and I even found somewhere selling them.

The main draw for people coming to Puerto Madryn is the wildlife in this part of Patagonia and you can organise trips to various nature reserves etc. As I only had two full days I went on a tour to Peninsula Valdes where there was a chance to see a broader range of wildlife. The tour cost 740 pesos and was an all day affair.

The mini bus picked me and another guest up at 8am and off we went. There were only 6 other people on the tour, so it was a nice small group and our guide was extremely knowledgeable having been conducting tours of the peninsula for many years.

First stop was Puerto Pimimides a small, picturesque town, which is right on the coast. It was very windy and the sea was nice and swelly with waves crashing against the rocks. The town is the only place on the peninsula where you can find accommodation and is also the last place to get fuel.

From there we headed to Punta Delgada, where we saw elephant seals. They were quite well disguised on the pebbly beach and we were even lucky enough to spot a large male. It was quite something being able to see these animals in their natural environment.

At Punta Cantor we had an hour to stroll along the various trails and see more elephant seals on the beach. When I was half way along one of the trails the heavens opened and it started to chuck it down. Thankfully I had taken a waterproof with me, but the rain was so cold it felt like needles. I headed back to the shelter of the minibus where everyone was equally as drenched. It was only a quick downpour and by the time we reached our next stop it was all over and done with.

At the next stop we were able to see Magellanic penguins - this was the part of the visit I was most looking forward to and despite being a bit chilly and damp all of us were smiling by the time we left there.

Final stop was Punta Norte and the sea lion colony. It was amazing to see masses of sea lions and their pups stretched out along the shoreline. Our guide told us sometimes it is possible to spot Orca whales from this particular view point, but unfortunately there weren't any around while we were there.

Falling for Iguazu

My main reason for visiting Puerto Iguazu, like most people who come here, is to see the Iguazu Falls. They are located on the border between Argentina and Brazil and consist of around 275 separate waterfalls.
 

I decided to give myself three days in Puerto Iguazu as in this part of the country weather can be unpredictable and the falls are best viewed on a clear day.

I stayed at Hostel Bambu Mini in Puerto Iguazu, it had a nice laid back atmosphere and from what I could gather quite a high turnover of guests as most people seem to only stay a couple of nights before moving on.

Before I arrived I pondered whether to take a tour to the falls as I wasn't sure if it would make life simpler, however it is really easy and cheaper to go independently. 

I took a Rio Uruguay bus from the bus station to the main entrance of the Iguazu National Park. A return ticket cost 100 pesos. 

I arrived at the park at about 10am and it was already quite busy with several school groups and other tours. Entry to the park cost 260 pesos.

Once inside I got myself a map and headed for the lower falls trail - most people head straight for the upper trail or take the train to the Devil's Throat section, but I'd been advised by a guest at the hostel to do the lower trail first as it is usually quieter and gives the best overall view.

The falls are located in what remains of the rainforest in this region and all of the trails take you through this. There are lots of signs advising you to be aware of the various animals you may encounter including jaguars! Covered in a pungent mix of suncream and insect repellent I was good to go.

The lower trail is the longest of the three main ones and I could hear the sound of the falls long before I first saw them. As I rounded the final bend the trail opened out and I caught my first glimpse of them through the clearing it was truly breathtaking, as I made my way along the path it just got better and better. I was somewhat awestruck by it all.

At the end of the lower trail you can stand in front of the Salto Bossetti fall. Even stood quite a few metres from the very end of the platform I still got a nice soaking from the spray. I wasn't complaining though as it was nice to cool down as even at 11am the temperature was in the high 20s.

I then walked the upper trail, which is shorter than the lower and takes you along the top of several of the falls the view from the top was good but not as impressive as the lower trail.

Finally, there is a train that takes you up to the Devil's Throat trail. Approximately half of the river's flow falls down the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo), which is made up of 14 falls. It is 82 metres high, 150 metres wide and 700 metres long and the border between Argentina and Brazil actually runs through it.

The trail to get there is almost 1km long across metal walkways suspended over the river, which open out to a viewing platform right on the edge. The sound was deafening and there was a huge amount of spray coming up from the water not surprising really and when the wind changed direction it actually felt like heavy rain.

It is advisable to keep a plastic bag or waterproof case handy to protect any cameras. I actually used the camera on my phone for the photos at this part as I knew it could withstand a bit of wet better than my main camera. I also didn't bother with any waterproofs and I had pretty much dried off by the time I walked back along the trail.

During my time in the park I saw and heard lots of wildlife. It's true what they say about the noises in the rainforest and at times it was so loud it sounded like someone was playing a recording of insects. Thankfully I didn't encounter any jaguars but I did see a caiman in one of the little rivers, numerous colourful butterflies, a small jumpy spider and a coati.
 

The coatis are notorious in the park for stealing food and can be quite aggressive. I chose to give them a wide berth as much as possible until I was sitting in the shade reapplying my sun cream and one decided to try and steal the bottle! Thankfully it got distracted and ran off but to be honest I probably would have let it take the bottle rather than risk getting bitten as the warning pictures around the park of previous injuries to visitors didn't look nice - I also didn't fancy putting my rabies vaccine to the test quite so early on in the trip either!

Puerto Iguazu itself is very much geared to tourists but does still retain a bit of small town charm. It actually reminds me of the many beach towns in the South West of England during the height of summer only minus the beer bellies on display (thank goodness).

Paraguay on the left and Brazil on the right

On my last full day in the town I wandered out to the point at which you can see Paraguay and Brazil across the Rio Parana and Rio Iguazu respectively. Where the Rio Parana and Rio Iguazu meet you can tell as the colour changes. The Iguazu used to be blue but due to deforestation having loosened the soil it means when it rains what's left flows into the river turning it brown. 

The wheels on the bus go round and round all the way to Puerto Iguazu

I thought the journey to Puerto Iguazu deserved a post of its own. Unlike in the UK, coach travel is the main mode of transport for long distance trips in Argentina as the country doesn't have a developed rail system and it is usually cheaper than flying.

Given that Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world and approximately the same size as India it isn't too surprising that a short coach journey here is considered to be anything under 12 hours. 

The 17 hour journey to Puerto Iguazu in the far North East of the country near the borders of Brazil and Paraguay is actually pretty good going. The main draw for people coming to this part of Argentina is the Iguazu Falls, more on them later.

Before leaving the UK I had booked a few of my tickets online via Voy en Bus. I also read quite a lot about the main Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires, not much of it was positive. In an attempt to be as prepared as possible the day before my first coach journey I went to try and make sense of it all.

The bus station is spread over three floors with luggage lockers on the lower ground floor, departures/arrivals on the first floor and ticket sales on the upper floor. With 75 stands for the various coaches I could tell it was going to get complicated.

Some of the departures appear on a screen telling you which stand to go to, however not all coaches are shown adding another layer of confusion. There is an information booth, so I decided that I would make that my first point of call when I came to use the bus station for real. 

The evening before my scheduled departure I got chatting to a fellow Brit at the hostel and it turned out he was also leaving for Puerto Iguazu at the same time the following day. We decided to share a taxi to the bus station and agreed to leave just after 2pm to give us time before our coaches left at 3pm.

On the day of departure we left the hostel at 2.15pm, in hindsight we probably should have left at 2pm, due to heavy traffic it took us just over 30mins to get to the bus station giving us less than 10 minutes to find our respective coaches (lots of companies run the same routes and confusingly depart at the same times too).

The taxi driver dropped us off but not at the main entrance. With only a few minutes to spare and no idea which way the info booth was we checked the screens, my fellow travelling companion's bus was on the screen so he headed to the stand.

I was travelling with El Rapido Argentino and it wasn't listed but I could see a coach bearing the name of the company outside the window. Taking a punt and by this time pretty stressed I ran outside and asked the driver if it was going to Puerto Iguazu - thankfully it was and I loaded my backpack. The moral of this part of the story is to always leave plenty of time. If it hadn't have been the coach I needed I probably would have missed it.

Having now experienced an Argentinian coach I can safely say that it was definitely much comfier than any I've been on in the UK and outside of it for that matter. The seats are wide and almost armchair like. I had booked a semi-cama seat, which means the chair reclines 140 degrees and attached to the back of the seat in front is a leg rest, which folds down making it bed-like.

I had a window seat and the views were pretty incredible just vast expanses of green fields, farmland and forests for as far as the eye could see and no signs of civilisation for many miles. The towns we did pass reminded me of the sort you get in old western films with just a few buildings and a lot of dirt roads. Massive contrast to Buenos Aires.

At the 7 hour mark (10pm) we were given a meal a bit like you get on a plane except you don't have a choice. On the tray was a pastry, the flattest bread roll I have ever seen, bread sticks, a slice of ham quiche and a weird gelatinous thing, which I think was supposed to be pudding.

In addition to this, we had a hot dish, which consisted of some sort of carrot/potato mash and a breaded cutlet of generic grey meat. Needless to say I mostly ate the mash.

I must admit I slept fairly well, although the air con was cranked up so high it was freezing. Anticipating this I had packed a large sheet and wrapped myself up in it.

I woke up at about 8am and braved the on board toilet for the first time. Needless to say as with toilets on most forms of public transport it wasn't particularly pleasant!

The view out of the window had changed and was much more tropical with lush green palm trees and banana trees providing much of the scenery. This was definitely the South America I had imagined.

We were delayed slightly by a protest/strike going on across one of the main roads - a common occurrence in this part of the world I'm told. I'm not sure what it was about but there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of police and army dotted around in case things kicked off.

I arrived in Puerto Iguazu an hour later than scheduled and was blown away by how hot it was - well seeing as I'm pretty much in rainforest country I shouldn't have been too surprised by this.

'Cambio, cambio'...how to survive Florida Street

While in Buenos Aires I needed to change some money - as you do. I had been told by several people including the hostel staff that the best place to do this is with one of the many ‘cambio, cambio’ people on Florida Street.

It is nicknamed the ‘blue market’ and unlike many other countries you actually get a better rate exchanging money on the street with these guys than going to the bank. It is illegal but the police tend to turn a blind eye. 

Before I left the UK I had also been told by my Dad not to change money on the street as with my poor maths skills I would probably get ripped off and not realise.

Sorry Dad, but I decided to give it a go and change some of the pounds I had with me.

Now I'm sure you may be thinking that Florida Street must be pretty dodgy, in fact it is actually one of the main pedestrian shopping streets in Buenos Aires and is generally full of tourists and shoppers.

As I was by myself I decided not to take any chances and just took the amount I wanted to exchange with me and no other valuables. As I said before my mathematical skills are pretty poor, so before I left the hostel I had worked out (using a calculator) what I should get for my money.

When I got to Florida Street, there were so many people to choose from so after wandering up and down a couple of times I eventually decided to approach a well-dressed man (my crazy logic decided that him being smartly turned out made him a safer option). I checked he was able to change pounds and asked what he could offer me. It turned out to be a little bit more than what I had calculated.

As the transaction can’t be done on the street I went with him to a nearby mall where the exchange took place. I had been told on the tour I went on to check the notes carefully as forgeries are common. I also knew that 100 pesos is the highest denomination note in case I was given anything higher as it wouldn't be legal tender. Thankfully there weren’t any problems and I went away with my money.

However, this isn't always the case and I did hear a story from a fellow traveller who was almost ripped off. He didn't realise that 100 pesos is the highest note and had been given several 300 peso notes. Luckily for him he was with someone who knew this and he was able to get his money back.

My advice to anyone planning to go to BA would be that it pays to do your homework beforehand and if you don't like the rate you're given, you don't have to go with it. Just keep your wits about you and it should be fine.

All is Bueno in Buenos Aires

My journey to Buenos Aires was mostly uneventful until the customs declaration forms came round. All was pretty standard except for one paragraph asking if you were bringing semen in – random!

Once I’d made it through immigration, my next mission was to get from the airport to America del Sur Hostel in San Telmo district. The hostel recommended Manuel Tienda Leon a door to door shuttle service, which was cheaper than getting a taxi and quicker than a public bus.

The main thing I noticed while on the journey from the airport was how European the city feels in terms of architecture. In a way it was quite comforting how familiar it seemed despite being miles away from home.

The hostel staff were warm, friendly and helpful. I booked a four bed mixed dorm, it was pretty basic in terms of décor but it was clean and well presented. I do love a hostel that provides brekkie, again this was quite basic but enough to keep me going and the dulce de leche (caramel) spread was delicious on toast. 

During breakfast on my second day a guy called Adam from Demasiado Tours handed me a leaflet for a free walking tour he was running of the main historic sites. I thought it would be a good opportunity to acquaint myself a bit more with the city plus it was FREE!

They say the best things in life are free and the tour was no exception. It was excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone planning to visit Buenos Aires. I definitely came away feeling I had learnt a lot more about Argentina/Buenos Aires' history. We also got to see the barbers where the current Pope used to get his haircut! 

Having been told on the tour that one thing worth checking out is the Sunday market in San Telmo that’s exactly what I did. The market occupies the entire length of Defensa Street and there are a variety of stalls selling all manner of things from handicrafts and souvenirs to clothes and homewares. Having been to my fair share of markets on previous travels this one is definitely one of the most laid back, despite it being crowded it didn’t feel hectic and the stallholders didn’t seem too pushy either.

I also moved to my second hostel in the city (I ended up booking two because I couldn’t decide between them) Hostel Estoril, which is near Plaza de los Dos Congresos, it was a 15-20 minute walk from America del Sur Hostel. This should be fine I thought forgetting that I would be laden with all my luggage at what was quite possibly the hottest part of the day. Needless to say I was a bit of a sweaty mess by the time I got there.

The hostel is quite a contrast to my previous one as it is in an older building and has a bit more character to it. It certainly had a bit more of a homely feel to it with a nice lounge area and comfy sofas. Breakfast was included here too and one of the members of staff would cook you eggs if you wanted, I of course took them up on this offer every day.

On my last day in Buenos Aires I decided to do the other free tour offered by Demasiado Tours this time around the more upmarket districts of Retiro and Recoleta. As with the previous tour it was excellent. One of the things we saw was the memorial to those who lost their lives during the Falklands War or as it is known here the Malvinas War. Ironically the memorial is directly opposite the Torre Monumental, which had been given as a present to the city in 1810 by the British community living here.

We also visited Recoleta Cemetery, which contains 4,691 mausoleums it is quite something, especially the different architectural styles. Many prominent people have graves there including Eva Peron (Evita).

Finally, no trip to Buenos Aires would be complete without at least seeing or trying tango. My hostel organised a package where you could take part in a tango lesson then afterwards have a meal and watch a show. The lesson was good fun and you learnt the basic tango steps. The show afterwards was incredible and made me wish I was a better dancer.