3 days left...

Thursday 15th May

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!

Well, thought I ought to mention what I've been up to since my Salt flats tour...

Got the Wari Wari train to Tupiza where I stayed or a couple of nights... just long enough for me to take a 3 hour horse ride of the surrounding areas. And, well... 3 hours was quite long enough thank you very much! I started off on a nice sleepy horse only to be transferred to a much larger one, called Fachas, with an attitude problem. Fachas could also have benfitted from a visit to the 'over competative horse' support group as he would not let anything infront of him. This was all fine until he (repeatedly) went the wrong way... and he completely ignored however I pulled the reigns so my 14 year old guide (!!!) had to try and get infront of him to stop him. Easier said than done... and mostly resulted in dear fachas going faster and faster with me holding on tighter and tighter. Well anyway, I survived with only minor scratches from the thorny bushes and a numb bum.

Left Tupiza heading for the Argentinian border, one large slice of cake and a bus ride later I was back on Argentinian soil and heading for the city of Salta. Took a couple of trips out into the landscapes surrounding Salta, which are quite impressive... visited the odd bodega too for a spot of wine tasting... hic.

Next stop was Puerto iguazu, right in the topmost tipmost north east corner of the country... 24 hours from Salta by bus. Here I visited Iguazu Falls... the largest waterfalls in South America. A rather cloudy and drizzly morning (whats all this wet stuff falling from the sky about eh... havent had that for a while)... turned into a beautiful blue sky just as we got to the 'Devils Throat'... which is bascially a HUGE waterfall. Dont know how to describe it but it was so big and powerful and difficult to take in that it actually made my head dizzy. It also made me very wet and after 10 minutes I was soaked to the skin. But worth it, it was truly awesome.

No time to stop for longer than a 2 hour hammock swing... then off to catch my last bus. 18 hours to Buenos Aires, my LAST stop before my flight home.

And thats where I am now. Arrived this morning and got ripped off by a taxi driver, nice. But its great to be back and have had a fab day so far. I loved Buenos Aires first time round but I have to say its much better second time round... feel at home and really happy to spend a bit of time here before I get home. Have also met up with some friends I met in Bolivia so thats great.

Travelling has been tough lately... cold beers, hammocks in the sun, spotting toucans in the evening treetops, shopping for vintage clothes, spot of vino...

So, not much more to say other than see you all soon... please can you reserve some nice weather to ease me back into UK life.