Pure Patagonia trip - Week Four

Day 22, Ushuaia

Can't believe this is the last week of the trip, it's going so quickly! Had a hangover for most of the day so even though the weather was better none of us had much energy to do anything except sleep, eat and wander round the town!!

Day 23, Ushuaia to Free Camp

We have got to drive all the way up to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia, which is quite a long way (3,200kms, gulp!) so off at 5am this morning to get 2 border crossings, a ferry and lots of miles under our belts!! What fun!! Out of the 17 of us only 10 hardcore people are doing this trip (me, Tracy, Vivi, Jayne, Martin, James, Ollie, Rob, Nat and Alan) , everyone else is flying up over the next few days. That's good in a way as it means we have lots more space in the truck to stretch out and sleep!!! It was so cold, we were all in the truck (which has no heating which is useful!) wrapped in sleeping bags and blankets! Will be so glad when we get to BA as it will be pretty hot (although will then probably be moaning that it's too hot!!)...

Slight problem with the truck though - one flat tyre and issues with the starter motor and some blockage in the fuel pipe. So spent quite a bit of time at the side of the road with all the men gathered round the truck trying to help (?!) and the women just watching and laughing at how useless some of the men were when it came to these things!!!

Managed to find a campsite instead of free camping at the side of the road, where there were toilets and everything!!!! I suddenly have turned into a women with an obsession for cooking and cleaning!! We have decided that I'm getting in practice to be a housewife as clearly that is where my talents lie! Stopped about 9pm so had a late dinner then just went to bed as being in the middle of nowhere meant there was bugger all to do!

Day 24, Free Camp to Free Camp

Had a lie in - up at 6am! Just drove all day, for about 14 hours. Couldn´t find anywhere to camp so literally pulled up at the side of the road down a little dirt track, and set up camp on lots of prickly bushes, although it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it might be!

Another late dinner at about 10pm and there was a comet - Comet McNaught apparently, in the sky which was amazing as it had a really long tail so we couldn't quite work out what it was. Once the clouds moved there were loads of stars in the sky aswell, it just looked amazing. Sometimes I feel really lucky to be here experiencing all this as it's just fantastic. Weather has turned - it's getting warm! It's so nice too not to be freezing all the time! Were walking around in t shirts until nearly 11pm.

Day 25, Free Camp to Puerto Madryn

Up again at 6am, fortunately for us a lorry drove past just after 6 and beeped his horn for ages, just to make sure we were all awake, so that was nice! Only had half a day driving then we arrived in Puerto Madryn at the campsite.

Wandered into town via the beach, which wasn't overly nice but it was great to feel the sand under my feet! There's a surprising number of people who i) are pregnant, ii) are fat (especially kids which as you know is a pet hate of mine!!) and iii) have really bad haircuts!! They mullet is particularly fashionable over here for some unknown reason...!!! And it is getting hotter the further north we go so that's great news too!! Watched the Arsenal vs Man Utd match and very pleased to see the two goals to give us a win! Even better when you're watching it with a Man Utd fan (sorry James!!)!!!!

Day 26, Puerto Madryn

Went to the Valdes Peninsula to see a few Sea Lions and Elephant Seals. There are also whales there but we were out of season so didn't get to see any. Was quite cool to see the animals but they were pretty far away from where we were allowed to go, so all photos just look like blobs on the beach, which is not great!!!

Had an interesting shower situation... Basically the shower block is just a curtained off section with a few shower cubicles and then a dressing area. It was the same in Ushuaia and when I used it there I had teenage girls watching me getting undressed which was not particularly pleasant!!! Anyway, I decided that I needed to over come my Britishness and not worry about people staring at me and just get on with it... So after a beer I went for a shower, and after queueing for half an hour I realised that somehow all these women somehow emerged from the shower cubicles fully dressed and there was no need to parade around butt naked!!! Not sure how as surely all their clothes would get wet in the shower but they all managed it!!! So although I didn't take my clothes in with me, I found a way to have a shower and not get stared at too much...!!! All quite amusing really!!!

Was raining for a while in the evening, so opted for some in truck entertainment, i.e. Tracy, Vivi and I having a bit of wine and singing and dancing in a very confined space to some classic 90s dance music which was brilliant!!! When we got kicked out as Drew wanted to go to bed we decided to go to the local bar for one drink before bed as we had to be up at 5am... Well one drink turned into a few, as they do, and then as we were the only ones in the place we turned the restaurant into our own dance floor and as the DJ was putting some good tunes on the decks we were obliged to dance around like loons!!!! Were considering staying out the whole night but I only managed to make it until about 3.30am, and James, Vivi and Tracy came back at 4am!! Great night though!!!!

Day 27, Puerto Madryn to Free Camp

Up at 5am after 1 1/2hrs sleep! Had brekkie and packed the truck and then just slept until lunch time!! Fortunately didn't have a hangover as didn't drink much so was just tired which I could cope with!! Drove until about 8pm and then set up camp at the side of the road. Watched an amazing sunset and could still see the comet whilst we were having dinner. It was a bit sad to think this was my last proper night on the tour as I 've made some really good friends and have had such a wicked time over the last month, but I wasn't too upset at the thought of it being my last night in a tent!!!!

Day 28, Free Camp to Buenos Aires

Last day on the road. Up at 6am and drove to Buenos Aires, arriving around midday and then driving around for ages trying to find the hotel! Met up with Lou and Lisa and it was really good to see them again!

After a shower, headed to the Eva Perón museum which was really interesting. Didn't really know much about her before but the museum was really good and gave a good account of her life, although didn't quite understand why so many people hated her when she did so much for the poor, so will have to read up on that at some point.

Went out for an all you can eat meal in the evening with the rest of the group, and then onto a bar. Am looking forward to checking out some clubs (we were too tired to go tonight!) although apparently there's no point getting there until at least after 1am!!! Although they then go on until 7am or later.... So am now beginning to understand the importance of siestas, to ensure we can party all night long!!!!

BA seems a really good city, has a nice, relaxed feel to it. Am looking forward to exploring it over the next few days.

Day 29, Buenos Aires

Had a fairly relaxed day wandering round BA. Had a haircut seeing as it's been a while and it was a lot less traumatic than I expected!! Was only in there about 15 mins, a wash and a few inches off and I was done so quite simple really!!

Went to the Plaza de Mayo in the afternoon as this is where there is a protest each week by the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo (mothers of men that disappeared in the Dirty War in the 1970s). It's quite sad to these these women marching round the Plaza with banners as they're all pretty old now and have been doing this for over 30 years.

Went to the San Telmo area which has lots of antique shops and has a nice feel to the place. Then went back to the hotel in preparation for the evening's activities...!!

Went to a tango show which was really good but totally not what I was expecting. I was thinking more along the lines of Strictly Come Dancing, sitting around a ballroom watching a few people dance. Instead they did the history of tango through dancing with some really good drummers as well (although not sure of the significance of them!). These people are so talented, they flick their legs up and move around so quickly, it was excellent to watch.

Went over to Palermo with possibly the craziest taxi driver I have ever encountered! He turned up the radio so we could dance in the back, and then when Erasure came on he decided to dance too, so no hands on the steering wheel then!!! And some of the others were in another taxi so he kept racing them and coming up right close before slamming on the brakes, so it's nothing short of a miracle that we all survived the whole journey!!!

Went into a couple of bars and then onto Club 69 which was apparently THE place to go on a Thursday (in a city of this size I find this hard to believe that everyone only goes to one place!!!). It had a transvestite show on the stage which was interesting!!! The music wasn't really my thing but it would've been rude not to dance so managed to bust some moves until about 4.30am, by which time I was ready for bed!! The place was so packed it was really hard to dance, move or even breathe sometimes and it was really hot in there! They also had this great system at the bar where it was a complete free for all to buy a ticket for whatever you wanted to drink and then you had to go to the bar to get it, very bizarre and very time consuming!!! But it was a great night and it was definitely an experience...!!!