Crossed from Chile to Mendoza , Argentina. A 7 hour spectacular drive in a plush Chilean bus . They even served us breakfast. A bit different to Ecuador ! The road ascends via a series of incredibly steep hairpin bends with views of many snow - covered peaks including Aconcagua 6959m , the highest peak outside Asia. Stunning !

Thought we would spoil ourselves for a few days so I booked a 'posh' hotel on the internet. Thought it was 54 US dollars (30 pounds ) per room per night. It turns out to be 54 arg pesos (less than 11 pounds) & that includes air-conditioning , breakfast , private bathroom , beds made , soap & towels provided. Argentina is so cheap. I keep thinking I've miscalculated exchange rate but I haven't.

Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina producing 70% of the country's wine. So we visited a bodega (winery ) on Thursday which was interesting & provided us with lots of wine -tasting !

Yesterday we visited a zoo. Don't really like zoos but we found ourselves a long way from home with not a lot else within walking distance. It turned out to be excellent with every sort of animal imaginable , well-kept in pretty good surroundings , lots of space & freedom for the animals . Though I did feel sorry for the polar bears sweltering in 39°C . It was a really large zoo on a picturesque hillside which took us about 3 hours to walk around. We were also really upset by a mother baboon carrying round her dead baby , which she would not let go of.

It's very hot here. They say the temperature is likely to be 42°C by tomorrow.

Not a lot to do here though so I have been taking more spanish lessons for the last 3 days, just 3 hours per day. I will understand spanish !! Pronunciation is different here & they use some different vocacabulary so it's interesting.

We will probably return to Santiago , Chile on Monday or Tuesday. We have left half of our luggage there so it's nice to be travelling 'light' here.

Our mobile phone is working now in both Chile & Argentina. Can make & receive phone - calls & text -messages. It's good to be back in contact !

Thank you to everyone who has sent e-mails. It's difficult to reply to you all individually but we do love hearing from you all.