Argentina

Travelled through the Andes mountain range (stunning) to Mendoza - really plesant, and from San Juan up to San Augustine - a quiet little village from where we could jump off to the surreal National Parks in the area. Ischigaulasto park (which is the only place in the world apparently where all the sediment layers of the Triasic period are visible) was good - loads of dino bones fund here including the oldest and most primitive of them.

Rock formations are really odd and interesting as it the bottom of a river vallry known as the Valle de le Luna (Moon Valley) but the people seem more interested in what there names are (ie, the mushroom, the sphinx etc!). Also went to Talampaya park which was incredible - ancient petroglyphs and huge mountains jutting up into the sky created by the plates pushing into the Andes from the West coast and then being pushed back up inland creating really high red plateaus which are stunning. There was a gorge where a channel was worn away by a river over millions of years that must have been 80 feet tall - when you shout from beneath, it amplified the sound and echoed off for a good few seconds in the surrounding hills!

Took a 4hr bus back to San Juan, followed by a 14hr bus up to Tucuman heading North towards Salta.