So this is silence. It sounds peculiar to a city slicker accustomed to the constant hum of the metropolis. My first instinct is to listen intently for something, to relieve my ears from the nothingness…

Although less visited than many of Argentina’s regions, northwest boot-shaped Jujuy province combines beautiful scenery with cultures from two different worlds.

Every year for the past few decades, I’ve left my home in the US, and looked for a place to become a human being again, at least temporarily. Yes, there are some things you cannot get away from anymore. Every city has them. Too many cell phones, McDonald’s, dogs and dog shit, overflowing trash and cars that don’t care about people walking. But I try to get away from home.

After being in South America for just over a month, I was yet to experience any of the crazy fiascos that you so often hear of when travelling in the region. As I saw it, I had yet to earn my traveller’s stripes. But that changed on my tour of Lake Titicaca.

As Argentina is famous for its horses, it seems only natural that bronc-riding takes precedence over bull-riding. Venture into Las Pampas to see bronc-riding at a gaucho rodeo. You can sample Argentine culture that isn’t aimed just towards the tourist crowds and watch a rough and rural equestrian sport.

A few years back my Kiwi friend Dan and I were on our maiden voyage around South America. It wasn’t our first quest as travelling companions, as we had previously conquered the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, but it was certainly our most ambitious to date.

After hitting the Argentine beaches during the summer, I was left craving an un-crowded, less full-on scene; preferably with good surf breaks and less focus on the body beautiful. I needed a remote stretch of sand to collapse on in an un-self-conscious heap and wile away a weekend reading, dreaming and feeling the last hits of the summer sun on my skin.

My family come from the New Territories in Hong Kong, where they speak the hakka dialect. Hakka people originally came from northern China, but ended up migrating to South China and the Guangdong Province by way of war, strife and a large amount of bickering with the Cantonese.

Do you like horse riding? Have you ever wished you could be a gaucho for a day? Have you secretly had fantasies about recreating scenes from Brokeback Mountain? Were those fantasies about riding through dramatic mountain scenery on horseback, rather than doing sexy things with Heath Ledger in a tent? If the answer to any of these questions (apart from maybe number three) is yes, then Cabalgatas Haneck is what you are looking for.

“Merhaba! Nasilsiniz? Ne içmek istersin?” “Hum… yes, well… hum…Do you speak English by any chance?” This was my first conversation in Turkish, shortly after I arrived in Istanbul. After more than three hours spent on a plane and a quick stop at the hotel, my two girlfriends and I decided to head down to a bar to taste the famous Turkish coffee.