SAN ANTONIO DE LOS COBRES, ARGENTINA — Our heads were in the clouds at the very thought of booking seats on the Train to the Clouds (Tren a las Nubes), which departs from this remote outpost in northwestern Argentina.

CHACABUCO VALLEY, CHILE — I remember my first glimpse of Patagonia. My parents had given me a calendar of mountain images one Christmas and the photo for November — Patagonia — was so alarmingly beautiful, I thought it was fake.

SALTA, ARGENTINA - Flying from the stylish streets of Buenos Aires into Argentina’s northwest leads me to the provinces not on most traveller’s bucket list.

BUENOS AIRES - It took some fancy footwork to arrange my first tango lesson. A day lost to learning the seductive dance of Argentina due to a Canadian snowstorm required a lot of shuffling on my part.

USHUAIA, ARGENTINA - Visitors to this remote Argentinean debarkation port for Antarctic cruises are greeted with a hearty: Welcome to the end of the world - or to the beginning.