Hello and welcome to this short news briefing.

From here on to the completion of my time in South America, I'll be posting short updates on a weekly basis, usually on a rest day from cycling. Then post tour I'll expand it out to a proper journal, typing up my daily pen written notebook journal together with photos for each day.

Each week I'll write a short piece here, depending on what time I've got, about some currant event or meeting someone interesting. It could be anything. I kick off this week with increasing prices of basics.

Since arriving back in Argentina, I've noticed that prices have gone up significantly, even in the short two months I've been away in Bolivia. Thankfully prices for accommodation remain stable with a hostel bed at around 150 pesos, or £7.50 here in the north of the country, which is cheap by European prices. However, supermarket prices have gone up and seem to be increasing all the time. For instance, as a touring cyclist like myself, I need a lot to drink such as Coca Cola. In July a one and a half litre bottle of coke was under 30 pesos. I remember back in December, the same bottle was 25 pesos, now, it's gone up to 35 pesos, and small shops charge up to 45.

Shopping for food in general is getting very expensive. The other day I put all the very basics in my supermarket basket, things like spaghetti, pasta sauce, bread and cheese, a single orange, two bananas and a tomato, carton of milk, mat-tee, alcohol fuel for the stove, a tube of toothpaste (the cheapest at 30 pesos) and one or two other items. As you can see, no luxuries whatsoever. The bill at the checkout came nevertheless to 275 pesos, a whopping £14 for a bland diet to last only one day and part of the next.

Café prices are gone crazy too. A sandwich for example runs from 50 to 70 pesos £2.50-3.50. A 970ml bottle of beer, 80 pesos, £4. A soft drink, or a coffee 35-45 pesos, around £2

Other than prices there\s not much to moan about. Though, because of increasing costs, I'll be from now on cycling every day, with just the one rest day per week.

I'm now in Chilecito, taking a well earned rest day after seven on the road. I've publish some pages as photos only for now, to be further updated with text at a later date (as I've mentioned above) just to give an idea of the road I've been on.

We could go on but, we're out of time. That was the author of this journal, Sean Kane, and I'm your very new news reader, JP Mc Craicken. Bye for now.