News release: 14 Dec 2005, We are on our way

I arrived at the weekend so there was little to be done and our stuff was still in Frankfurt. Amazingly, since Monday, not only has it all arrived but it's out of customs, loaded up on our FIAT vans and we're ready to leave for the 1100 Km drive across South America to Mendoza tomorrow morning. Just as well really as all the team is here including mountain guide, photographer, doctor and film crew and everyone's ready to go.

You can eat jolly well here in Buenos Aires, they do meat, BIG meat, and with a few beers the bill is less than £10. The best one we found is called Desnivel, it was so good we went back the next night. Superb!

There are two things they do in Argentina better than anyone else: Polo and Tango. The all Argentine Polo final was on the day I arrived so I didn't get to go (tickets were apparently sold out months before anyway) but on Sunday evening, in a little square round the corner from Desnivel people were dancing the Tango. The sound system may have kept breaking down but nobody seemed to mind too much. It was a really great thing to see, nothing artificial at all, perhaps most astonishing was the mix of people, grandpa's dancing with girls their granddaughter's age, punks with their grannys, and everybody was really good at it.

The traffic here is a bit mad, but I've seen worse; they do seem to stop quite reliably on red lights and things. In a taxi this afternoon we were waiting at a red light when there was suddenly a terrific screeching of tyres and the car next to us suddenly leapt into the air and ended up facing the other way, a guy had just run very hard into the back of him. Several other cars ended up also being quite seriously damaged in the incident. My driver couldn't stop thanking his lucky stars for the rest of the journey that his car came out of it completely unscathed.

Looking for a road map, I chanced upon what must be the best book shop in Buenos Aires; The Athena. Even if you didn't want to buy a book it's worth visiting just to see it; it's an old Edwardian era theater complete with balconies and a huge painting on the ceiling. The stage is a restaurant, the upper circle is educational books and you pay in the box offices. I got a good road map and the 'Adventure Guide to Argentina'. I haven't had time yet to really look at it.

It's a great city, Buenos Aires, but I shall be glad to be on my way tomorrow.