I have been asked on a few ocassions how I managed to be able to take a year off to go cycling. I think the general priciples are probably the same for whatever big ambition you have. Here are a few things that I think we're helpful.

Save money. Open a savings account (a tax free ISA is a good place to start). Most things in life require a little money to grease the wheels. Set up a standing order for at least 10% of your salary each month.

Write down your idea and decide what steps you can take today to make it happen.

Read. Books, websites, forums are a good place to start researching your plans. Then try something small (like a short cycle tour) to see if you like it...

Don't tell anyone. Let the idea build up inside you and grow to the extent that you have to do it. I told people I was getting into cycle touring but I waited several years before telling everyone the South America plan. Almost till I'd bought the ticket and quit my job.

Accept that you will need to make sacrifices but don't make comprimises on your dreams.

Don't rely on luck. Don't listen to the naysayers.

Don't wait till everything is absolutely perfect. It never will be. Just go!! Get on with it.

Brett and I woke up at 5:30am, in the pouring rain, to get to the ferry port at Chile Chico in time. We waited, getting soggier, whilst everyone else got on the ferry but we were made to wait till last. Cycle prejudice is rife. Inside the ferry was crazily crowded so we squeezed ourselves in to a cafeteria to eat breakfast of oats and yoghurt and coffee. I headed off from Puerto Ibanez with the rain still lashing down, selected a low gear and started climbing. I left Brett faffing about with getting warmer clothes out of his panniers.

I bumped into Monica and Thorsten again at the junction with Ruta 7, where the tarred road snakes its way up to a 1100m pass. We had a bit of lunch sat in a bus stop shelter and continued up the hairpins. Thorsten and I had a good chat and, once we got to the top, took some photos in the snow. (White xmas!) When Monica caught up we continued in sleet and then snow.

As we sped down hill the sky cleared and huge mountains loomed over the road. Fantastic views waited around each bend of forests, lakes and fast flowing rivers. Probably some of the most dramatic scenery of the trip so far. Another uphill bump and the scenery changed again turning into rolling green hills and farmland. Not unlike Hampshire believe it or not. However, a headwind picked up and, after I stopped for a few biscuits, M&T caught up. We camped in El Blanco beside the confluence of two rivers and ate pasta, cheese, chocolate, walnuts and cake (not all together (or necessarily in that order)).

Today, Christmas Eve, began with filthy wet weather and a biting cold headwind. The big mittens made their first outing of the trip. Fortunately it was only a short 33kms to Coyhaique, where I soon found Brett, the campsite and, later, Michael. So there is quite a crowd of us now. I think Monika plans to cook a traditional German xmas dinner tonight which should be nice. Crimbo Vino is bubbling much slower so fingers crossed it will be drinkable tomorrow. Planning to have Boxing Day here too (to recuperate).

Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas time and all the best for 2010!!! Stay tuned for my New Year's Resolutions...

I'm really enjoying listening to The Levellers at the moment. Especially I like the lyrics from The Boatman.

If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a boatman
On the canals and the rivers free
No hasty words are spoken
My only law is the river breeze
That takes me to the open seas
If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a boatman

If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a rover
And if the road was not for me
Then I would choose another
Cross mountains and the valleys deep
Where I would take these weary feet
If I could choose the life I please
Then I would be a rover

I'm reading a James Michner book called Journey that I picked up in a hostal. Its the story of an expedition during the gold rush to the Klondike River in northern Canada in 1897. Some pertinent advice is to be found near the bottom of page 120.

"We must change our socks at least twice a week and wash the worn ones in soap and hot water, else we'll develop a horrible fungus. It's not good to sleep in your clothes or to wear your underthings for more than a week. The latrine is to be kept well back from the cabin, and I want to find no one just stepping outside the door and pissing."

Ok, fair enough Jimbo, I will do my best.

Right, now on to food. I think its fair to say that I'll not be writing a recipe book any time soon. Nevertheless, I thought I'd give a taster of my culinary tendencies are on the bike. The key thing is to be able to store stuff for about a week or so. I have a few old plastic containers (the kind you get hot chocolate in) to keep things like oats, pasta and rice in. Plastic bags are ok but tend to split open and go everywhere.

Breakfast: I've got oats, powdered milk and sugar all mixed up in a container and I just pour some in my mug, add cold water, and shovel it in. It is considerably less faff and less mess than hot porridge and, if I ever felt the need, with the addition of raisins and nuts it is almost muesli. I like this and it sets you up for the day. If I have left the stove out I can make tea and pour in hot water into the oats which is also good.

Lunch: Bread with cheese, dulce de leche, jam or banana. Or with any combination of the above, or with all of it. Bread only lasts a few days before going stale so another option is to carry crackers which last a bit longer or flour. You can use flour to make chapatis (flat bread made from flour, salt and water) or "beer bread" (rises a bit, made with beer and flour). Good to cook these over a fire but its ok on a stove too.

Dinner: Pasta and stock cube. Or, if I fancy a change, rice and stock cube. Cheap and quick to cook. Occasionally, I will buy a few random tins, tuna, sardines, sweetcorn, peas, etc. Also I sometimes have things like olive oil, garlic, fresh ginger, herbs, curry powder, onion, salami, parmazan and the odd carrot. Powdered soups also good as an alternative to stock cubes. In towns I go wild and eat vegetables, red meat, eggs and yoghurt, as these don't travel well.

Snacks: Biscuits, chocolate and mints. I have to hide these from myself in the bottom of the panniers. Fruit and other healthy food doesn´t tend to travel well so I do a good deal of healthy eating outside shops. Apples and oranges are about the best for taking with.

Drinks: Water or black tea. In town, the occasional beer or wine. I'm also brewing some strawberry wine in time for Christmas. Its fizzing all the time now and I have to unscrew the cap to release the pressure every 10km. Following a tip from Brett, I activated the yeast in a little lukewarm water covered with a lid for 45 minutes and then added it to the strawberry juice with a spoonful of sugar.

Rolled out of Cochrane and put in a shortish day to Puerto Bertrand. Rear tyre blewout and I had to bodge a fix with duct tape. There I met a dog that looked suprisingly similar to one I had seen in Cochrane. But I thought nothing of it. However, as I attempted to make chapatis and read my book the crazy little dog kept pestering me. She followed me when I moved up to a campsite and met up with Bret for a dinner containing both rice and pasta. Bret gave me his spare tyre which looks excellent. After a good dinner, good hot shower, good coffee I hit the sack. The dog slept next to my tent.

In the morning, we breakfasted on porridge, coffee, leftovers and stupid jokes. Then I left before Brett as he was buggering around packing and he wanted to take it slow because he's picked up a little knee problem. As I rode out of town (I love saying that, it feels like I'm a cowboy!!) the dog followed me. I call her Salchicha - stupid name for stupid animal. I tried my best to persuade her to go away but she followed me for 65kms. She could run up hills faster than me and could catch up in a few minutes after I had nailed downhill. She had a great time chasing after other dogs, rabbits and birds. Eventually she decided that a campsite where there were people cooking on a bbq was a better chance of finding a generous human (I refused to feed her).

Today I met up with the German couple Monica and Thorsen who told me that Salchicha followed them from Cochrane to Puerto Bertrand. So in the last 3 days she has covered over 115kms!! Cycled on with M&T to Chile Chico a delightful little lake side town.

Only a 1100m pass between me and Christmas in Coyaique. Strawberry wine is coming along nicely fermenting all over the place. I have to unscrew the cap every hour to let the gas out. Will meet up with M&T and Brett. Not sure if Michael (nick named by Brett as "Iron Mike") will make it as he's still in Cochrane, but should be a good crowd anyway.

At Tortel I loaded up on supplies. This involved knocking politely on what looked just like someones house, only I had spied shelves of food through the window, and then asking in my finest spanish for oats, chocolate and one of each flavour of biscuits. To get bread I had to go to another house and knock on the window. The woman inside delved into a huge sack and brought out 6 homemade rolls for 10p each.

Biscuits and chocolate have a short shelf-life in my panniers and were, of course, devoured before the end of the day. As is the usual fashion hereabouts the road was in a dire pot-holed, washboarded, gravely and hilly state and there was a head wind. Nevertheless the sun shone all day and as the light faded I found a nice spot off the road and under some trees to pitch the tent with a mountain veiw and a river nearby.

The next day I set off hoping to make it to Cochrane and when I passed a lovely cycling couple from Belgium they confirmed it was 65kms so I had a sporting chance of getting there before nightfall. Being about the time of day we decided to retire to the dining room for lunchoen together. By which I mean we sat on the dirt and ate cheese sandwiches.

After a good chat and feed I hit the road again but changed my plan when, 15kms outside Cochrane, I chanced upon Lago Ezmeralda. It was a beautiful spot so I decided to camp there and save a nights camping fee in Cochrane.

Cochrane is a little bigger than Villa O'Higgins, the internet a fraction faster, and it has a nice feel about it. There is a supermarket which is ideal if you need to pop out and pick up some cereal, milk, an outboard motor, a chainsaw and some plastic toys. Truely everything you might ever need is on sale.

Brett arrived and we bought some steaks to bbq. Also, led astray, I bought some lavadura and some strawberry juice with which I intend to concoct a "special" christmas vino. Wish me luck!

After listening to a folk band in the campsite bar, and sampling (yet more) litres of Quilmes, our trusty pedal-powered hero woke fairly late and drank several cups of coffee and ate lots of toast and alfajor (yummy chocolate/ducle leche things). He then spent what seemed like an eternity trying to reorganise his panniers to be a) more convienient for commonly used items and b) with more weight at the front of the bike (who shall henceforth be known as Foxy Lady). Neither of these objectives were achieved and so the mission was abandoned in favour of cycling.
Weather was nice but reasonably windy. Lunch was ducle de leche and bananas on crackers and some turron.

Soon after Lago Argentina had slid behind a hill I came across a house in the middle of knowhere with "Bar" written on it. I headed in chased my barking dogs and it turned out to be a campsite too. So I gave in and ordered some food. On asking what he had on offer I was offered some piddling sandwiches and cakes, and then he offered a plate of beef steak. My eyes lit up and no more communication was required. Then dead cow was served with grated carrot and tomato and washed down by a black beer called Antares.

The next day was the sunniest and least windy day I have had yet so much so that my jacket stayed off all day and my arms got a touch of sunburn. I put in 120km to reach El Chalten just as it was getting dark. The whole day I was heading closer and closer to the mind boggling peaks of Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. I installed myself at the campsite and got a pizza. Disappointment ensued as I was unable to manage the entire pizza. The first time such a fate has befallen me. I think my stomach is getting smaller. Either that or it is the enormous quantity of cheese they use here.

Today the weather is much the same: balmy. I walked up to the Laguna Torre which is an excellent viewpoint for Cerro Torre, a crazily steep and magestic tower. I wore shorts (but long sleeves because of sun burned arms) and carried a very light pack with water, biscuits and not much else. Quite a relaxing walk through delightful countryside. I may have to stay here some time as my timing for the ferry to Villa O´Higgins is a little muddled. In fact I still can´t work out if it goes on Fridays or Saturdays such is the quality of the infomation. Well, tomorrow I plan to hike to the Mount Fitz Roy viewpoint and then we´ll see. If I miss the Friday/Saturday ferry there is one on Tuesday (or maybe its Wednesday). All a little confusing.

Met a great cycling couple from Switzerland at the campsite. They have cycled from Ecuador and were kind enough to answer some of my daft questions. Here is a mini interview with them I recorded. Listen to find out a great tip to get more from your cycling tour and to find out how fast dogs run.




Also I spent the day checking out the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier.

I´ve just finished a week trekking around Torres del Paine national Park in Chile. I had a fantastic time and its great to translate those photographs I had seen into actual memories. (This process is a bit like when I saw Chuck Berry play at Portsmouth Guildhall when I was 10 years old. It was my first gig and I went with my Dad. I was so excited because I had worn out my Chuck Berry tape by playing it a thousand times and was obsessed with him. Nothing compares to seeing the man in the flesh playing "Johnny B Goode".)

Anyway, I´ve been thinking about other treks for future holidays/expeditions. Here is my international wish list. Is one life long enough?

1. Torres del Paine circuit (Chile) (Pete has done it!!)
2. Los Glaciares (Argentina, options to veiw Cerro Torre and Mt Fitzroy)
3. Cordillera Real (Bolivia, 7 day circuit)
4. Bruce Trail (Canada)
5. Inca Trail (Peru)
6. Pacific Coast Trail (USA)
7. Continental Divide Trail (USA)
8. Appalachian Trail (USA)
9. Kerry Way (Ireland)
10. South West Coast Path (England)
11. West Highland Way (Scotland) (Pete has done it!!)
12. GR5 (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxombourg, France)
13. Snowman Trek (Bhutan,21 day hike in Himalayas)
14. Israel National Trail (er...Israel. 1000kms)
15. Everest Base Camp (Nepal, 18 days)
16. Annapurna Circuit (Nepal, 3 week loop)
17. Great Baikal Trail (Russia)
18. Nordkalottleden Trail (Finland, Sweden and Norway)
19. Grand Italian Trail (Italy, 6000kms)
20. Heysen Trail (Australia)
21. Milford Track (New Zealand)

Took a rest day at Hosteria des Torres campsite which consisted of reading, eating and composing hillarious poems. Then built giant bonfire to cook my pasta with peas and salami and warm my weary body.

Yesterday I took to the road on my bike again and it feels good. There was a section of gravel road that was the worst yet but I had a tailwind so pressed on racking up a good 120kms or so. Then when I was packing up my tent this morning a guacho (kind of a cowboy) rode up to have a chinwag and stare into the distance looking menacing. I patted his horse which look round and stared at me as if to say, "Do I look like the kind of horse who gets patted. Do me a favour..."

Then I breakfasted on crackers and peanut butter and rode 100kms into a head wind. On the way I got back to the paved road, finished all the crackers and ran out of water. I then had to try out the "Dave Technique" taught to me by the guy I met cycling the other way.

Step 1: Stand by side of the road with an empty water bottle and point to it.
Step 2: Hope someone stops.
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2 as necessary.

It worked pretty well. I got 300ml the first car and then as I was cycling along later someone rolled down the window and threw a 1 litre bottle at me. I think they´d been phoned up by the first car. How cool is that. Now I have a "support team".

Things went steadily up hill (literally) with the headwind continuing, and then steadily downhill (in both respects). My back tyre has seen better days and gave me another puncture. I patched the puncture but then split the valve somehow and had to change the tube. I was just looking forward to hitting the headwind when a bus offered me a free ride to El Calafate. How could I refuse! It would have taken me another day I think as it was 66kms to go when he picked me up.

Here in El Calafate I have been on a spending spree buying a new camera, a new tyre and now spending a fortune in the internet cafe. Tomorrow I will go check out the Perito Moreno Glacier (probably by bus) and maybe have another rest day too as I have just spotted that there is a Folk Music concert on in town.

After eating like Lords, and drinking like fish, a group in the Refugio Chileno looked at an attractive guide book photograph of the Torres del Paine bathed in a pinkish light at sunrise. But how early must they wake to see this spectacle? Someone knowledgable of the sun was consulted, calculations were undertaken and at last a time was held aloft.

"Four thirty!!!" they all cheered.

When the alarm clock beeped its merry tune, your faithful correspondant leapt from his bed, laced his boots and, with a spring in his step, skipped and hopped his way up the hill. Surrounded by a bevy of bronze skinned beauties, clad merely in bikinis and hiking boots, the intrepid young chap vaulted fences with the early sunshine shinning down on his face. Soon, there they were, the sight that defies description....

Oh, alright then. That didn´t happen. If you must know, it was too cloudy to see the torres when I poked my head out of the tent flap. I directed a clenched fist at the noisy aforementioned time peice (which didn´t improve my hangover) and rolled over and slept. When I did hike up to the torres, which are certainly towering, it was too late for the red glow effect. Perhaps I can add that later with photoshop?

A few miles out of Punta Arenas I crossed paths with Dave (note the machete) who has cycled here from Seatle and is nearly at the end of his journey.

Yesterday was the day of things breaking. This began in the morning when my plastic spork decided it would rather be a uselessly small fork and spoon instead. Then the button on my trousers broke and just as I was looking for a place to put the tent up I got my first puncture.

Puerto Natales is beautiful. It is set on the water with mountains all around. I´m looking forward to scenery becoming more dramatic and also to spending a week or so hiking in Torres del Paine national park. Right, I´m off to explore

There are a few gizmos that make life a bit easier for a bicycle traveller so I thought I would share my top ten

1. Thermometer: I picked this up this morning in Punta Arenas. How else am I going to brag about the extreme cold I endured in the Andes and the brain melting heat in the tropics. Also, should give me a sporting chance at some basic weather prediction.

2. SD card reader: More descrite (and therefore safer) than plugging in your digital camera etc.

3. Miniture tripod: I´m touring alone so have to be best freinds with the self-timer.

4. Flint and steel: My friend Lindsay gave me this as a going-away-pressie. It is indispensible. Works every time for lighting fires or stoves and doesn´t matter if it gets wet.

5. Swiss army knife: never does a day go by without me using this trusty tool.

6. Universal adaptor: Argentina has a combination of flat and round-pins (so you can use either) and Chile has round pins. Either way its worth having an adaptor mine will do any country in the world and also has a USB input which is ideal for charging up the ipod.

7. Combination bike lock: Cheap but hopefully enough to put an oppotunist theif off. I´ll never loose the key because there isn´t one.

8. Spork: Awesome eating utensil. Needed for stiring pasta, shoveling said pasta into mouth and then for spreading dulce de leche onto some bread. But I guess any spoon would have done.

9. Pen: Mine was a gift from CAAC and I probably would have forgotten one otherwise. Diary entries would be a bit minimal without it.

10. Toepeak Alien 2: It´s worth having a decent multi tool for the bike. This all-singing-all-dancing one is ideal.

Darren Alf is really the king of this kind of kit list. Here are links to his lists on a similar theme. . .
Top 10 Most Important Items on a Bike Tour
Thankfully, I have 8 out of 10 with me. I consider that a pretty good score, a First at uni. I don´t have a mirror or mobile phone.
10 Important Items You Should Have But Might Not Think of Bringing On Your Bike Tour
I managed 7 out of 10 with these, just a 2:1. Forgetting toilet roll (I´ve just stollen a wedge from the hostel), extra camera battery (which would be really useful) and mini USB cable (which wouldn´t).

The northern half of Tierra del Fuego is flat and windy. I headed out of Rio Grande and put in a longish day to reach San Sebastian, which is the border with Chile. Went through fine and then passed a sign reading "Fin de Pavmiento". From there on it was a case of eyes down and look at gravel. But there is a knack to riding on this stuff and soon enough I was looking around enjoying the scenery again. The scenery consists of miles and miles of nothing apart from the odd sheep or llama. At the Chilean version of San Sebastian 15km further on I grabbed a steak sandwich in an american dinner style place and changed over to chilean pesos you get about 6,540,000,000 to the pound (possibly) so your mental arithmetic needs to be sharp. Then I camped in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Woke up and there was a tail wind! Wolfed down some dulce de leche (a bit like condensed milk) sarnies and hit the gravel. 50 clicks later passed Phil and Joyce a cycling couple from Bath who have come from Peru a similar route to the one I am planning and gave me pleanty of useful tips and info. Ta! They told me of a campsite by the beach between 40 and 45kms from Povenir. So I nailed it to there and got a little campfire going with heaps of dried out sea-weed and drift wood. I love cooking on an open fire, it saves fuel and after I´ve finished cooking I have a nice cheery blaze to eat by. Only trouble was that the tide came in and the sea was very noisy with crashing waves that woke me up a few times. Today the going was tough as the road was washboard gravel tracks with several undulating hills and the head wind had reappeared. Took me 6 hours to cover 40km. Then I arrived in Porvenir (bit of a ghost town) and waited for the ferry to take me to Punta Arenas. I´m now safely installed in the Backpacker´s Paradise for 2 nights to get a bit of rest before heading up to Puerto Natales and then Torres del Paine (which I am very very excited about) where I´m hoping to do a bit of trekking in the mountains.

Equipment is all doing well. Especially the bike, she is a grafter. The sleeping bag is very warm. Tent´s ok but not really been tested by a soaking yet but does fine in the wind. Trangia for cooking is great and I found "alcohol industrial" easily in the supermarcado. Its usually easy enough to build a fire instead anyway. Panniers all do what they are supposed to, I like the Crosso´s for the twist closing but prefer the clamps on the Revolutions.

My brother sent me a poem he has written and its too good to hoard just for myself. Apparently, the UK police have just canned publishing a 93 page cycle manual for police officers . He thought he could do better and with less words.

(Brackets not to be read)

Verse 1 – how to ride

Push pedals,

Steer true,

DON’T HIT ANYTHING,

Or, let anything hit you.

Verse 2 - equipment

And wear a helmet,

Bright colours and lights,

And avoid bus drivers who,

Like getting in fights. (look out for glazed and blood shot eyes)

Verse 3 - survival

Don’t argue with gutters, (here speaks the voice of experience)

Or run, lights that are red.

Because these are both sure ways,

Of ending up dead.

Also, thought it might be a good idea to get "Ben´s favourite cycling joke" aired as well. Why couldn't the bicycle stand up ? It was two tired. Cheers bro.

Ok so I asked Roberto to teach me a song in Spanish and he´s started me off on this song called "El Raton" -the mouse. I practised it a few times and he told me, "Don´t be timid and sing like a man". The "hechale semila.." bit is very fast and dificult but I love the "chacucha cucucuchacucha"!

Chords are Am C7 B7 E7

Mi gato se esta quejando
Que no puede vacilar
Si donde quiera que se mete
Su gata lo va buscar
Esto si es serio mi amigo
Oye! oye que lio!
Que lio se va formar

Cuando mi gatito sepa
Cuando mi gatito sepa
Es tan simple la razon

De cualquier malla
Sale un raton. Oye!

Hechale semilla a esa maraca pa´ que suene
chacucha cucucuchacucha!!


Here are the Fania All Stars performing it in Africa featuring a Santana guitar solo.

Met up with Carlos Viggiano today. This guy is a bandoneon teacher and I asked him questions about Tango and the bandoneon. In fact I recorded a 20 minute interview with him in Spanish. Quite daunting stuff but I think it will be easier next time. In the audio clip he is playing Decarisimo by Astor Piazzolla. He told me some interesting things about how the bandoneon was invented in Holland as a portable replacement for the church organ. As if to demonstrate this he picks it up and plays a few bars of "organ music". Throughout the interview we dunk bread in strong coffee. He is an expressive guy and gets his point across with drawings, a few chords on the bandoneon or with gesticulation but generally speaks slow enough for me to catch the drift. He seems to me a bit like an Italian. More about this at a later date I think. But it was pretty cool. Unfortunately I could not have a bash at playing the thing because it is too precious and my hands are probably too weak. Shame.

Last night I stayed up drinking with the guys in the hostal. I think it was really beneficial for my Spanish and its great to chat to interesting people too. One Columbian guy got his guitar out and played a couple of songs. I´d like to learn a song in Spanish as an ice breaker for when you get passed a guitar. I will have to get someone to teach me.
Other than that there was a girl from Ushuaia who says the snowboarding is excellent there all year round, but I´ll probably miss out on that. This morning I was nursing a smallish hangover but took the recorder into town and went and bought my flight ticket. Its a strange system. I had reserved a seat online but you can´t pay online so to be honest there wasn´t much point. Hope I don´t get stung too much on the excess luggage.

The folk stage near Obolisco continued today with a lady in a swooshy red dress. Her dancing and dress were more attension grabbing than her singing but the band were decent. Piano accordian, violin, guitar, bass and percussion (well, a man banging a box with a pair of maracas strapped to his leg). I recorded one song, stayed and listened to another one and then went off for the flight ticket. On the way back I took in Florida again and the band from a few days ago were back. They are called El Metodo. This time without the clarinet player. I recorded a couple of songs. I got their email address so will send them some questions too. They played quite a few tango tunes this time but also a couple of jazz clasics.

Back at the hostel some of the guys had bought some facturas, which means pastries. I tried churro (a deep fried donut thing) and alfajor (a chocolate and dulce leche sugar rush) but my favourite was vigilante. Yum. Also learnt that croissants are called media luna - half moon. Makes sense, no? They say I can´t leave Argentina without having tried an asado which is a barbeque. Every part of the cow is eaten apparently and (please keep that "apparently" in mind) red meat is supposed to be good for healthy sperm. Not sure if bicycle saddles are...

Ok, this is the folky chica.

And El Metodo

I´ve decided to stay here a few days longer to rest up the foot some more (its heaps better though), and soak up a bit more sunshine before heading to Ushuaia. I´ve not been too active the last couple of days but I did try mate for the first time. Mate is the national drink of Argentina. Its a kind of tea but tastes a bit like coffee. Its odd but not in a bad way and bitter but not unpleasantly so. The most interesting aspect is that it is drunk with a metal straw which has a filter at the bottom and is called a bombilla. The drink is popular with all ages and is a sociable activity. There is an etiquette that goes along with it, a bit like handing round a spliff I suppose. Also a really cool thing happened this morning for breakfast. The hostal receptionist baked an apple crumble!

Day Three. Went to visit the Museo del Tango which is in the famous Cafe Tortoni. Was mostly a load of old tat really. Some faded photos, Carlos Gardel´s hat, some old record covers and manuscripts. The cool thing was that a tango group were practising at the back. They were rehearsing a particularly dramatic passage from the end of a tune and the pianist (a guy in early twenties with a tasteful afro and goatee) was argueing with the singer (a cross between Pavorotti and Hulk Hogan, sorry folks, no photo!). I stood listening for a while, whilst pretending to look at the exhibits, and then sat down to rest the foot. At this point they began to play the whole tune through, rather than practise sections. Its powerful, seductive, sophisticated stuff this tango. Do you know it origionated in brothels and was the favouite music of thugs and gangsters? I guess a lot of good music has started off with an underclass (blues, hip-hop, jazz). The leggy style of dancing today is quite an evolution because to begin with it was only danced by men. The band I watched are what is known as an orquesta tipica and are formed of piano, double bass, two bandeons and two violins. Oh and Hulkavotti.

Also caught a few more street musicians today (Day Four!) including a folk group. There was a blonde lady with a bowler hat and a piano accordian and a clarinetist with a black moustache and a beret. They made a bit of a racket but not entirely unpleasant. Then I saw a small man (or possibly a child) playing Guns and Roses and Joe Saturani riffs. Not for me.

Back at the same place as before on Florida street I found another group doing some really dancable tunes. I guess they have a caribbean or ska influence. Anyway I managed to video a little bit this time (got to start taking the audio recorder with me).

A guy comes over whenever your sat down somewhere (on the metro, or at a cafe) and puts something in front of you (a pair of sissors, a pen, a book, a torch, a screwdriver) then in a few minutes he comes and picks it up. The idea is you have become so attached to it you want to buy it. Also a kid came up to me with some juggling balls. I thought he was trying to sell them to me so just said "No gracias" but he shaked his head and then started to do the most half-hearted juggling you can imagine. I asked him "Quieres dinero?", he nodded, but I decided to say "Lo siento, no."

I´m going to fly to Ushauia on Saturday I think. It´ll be a damn site more comfy than 36 hours on a bus (which only goes as far as Rio Gallegos) and as the bike is already packed up it makes sense. Hope there is a bike shop there but if not I should be able to assemble the thing.

Pretty cool day today. Went out to the Boca area where there are some attractive multi coloured buildings. Then caught a bunch of street musicians on the main tourist drag. They did a pretty cool rendition of "Minor Swing". Then had a few beers in Plaza Dorrego and watched people dancing the Tango.

Despite all the horror stories I have read, flying with a bike seemed to go fairly smoothly. The box has a few knocks and I havn´t opened it yet, but its a hardy bike it´ll be ok. Not really decided the best way to get to Tierra del Fuego. Bus or plane.
Buenos Aires is a lovely city with many tree lined streets with the Jacarandas in blossom at the moment a vibrant purple. Had a bit of a look round today but foot is still a bit sore. Saw the presidential palace, a giant pink building, the parliment building and the phalic Obolisco. Also, Plaza San Martin was nice with lots of people sunbathing, kids playing football. There is a big statue of San Martin on his horse and loads of weird and wonderful trees with enormous roots.

My friend Mark Rodgers has just released an EP which he's put up on a website www.cahm.co.uk. I thought it was rather good. Here's a few questions I put to him.

Where does the name CAHM come from?
Originally when I first got round to writing songs I was working different factory/crappy jobs and spent time working in a hospital as grounds/porter. All of these jobs seem to have an attitude of discouraging free thought or any ideas outside of a tabloid newspaper, the hospital being the worst culprit.
This institution spawned one of the first songs 'the working warrior', a musical call to arms against people who want to kick down people's dreams to maintain the status quo. The second was a reflection on being let down by people (usual token whiny melancholy song!) friends and figures of affection.
The conclusion was that all these feelings and actions although not always physical but were in fact Crimes Against Human Minds. This first collection of demo acoustic and trip hop tracks under this new name were lovingly locked away under the ep title of 'Fighting Denial'.
These days just having the name as CAHM amuses me as I kinda see it as calm spelt badly.

Whats the best lyric you've written?
"The cloak that keeps us warm, is the one that hides the daggers." From Survive In Distrust

Who was your favourite band aged 15?
Nirvana, I just religiously listened to bleach and nevermind and regularly cited it as world changing stuff if only people would reeeeally listen to. Such a classic teenager!

What song do you wish you'd written?
Toooooooooooooooooooooo many for too many reasons! For saying a lot with only a couple of chords id go for John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero'. For passion and aggression Refused's 'New Noise'. For thinking in so many directions Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android' and for the love noise Nirvana's 'Scentless Apprentice'

What book has influenced you more than any other?
Its prob going to be close run race between my sociology text book 'Haralambos' from my A-levels and 'Introduction to Buddhism' by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. The first for giving me an interest in how the world works and the second for how everything works.

Any genre of music you genuinely hate?
Anything generated from a fucking tv show! Usual boy/girl bands generic pop groups in general. Straight simple house music, I didn’t really get the simple beat its painfully dull and doesn’t ever go anywhere. Girls can wriggle to anything and look normal but it just makes guys do a semi strut dance whilst pointing the fingers to the same beat for 4 hours! Modern R&B its either "my boyfriend is a twat" or "baby do you want to see my dong?"

If you were the master of the universe, what would you change?
I'd consider making cows blind…all they do is stare at you whilst plotting something. Failing that everyone's mind, literally people don’t often think about what they are thinking.

If you had to describe your music, without using adjectives, could you?
The result of a life of paying attention to people.

You are a Buddhist, right? Does your religion pervade your music? Does it help you in any day-to-day way?
I think I'm always going to be my own worst contradiction. The music that has often inspired me has been born of anger, fury and all the other negative emotions to the point that I've never even written a positive love song which most people do at some point. The only positive song I've created was a trip hop spoken word thing. I used a speech made by Ghandi on the divine and some samples of the Muslim Adhan, hopefully this wont be taken as blasphemy. Essentially I wanted to create something reflecting the positive influence of practising religious people and remind people of the power of non-violence
In the real world I like to think I am a lot more compassionate and patient than I used to be and I don’t really fear anything anymore. So in reality being a Buddhist has brought more balance and has removed a lot of old self-destructive tendencies I used to have. I think my music is the last place I have where I get to be a grumpy git throwing the dinner at the tv kinda guy!

You are also into Free Running (AKA Parkour) too. What's your favourite move?
I was always quite content with a nice kong vault with a bit of drop, mostly because it always felt like an all or nothing move and everyone loves the feeling of flying.

Who are your parkour heroes?
David Belle…just watch District 13. And a dude named Forrest who I met at a training thing in London, he was a prime example of someone who has managed to have rid himself of an ego whilst being a professional.

Do you have a favourite piece of gym apparatus?
Theses days I'm kinda limited to the floor and to walking around on my hands as my foot is pretty ruined after a semi-successful gymnastic trick (I landed the trick but it busted the wrong part of my foot and ankle). One of my friends at the gym has been trying to teach me capoeria much to everyone's amusement!

Any plans for performing live?
At the moment this is a strong maybe! I've finished with the band Todays Eden now so I wont be performing with a band for some time. However my friend Nick Parton of Fine Excuses fame (www.fineexcuses.co.uk) thinks an open mic night is calling so it may be time to look foolish for my friends some point soon. This is of course if Nick agrees to perform too!

If you could travel back in time and pass on a piece of advice to yourself as a child, what would it be?
Something along the lines of "if you don’t want to go to school mass then refuse as they cant make you!"

Return the Favour

I spent the morning on Tuesday at the sewing machine transforming an old duvet cover into a bunch of draw string bags. Also I made these roll up things, one for the kitchen (wooden spoon, spork, fag lighter, herbs and spices etc) and one for glue, sewing kit, repair stuff etc. Having a few bags to pack things into means you can compress things smaller and helps you to keep everything tidy and organised. Good tip with the draw string bags is to use a safety pin to thread the string through with.
I am still hobbling about with a sore ankle but its getting better. Bike is now boxed up and ready to fly. Just a case of getting everything else packed now. I visited my sister's school and gave a talk to the Geography Society last night which was good fun. Fly tomorrow night!

I asked Richie Cunningham if he could think of anyone else I could have a go at interviewing and he suggested William Sichel. William's ultra running achievements are incredible. He is currently unbeaten in all events longer than 48 hours and holds six ultra distance records at World, British and Scottish level.