Don't mention the war

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Argentina

My rating: 8/10

Daily budget (travel, food and accommodation): USD $70 = 44 pounds

When: 19 December 2012 - 20 January 2013

Bases: Ushuaia, El Calafate, Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta, Cordoba, Buenos Aires

Main sights: Beagle Channel boat tour, Train at the End of the World, Tierra del Fuego National Park, Perito Moreno Glaciar, Companario Hill, Little Circuit bike ride, Maipu Valley-La Rural vineyard and Entre Olivos olive farm and Trapiche vineyard and Di Tommaso vineyard and Carinae vineyard, The Vines of Mendoza Blending Lab, Cafayate Ravine, Cafayate-La Banda vineyard and Nanni vineyard and Domingo Hermanos vineyard and Museum of Vine and Wine, Salta Town Hall-Historic Museum of the North, San Bernardo Hill cable car, Cordoba Church Cathedral, Cordoba Jesuit Block, House of Che Museum, Alta Gracia Jesuit Farm National Museum and House of Viceroy Liniers, Pink House Museum and tour, Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, River Plate museum and El Monumental stadium tour, Boca Juniors museum and La Bombonera stadium tour, Caminito, Tortoni Cafe tango show, Cantares flamenco show, Evita Museum

Top 3 experiences:

1) Buenos Aires
2) Cycling in Argentina
3) House of Che Museum

Buenos Aires

The way I see it, all the best cities have a few things in common.

One of them is that they each have an interesting story to tell. Buenos Aires certainly delivers on that front. It's been one of the continent's big players since the 18th century when Spain made this small port capital of the new River Plate viceroyalty. Basically, it ran the eastern part of the Spanish empire while Lima ran the west.

Since independence, development has continued at breakneck speed, creating a unique city with (unusually for South America) distinct suburbs like gritty La Boca and lively Palermo. It's still happening today, as well, with the central Puerto Madero district springing up as Buenos Aires' answer to London's docklands - with the added bonus of a vast ecological reserve next door.

Another thing I look for in cities, and I appreciate it's not on everyone's list, is a passion for football. My home city Manchester is crazy about football, but it's nothing compared to Buenos Aires. The city has two dozen professional football teams - more than anywhere else in the world. And the 2 biggest, Boca Juniors and River Plate, just so happen to be the 2 biggest outside Europe.

To give you an idea of how big they really are, there was a Boca-River match while we were there (I didn't go - a ticket can cost anything up to $20,000). The Buenos Aires daily sports newspaper (yes, they really do have one) dedicated 18 of its 50 pages exclusively to the outcome of the so-called Superclasico. 18 pages!

Being something of a football anorak, I did the museum and stadium tours for both (I've got a very understanding girlfriend).

Boca was definitely the more impressive of the two. You get to see the unique vertical stand that gives the stadium its name (La Bombonera translates as the Chocolate Box because, viewed from above, the stand resembles the lid of an open box of chocolates - you have to use your imagination, admittedly). You also get exhibits showing how this huge 49,000-capacity stadium popped up miraculously out of the cramped Italian dockers district of La Boca. What's more, you get to watch some of the most unconvincing in-game footage since Goal 2 in a specially commissioned video that plays in their own 360-degree cinema.

River Plate, meanwhile, boasts its own (sorely underused) 360-degree cinema as well as a video hall of fame that's straight out of Star Trek. Also counting in their favour is the fact that their stadium is the largest in Argentina (64,000 capacity), and the place where (Boca legend) Diego Maradona lifted the World Cup in 1986, but somehow the whole experience just falls a little flat in comparison.

Ok, enough football.

The third and final thing that all great cities need is culture. Buenos Aires will always be associated with tango and rightly so - it's a bold, theatrical, sexy dance that could only come from this part of the world. Seeing a tango show is the first thing on most people's lists when visiting Buenos Aires, and we loved the stylish show we saw at Cafe Tortoni (not the food though - how they managed to make a hamburger and a pizza taste the same will forever baffle me).

But there's more to Buenos Aires than tango. We found a great flamenco show at a specialist bar called Cantares - flamenco's much bigger here than in Peru, Bolivia, Chile or the rest of Argentina. Buenos Aires also has the best nightlife we've experienced so far. And the cosmopolitan food on offer is a godsend after months surviving on bread, ham and cheese (breakfast/lunch) and steak or pasta (dinner).

Argentina's capital likes to think of itself as the Paris of South America. For me, it fits perfectly. Buenos Aires is the best city I've visited outside Europe - and it gives the likes of Paris, Barcelona and London a real run for their money.

Cycling in Argentina

I've not heard anyone say this before but I think it's worth saying. Argentina is a great country for cyclists.

I'm not talking about cross-country touring here, although I'm sure that's possible (hell, we met someone cycling the entire west coast of South America - all 4,500 miles of it!). I'm talking about easy 1-day bike rides around the main towns and into the surrounding countryside.

We managed 2 bike rides during our time in Argentina and both were fantastic.

The first was in the Lake District region of Patagonia near the town of Bariloche. We started on foot by climbing Companario Hill to see for ourselves what National Geographic named one of the Top 10 Views in the World. It was very impressive, sure, but honestly how in god's name do they decide things like that? Then we rented 2 cheap mountain bikes and cycled the 13-odd miles of the Little Circuit (Circuito Chico in Spanish) - a route that takes you round crystal-clear lakes, through lush forests and over quiet, well-maintained roads.

The second was in the Maipu Valley wine region of mid-west Argentina near the town of Mendoza. After bussing it out to the suburb of Coquimbito, we rented 2 mega-cheap bikes (1 city bike and 1 lady shopper) and set off in search of some local booze. There are about a dozen vineyards within easy striking distance so it didn't take long. We visited La Rural (interesting museum but stingy on the tastings), Trapiche (great facilities and nice wines), Di Tommaso (simple place but fantastic Malbecs) and Carinae (incredibly friendly and good all-round wines). We also downed some seriously strong fortified wines and spirits at the Entre Olivos olive farm. Cue some wobbly cycling and a very long lie-in the next morning.

Those are just 2 of the bike rides available in Bariloche and Mendoza but there are many more. And we saw plenty of routes that we would've liked to have done around Salta, Cordoba and Buenos Aires if we'd had more time.

Unlike the rest of the continent, Argentinians have always cycled a lot themselves. Throw in good cycling infrastructure (Buenos Aires and Mendoza have segregated bike lanes and everything), super-smooth roads and (slightly) less erratic motorists and you've got a recipe for the best cycling in South America. Spread the word.

House of Che Museum

There are a few things you might not know about the iconic Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara:

1) He was born and raised in Argentina
2) He was from a wealthy middle-class family
3) He was an avid cyclist

If you didn't believe me when I said before that Argentinians have a long history of cycling, look no further than Che. Way back in 1950, the 21-year-old Che decided to embark on a cross-country bike ride of truly epic proportions. Beginning with Buenos Aires in the east, he travelled up to Jujuy in the north, down to Mendoza in the mid-west and ended up back where he started from in Buenos Aires. That´s about 3,000 miles.

Now it's true that he wasn't just travelling under his own steam - Che fitted a small Micron motor to his bicycle to give him occasional breaks from pedalling. Even so, it was still more bicycle than Motorcycle Diaries. If you want to check for yourselves, you can view the actual bike he used at the House of Che Museum in Alta Gracia, right in the middle of Argentina.

Speaking of the Motorcycle Diaries, surely the star turn at this museum is the motorbike Che and his lifelong friend Alberto Granado relied on for their road trip across South America in 1951-52. Jokingly named The Powerful One (La Poderosa in Spanish) by Che and Alberto, this clapped-out machine got Che started on a trip that would ultimately take in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and even the US (well, Miami). In a touching tribute, you can also see the ashes of his travel buddy Alberto.

There was a third journey after the Motorcycle Diaries too - the most important of the lot, in fact. Getting underway from Buenos Aires in 1953 with another close friend Carlos 'Calica' Ferrer alongside him, Che travelled to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico - becoming more and more politically active as he went. It was in Guatemala that he joined the local youth brigades trying to defend the government from a military coup (they lost), and while in Mexico that he met future Cuban president Fidel Castro and signed up to the invasion of Cuba. The rest, as they say, is history.

The House of Che Museum covers all the major stages of Che's life using a mix of photos, videos, letters, personal belongings and of course those storied bikes. However, it's at its best when focusing on his early years.

That's because the museum actuallly occupies one of Che's childhood homes. Che was born in Rosario and spent brief periods of his youth living in Posadas (where his dad owned a tea plantation), Buenos Aires and Cordoba, but he suffered from life-threatening asthma attacks so his family relocated to well-to-do Alta Gracia, which reputedly has the best air quality in Argentina. It worked too - while never totally free of asthma, his symptoms became much less severe after the move.

Che lived in Alta Gracia between the ages of 4 and 15 and, for most of that time, Villa Nydia was his home. In 2001, Villa Nydia was turned into the House of Che Museum and it has since attracted a string of high-profile visitors, not least Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro himself.

I'm sure Fidel has built bigger tributes to Che in Cuba - the man's a legend over there. But I like to think that even Fidel learnt something new about his protege after visiting the fascinating little house-turned-museum where he grew up.

PS. If you want to learn more about Che's formative years, I can recommend the non-fiction book 'Young Che'. Edited by his father Ernesto Guevara Lynch, it's full of revealing family anecdotes as well as letters sent by Che during his various road trips, making it a great travel companion. Failing that, you could always just watch the Motorcycle Diaries again. I know I will.

Random facts:


• Argentina has 19 public holidays per year - more than anywhere else in the world (England has 8). There's also a bewildering number of regional days and profession days off.
• During the dark days of 2001, Argentina had 5 different presidents in less than 2 weeks.
• Argentinians used to drink, on average, 90 litres of wine per person per year in the 1970s. That's a bottle every 3 days!


Impressions:

Remember the Falklands?

In the UK, it's probably fair to say that these small windswept islands in the Atlantic don't register very highly in our day-to-day lives. Most of us probably know there was a brief war over them in the 80s, overseen by a not-very-popular British prime minister and an even less popular Argentinian dictator. But that was more than 30 years ago. It's over. It's finished.

Not so in Argentina.

Reminders of the Falklands (Islas Malvinas in Spanish) are absolutely everywhere here, no matter how large or small the town. In Argentina, you're never far from a monument, a war memorial, a banner, a sign, a t-shirt or a car bumper sticker referring to the islands. Every map of Argentina includes the Falklands (and, for that matter, Argentina's claim over Antarctica. Most of which is also claimed by - you guessed it - Britain).

If I'm honest, I still don't quite understand why the Falklands are such an open wound.

The British and Argentinian governments differ over precisely how the UK came to colonise them in the early 1800s. But that was almost 200 years ago and even if the Royal Navy did in fact use force (which is disputed), that was basically how borders were settled back then. Argentina should know - its present-day provinces of Misiones and Formosa are also spoils of war. Argentina took them in 1876 after defeating Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance, and there's no sign they'll be returned anytime soon.

Perhaps it's something to do with the fact that Argentinians have a very strong sense of their own history. Countless streets, monuments and even bus companies carry names that pay tribute to key events or figures in Argentinian history - I lost track of how many Belgrano Avenues, San Martin equestrian statues and 20 de Junio buses we saw. And as for the number of references to Evita...

Or maybe it's a political thing. Current president Cristina Kirchner is ramping up the rhetoric over the Falklands, just as her husband (and ex-president) Nestor did before her. She's got important elections coming up in October and there's no doubt that it's a popular subject on the campaign trail, particularly in her political heartlands of Patagonia (which believes it should be running the Falklands).

Possibly it's simpler than all that. Argentina lost a lot of men in the Falklands War (650 compared to Britain's 255) so there are many more people who've been personally affected by it. And no-one likes losing a war, particularly a regional superpower like Argentina.

What makes this preoccupation with foreign policy all the stranger is that Argentinians have had more than their fair share of domestic problems to worry about. Roughly every 10 years or so, the country undergoes a catastrophe that forces its people to start over practically from scratch. In 1989, annual inflation reached an eye-watering 5,000%. In 2001, it jumped back up to 120%. Even now, it's threatening to run out of control once again. You'd think the Falklands would be the least of their worries.

Still, I should say in the interests of fairness that no Argentinian ever confronted us about the Falklands. You might have thought Britons would be decidedly unwelcome here, especially given that during our stay, the Sun published provocative Falklands ads in Argentinian papers (cheers for that) and P&O removed Argentina from its cruise itineraries. However, we were given a uniformly friendly reception throughout the country.

It's a shame many Britons will be put off coming just because of politics. Argentina is a great country that's well worth visiting, whether you're planning to soak up some history, go cycling or simply watch a bit of tango.

Just don't mention the war.

Next stop: Uruguay

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