Many people have a dream, sometimes to be fulfilled: just forty years after his inspiration, horseman John Labouchere set out to realise his early ambition. He overcame big organisational and logistical difficulties to carry out a totally unsupported five-thousand-mile year-long expedition. He was accompanied by three horses in country whose stark ruggedness has resisted infiltration by adventurers since the Andes were inhabited.

A serious accident forced him 'off games' for six weeks but, tough as a gaucho's boot, he rode on forty-five pounds lighter. He dealt with thirst, precipices and bandits, and took his horses to nineteen thousand feet. Frights in swollen river crossings and Andean road-tunnels were par for the course. To help his finances he rented his third horse to riders from England who shared short sections of the ride.

'Gripping' was his most required ability, and describes this adventure of a lifetime.