Beginning their 4,000-mile journey in Arizona, Dara O Briain and Ed Byrne soon find that their 21st-century trip is just as hair-raising, surprising and enlightening as the original expedition 70 years earlier. Having found out more about the three intrepid travellers from Detroit who first set out to drive this route, the boys speed towards the US/Mexico border. Their journey takes them through the beautiful seaside resort of Mazatlan and on to Mexico City, one of the world's great megacities. Over 70 years ago, the original adventurers met Miguel Aleman who would later become president of Mexico. Dara and Ed meet his son and hear how Aleman Senior was inspired by Sullivan's expedition to begin construction of the Pan-American Highway. After watching Mexico's famous lucha libre wrestlers, Dara and Ed head south, visiting the ancient Zapotec civilisation of Monte Alban, before heading on to Oaxaca. Along the way they experience the darker side of the pan-American dream, when they witness the steady stream of migrants risking their lives to get to North America by riding a freight train nicknamed La Bestia. Just like the original expedition, Dara and Ed stop off in Juchitán to sample the local delicacy, iguana, and visit an iguana sanctuary, before reaching a state-of-the-art coffee farm set high in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains. The coffee farm is owned by the same German immigrant family who welcomed Ken and Arnold from the original expedition back in the 1940s. This first leg of their journey takes them ten days, compared to the two months it took in the 1940s. Along the way, Dara and Ed discover how the Pan-American Highway has helped transform Mexico into one of the most powerful and dynamic countries in the Americas. (thetvdb.com)