The South American Adventure pt 1

D'oh!

I've started typing this 3 times now - things keep going wrong on my ass...

Anyway, I keep thinking I need to post some stuff about our sojourn to Peru. Truth is, Rufous is a better blogger than me and can provide a more fulsome account of the trek .

However, I s'pose I have some stuff of my own to say...

Firstly, Keef & Tash - thanks for the Alberto Granado diary - I read it on the trail , and one of the guys we were trekking with was reading the Che Motorcycle Diaries at the same time, so it gave us an interesting view of South America back then compared to now (which, in Peruvian terms, seems not to have changed much!).

Secondly, check out Ruf's Flickr account for the John Peel Memorial Photo. Peel had set Machu Picchu as his last "must see" location, and he didn't quite make it (he died in Peru). He has even set aside a t-shirt to wear once he got there. In tribute we wore: Ruf - Ginger Baker t-shirt ; Anun - Bob Dylan T-shirt; Me - Graham Coxon T-shirt; Dave - plain khaki t-shirt. The spirit of John R. P. Ravenscroft was with us that morning (as well as certain others which aren't so deserving of a mention...).

Dave J and I actually started our Peruvian adventure a couple of days before leaving the UK; we went to see The Royal Hunt of the Sun at the NT., which is Peter Schaffer's play about the Spanish conquistador's take-over of Peru. It certainly set me up for the trip - I learned a lot about Pizarro (the chief Spanish dude in the takeover of Peru, played brilliantly by Alun Armstrong in the play) and Atahualpa (chief Inca guy, played fantastically by Patterson Joseph from Peep Show / Green Room / Dr Who etc). The tension between the Christian, literate, corrupt Spaniards and the illiterate, proto-communist Inca people was made clear in the play, and came across even more clearly when we started exploring the country.