'The hands of his corpse were hacked off in a ritualistic gesture to stop his soul finding eternal peace. The $8 million ransom was not paid and his hands remain at large. It is not for me to say what’s happening with his soul.'

'I was in the Right Place at the Wrong Time.'

'While savouring the first meal to stimulate our taste-buds in four days, I wondered idly about the location of the train station we needed to return to Cuzco.'

'The village was wreathed in the ankle-high fog of a Hammer House of Horror film.'

'We entered Mexico on our hands and knees. We scrambled up a slippery bank under the barrels of guns wielded by stony-faced soldiers glaring down from the ridge.'

‘Somewhat bored with my own internal monologues, I sought alternative company in a bar.’

'He reminded me of a character in the film Animal House whom – according to the end credits – is killed by his own platoon in Vietnam.'

'As the needle ground to a final halt, I pondered philosophically how much emergency air remains in the tank when all measurable indications suggest there is none.'

'In their place stood a fearful vision of Colombian beauty, arms crossed, head shaking in disbelief, finger wagging in admonishment.'

'While the pedestrian dots in the streets got no closer, it was the tiny white curls of the faraway waves that brought back the fear.'

'Over beers, we cheerfully swapped stories until we were spotted enjoying ourselves by a roaming drunk. It’s a hazard, I guess, of socialising in public.'

‘We moved next door where the relationship between natural and manufactured sound was less extreme, and conversation a possibility. The infrastructure was similar, but the working girls younger.’

'During the interval, the warm buzz of the crowd was disturbed by an unexpected visitor. A clique of suited heavy-set men had emerged from the rear of our stand. Their dark shades more usefully disguised their identities than kept out the sun.'

'‘I’ll sue you, and I’ll sue your newspaper,’ hissed Frank, leaning his gaunt face close enough for me to smell his sulphurous prison breath.'

'An urbane, suited and moustachioed American invited me to join a throng being assembled at the bar. He admitted to being an oilman who had once been Scottish.'

'A prostitute grinned at me from a near toothless mouth and took my hand in an iron grip.'

'My misery plummeted further with the unexpected barrier of a crevasse materialising in our path.

'The next morning, I set off to explore the old city, but spent most of the day haplessly circling it while perambulating its bleak back-streets.'