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The original manuscript was hand written following our return home during 1967. It was typed in 1968 and this bulky document has remained dormant for over thirty years. Recently it seemed appropriate to produce it into a more acceptable form and a limited edition was therefore compiled and printed. It is for distribution to relatives and friends only.
Many things have changed during the intervening years, including several of the political boundaries, and particularly the value of the pound.
I have retained the old currency, which at the time of the journey was measured in pounds, shillings and pence. One pound was equal to twenty shillings or two hundred and forty pence. Half a crown was equal to two shillings and sixpence.
Of course, inflation has totally distorted all the costs quoted. A rule of thumb conversion to the ‘new’ metric currency for some of the items could be obtained by realising that the pound in 1966 would be worth, I guess, very approximately ten pounds converted to today’s prices, although this would not be a very reliable guide.
There have been many inclinations to rewrite, improve or delete sections that now seem inappropriate or badly written. I have, however decided to resist these temptations and leave the text essentially in its original form, warts and all, in the hope that it will retain a more accurate representation of that year.
PFC. Blazefield. 1999
Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will - whatever we may think. They flower spontaneously out of the demands of our natures - and the best of them lead us not only outwards in space, but inwards as well. Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection...Lawrence Durrell. Bitter Lemons.
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