Peru

Peru is a country located in western South America, on the Pacific Coast, north of Chile. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.

Links To Peel
The Daily Telegraph's Michael Kerr  interviewed John Peel on May 2004 about his favourite holidays. Amongst his favourites were his family holidays in a chateau in Dordogne in southern France and his honeymoon trip to visit the pyramids in Egypt. After asking Peel where he would like to go next, he replied:


 * "South America, for new cultural experiences. But there's so much to see that it's rather daunting."

After the article got published, Kerr, decided that John Peel should perhaps go to South America for 2 weeks with the Telegraph expense to visit a country and write a travel article for them. After Peel agreed with the idea, he and his wife Shelia, decided to go for Peru. Peel at first was worried:


 * "I've got a bad back and diabetes ... I'm not the most robust of travellers. But I would like to see as much of the country as I can. Where do you recommend?"

Kerr suggested the well known places of Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Lake Titicaca, the Colca Canyon. All of them, and several others, were on the final itinerary for Peel and his wife Sheila.

Peel was scared of flights and Kerr suggested three options for travelling within Peru, but Peel wasn't happy with the first two, as it involved many internal flights. He chose the third, involving a couple of flights and travel along roads containing many potholes: Peel preferred this to the flights, despite his bad back.

Travelling In Peru
John and Sheila arrived in Peru on Sunday October 17th 2004. After a couple of nights in the capital, Lima, they moved on to Arequipa, to see the condors soaring above the Colca Canyon, and then to Puno, gateway to Lake Titicaca, before catching a train to Cuzco, where they were to stay three nights, before visiting the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

Death of Peel
In an interview with Sheila, Mick Brown of the Daily Telegraph in 2005 published the following below on the events before Peel died on 25th October 2004:

''When The Daily Telegraph offered to send John and Sheila to Peru to write a travel feature he welcomed the idea of a break, despite his terror of flying. There were four places in the world he had always wanted to visit. He had been to three of them - Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids. The fourth was Machu Picchu in Peru. Before the trip, Sheila insisted that he undergo a thorough medical. His doctor pronounced him in perfect health. ''

''John never saw Machu Picchu. On the ninth day of the trip - two days before they were due to arrive there - he and Sheila were in Cusco. They fell into conversation with an English couple who had recognised John, and who invited them to dinner the next night.  On the way to the couple's hotel, John and Sheila stopped for a drink. ''

''Suddenly, out of the blue, Peel mentioned his old friend John Walters. Like Peel, Walters was insulin dependent. When he died suddenly of a heart attack in 2001 at the age of 63, John had been devastated. ''

''"Apropos of nothing, he just said: 'Oh, I do miss Walters. I was just thinking, it was so nice when he'd phone me up out of the blue and say: "Hey Fatso, turn the telly on; there's something good on." Nobody does that anymore.' It was quite strange." ''

At the hotel, they settled themselves in some comfortable chairs with their new friends. Sheila was examining the drinks menu: "I'd always order for John. And suddenly this guy looked across and said: 'John, are you alright? John!' And he was having a heart attack."

''Peel never regained consciousness. An ambulance arrived 20 minutes later, and he was pronounced dead. The next day was Sheila's birthday. Over the following couple of days the children were flown out to Peru. It took about a week to organise everything. "It was so out of the blue, and such a shock," says Sheila. She talks about this with extraordinary composure, but she has deliberately declined to discuss the circumstances of his death in the book. It was a family decision, she says, to end on a positive note. "We weren't even going to refer to John dying at all, but to pretend that he isn't dead would be ludicrous. But we felt strongly that we didn't want to end the book on his death." ''

''The overwhelming public response to his passing left her "absolutely astounded". She had expected newspaper obituaries, and that Radio 1 would do something. When the children told me that it had been the lead on the news that night, I was speechless. And the funeral and everything about it. It was absolutely unbelievable.''

"John, she says, would never have believed it. "I just hope to God that wherever he is that he knew what was going on." His lack of confidence would be banished at a stroke."I think he'd be saying: 'If that's how it is I'll go back now and start again.' " She laughs. "And maybe be a bit more cocky."