Eight Feet in the Andes

The eight feet belong to Dervla Murphy, her nine-year-old daughter Rachel and Juana, an elegant mule, who together clambered the length of Peru, from Cajamarca near the border with Ecuador, to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital, over 1300 miles to the south.

With only the most basic necessities to sustain them and spending most of their time above 10,000 feet, their journey was marked by extreme discomfort, occasional danger and even the temporary loss of Juana over a precipice. Yet mother and daughter, a formidable duo, were unflagging in their sympathetic response to the perilous beauty and impoverished people of the Andes.

In this extraordinary adventure, Dervla Murphy is at her intrepid best, facing up to the terrors, horrors and joys of her journey along the mountain paths.

“One of the most joyous, positive and poetic voyages - physical, spiritual and environmental - Irish IndependentThis adventure is one of Dervla Murphy's best. She remains her humorous, modest, self-mocking self. - Daily TelegraphA tone of exuberance and generosity dominates the book ... The reader's admiration is boundless - Caroline Moorehead, The SpectatorThis is the best account I have read of travel on foot in the Andes. The appreciation for scenery and people and the sheer enjoyment of the journey makes Dervla Murphy one of our outstanding travel writers - TravellerThere is nothing so dramatic as mountains rising sheer from the plain ... and Dervla Murphy responds with more than the routine rapture of the professional travel writer - Christopher Wordsworth, ObserverDervla Murphy is always an honest and endearing companion, so stout of heart and physique that she almost belittles her achievement - Sunday Telegraph”

One of the most joyous, positive and poetic voyages - physical, spiritual and environmental - Irish Independent

This adventure is one of Dervla Murphy's best. She remains her humorous, modest, self-mocking self. - Daily Telegraph

A tone of exuberance and generosity dominates the book ... The reader's admiration is boundless - Caroline Moorehead, The Spectator

This is the best account I have read of travel on foot in the Andes. The appreciation for scenery and people and the sheer enjoyment of the journey makes Dervla Murphy one of our outstanding travel writers - Traveller

There is nothing so dramatic as mountains rising sheer from the plain ... and Dervla Murphy responds with more than the routine rapture of the professional travel writer - Christopher Wordsworth, Observer

Dervla Murphy is always an honest and endearing companion, so stout of heart and physique that she almost belittles her achievement - Sunday Telegraph

Dervla Murphy is one of the very best loved of travel writers. She was born in County Waterford and since 1964 has been regularly publishing accounts of her journeys - by bicycle and on foot - in the remoter areas of four continents. She has also written about the problems of Northern Ireland, the hazards of nuclear power, and race relations in Britain. The Times Literary Supplement called her 'an admirable woman - she has a romantic soul and a keen eye'.

The eight feet belong to Dervla Murphy, her nine-year-old daughter Rachel and Juana, an elegant mule, who together clambered the length of Peru, from Cajamarca near the border with Ecuador, to Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital, over 1300 miles to the south.With only the most basic necessities to sustain them and spending most of their time above 10,000 feet, their journey was marked by extreme discomfort, occasional danger and even the temporary loss of Juana over a precipice. Yet mother and daughter, a formidable duo, were unflagging in their sympathetic response to the perilous beauty and impoverished people of the Andes.In this extraordinary adventure, Dervla Murphy is at her intrepid best, facing up to the terrors, horrors and joys of her journey along the mountain paths.

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