In a way, Che Guevara's fate was far worse than Simon Bolivar's. Guevara's collapse was complete: his intentions were forgotten, but his style was taken up by boutique owners (one of the fanciest clothes stores in London is called Che Guevara). There is no faster way of destroying a man or mocking his ideas than making him fashionable. That Che succeeded in influencing dress-designers was part of his tragedy.

It is fatal to know too much at the outcome: boredom comes as quickly to the traveler who knows his route as to the novelist who is over certain of his plot.

Bogotá seemed a cruel towering place, like an eagles' nest now inhabited by vultures and their dying prey.

I like the idea of isolation, I like the idea of solitude. You can be connected and have a phone and still be lonely.

Pain does not create a long-lasting memory, but the memory of luxury exerts itself for ever.

Reading is also a journey. It's a process of discovery.

There are two worlds: the world of the tourist and the world of everyone else. Often they're side by side. But the tourist doesn't actually see how people live.