Harry Barnett asked Tim Butcher:

I was wondering about the provisions you brought along on the trip. Graham Greene and his cousin had a large group of bearers to carry items such as food, whiskey and hammocks. You, on the other hand, appeared to eat whatever was at hand; bland chicken and rice, and even a tin of cat food (unknowingly). Why not bring along some of those freeze dried dinners that are so popular with backpackers?

Tim Butcher Harry – thanks for your question and, indeed, close reading of Chasing the Devil. In part, my trip was not intended to copy the Greenes exactly. I had no desire to take a bearer party of hammocks and tin baths, nor recreate the 1935 style of travel, with all the associated paraphernalia. Back then, travellers took their world with them: they just forecast the time away from home, bought the necessary tins of food to cover three meals a day for that period and then arranged porters to carry the lot.
That was not my style. I wanted to see what the Greenes saw, touch the places they touched and feel some of the cultural currents they felt. But this could be done without dressing like them (!) as if to mimic them.
Eating what locals eat helped me better understand the community and its chances of change and advancement.
And one final thing – have you ever tried one of those freeze dried meals? I survived on them for a month as a journalist in Iraq back in 2003, not a fond memory.
Thanks again – happy reading.
TimB

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