Product Description

Intrepid travel writer Peter Moore recently invited the new love of his life, a.k.a. the girl next door, to join him on a romantic sojourn through Central America. The trip would take them into an area of the world emerging from decades of civil war, an area racked with poverty, disease and natural disasters. Naturally, she jumped at the chance. Over the next six months they battled hurricanes, mosquitoes, uncooperative border officials and over-sexed Mexican commuters, and along the way they learnt rather more about each other than they really wanted to...From Zapatista rebel heartlands in Mexico to a quiet game of cricket in Jamaica, from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras to breathtaking ancient Mayan sites and perfect golden Caribbean beaches, The Full Montezuma chronicles the highs and lows of one couple's journey into the unknown. Written with Moore's wicked sense of humour and his eye for the bizarre, and punctuated by a roll call of annoying habits - map-hogging, over packing, bite-scratching and over-zealous haggling - The Full Montezuma is hilarious, incisive and acutely observed, a cautionary tale for anyone planning to cross a continent with their significant other.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59222 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 469 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Peter Moore is a travel journalist and radio broadcaster from Sydney; this side of the globe he's probably best known for The Wrong Way Home, a lively narration of his quixotic attempt to semi-circumnavigate the globe without stepping on a plane.

Moore's new book The Full Montezuma is a moderately likeable, mildly intriguing first-person account of his travels in Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, and neighbouring countries, accompanied by --the Girl Next Door--a "spunky blonde in a chamois bikini". Together, and sometimes apart, the two of them bus, boat and taxi around the principal sites of central America and the Caribbean, enjoying and enduring a six-month long low-budget mini-Odyssey that variously involves hurricanes, civil wars, and insurgencies, as well as the more predictable Mayan cities, Aztec ruins, drunk American students, and importuning mariachi bands.

Stylistically, it has to be said Moore is not averse to the odd cliché. "The zocalo has it all", "the highlight was the video", "the rest, as they say, is history", all occur in the opening chapters. Moore also fails to pull any "writerly" muscles trying to provide fresh information on the historical and political background. However, if all you require is an enthusiastic, undemanding, amiable companion on your armchair journey around a fascinating part of the world, this book could be just the ticket. --Sean Thomas

From the Back Cover
'Moore's a sharp observer of the bizarre...read, enjoy, escape' Maxim

Intrepid travel writer Peter Moore recently invited the new love of his life, a.k.a. the girl next door, to join him on a romantic sojourn through Central America. The trip would take them into an area of the world emerging from decades of civil war, an area racked with poverty, disease and natural disasters. Naturally, she jumped at the chance.

Over the next six months they battled hurricanes, mosquitoes, uncooperative border officials and over-sexed Mexican commuters, and along the way they learnt rather more about each other than they really wanted to... From Zapatista rebel heartlands in Mexico to a quiet game of cricket in Jamaica, from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras to breathtaking ancient Mayan sites and perfect golden Caribbean beaches, The Full Montezuma chronicles the highs and lows of one couple's journey into the unknown. Written with Moore's wicked sense of humour and his eye for the bizarre, and punctuated by a roll call of annoying habits - map-hogging, over packing, bite-scratching and over-zealous haggling - The Full Montezuma is hilarious, incisive and acutely observed, a cautionary tale for anyone planning to cross a continent with their significant other.

The Wrong Way Home 'Peter Moore is the genuine article, a traveller's traveller ... thoroughly enjoyable ... Inspirational stuff.' FHM 'Moore's a sharp observer of the bizarre...read, enjoy, escape.' Maxim

About the Author
Peter Moore
Peter Moore is a freelance advertising copywriter and website producer who works only to support his insatiable travel habit. He has written for various Australian and British publications, including The Times and Sydney Herald, and it the author of two acclaimed travel books, The Wrong Way Home and The Full Montezuma, and the classic alternative travel guide, No Shitting in the Toilet. When he's not on the road living out of his trusty backpack, he lives in Sydney with his collection of souvenir plastic snowdomes.

Customer Reviews

Not as good as 'The Wrong Way Home'
I waited a long time to read 'The Full Montezuma' due mainly to the complete enjoyment and satisfaction gained from reading Peter Moore's previous book 'The Wrong Way Home'.

Perhaps the waiting time added to my expecations and so any kind of disappointment may be unfairly compounded.

Whatever, I just couldn't get into the swing of things with this book and felt that the author spent far too much time around the topic of the GND (Girl Next Door) rather than the adventure itself. But there again perhaps that was the whole point!

When time was given to describing the pleasures and pains of the journey then the experience became slightly more enjoyable from the reader perspective.

I guess a good measure of the read was judged by me still not really wanting to put the book down once I had got hold of it. This was initially due to my expectations, then when they were dashed it was in hope that the story might improve as it went along.

In the end I felt the book was ok but that it never really fulfilled its potential.

I like author's style and wit though and won't be put off by this experience. This was still an ok book that just suffered from having followed a brilliant one.

If you like Peter Moore and or unique travel experiences then give this one a go.

A great read - but not just a travel book!
Central America provides an wonderful backdrop to the true theme of this book - Moore's relationship with the GND. A great yarn, often funny and insightful from the male point of view. Probably serves to confirm most women's thoughts about what goes on in a man's mind! I had empathy with Moore but sympathy for the GND and finished it in one read. A great recommendation if you ask me.

Disappointing
Having spent a year in Central America myself I bought this book mainly to read about someone else's experiences there, and the 'travelling relationship' aspect sounded interesting. I had visited many of the places shown on the map of their itinerary and was looking forward to seeing how they had changed since I was there.

However, while I quite enjoyed the book I was disappointed, and mainly kept reading just so I could get to the next bit about a destination I had been to.

The main fault with the book is that it is carelessly written. There are far too many typing errors and much of the (very basic) Spanish is wrong (e.g. 'quattro' for 'cuatro'). The author writes quite sparcely and repetitively - he uses the word 'pretty' far too much - and several times he compares his and the GND's relationship with that of a couple who have been married for 20 years. This I found quite irritating as there is not much development or resolution in what we are told about their relationship, so there was no evidence of this. I would have liked far more about

There is only limited interaction with the 'natives', which is a shame as this would have made the book more interesting and would have added more variety. As it stands, I didn't think we were really given much of a feel for the places they visited.

I also spotted one or two factual (though minor) errors and found myself wondering how reliable the bits I didn't know about were.

However, I did quite enjoy reading the book and think that putting the photos on the web is a great idea.