I'm almost ashamed to admit that it was the altogether incredible author, Erich von Daniken, who fired my fascination with far-off and mysterious lands.

When Chariots of the Gods burst onto TV screens in the early '70s, I was but a naïve, goggle-eyed youngster all too ready to consume these wild theories. But quite apart from perpetrating outlandish notions of alien interference, the charlatanic von Daniken did introduce me to some of the little known mysteries of the ancient world.

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