Using his 15th-century hand-press, Caxton could easily turn out a passable version of the latest John Grisham or Danielle Steel. The manuscript book – written material stored on separate leaves (or folios), bound sequentially, that can be opened randomly using fingers and opposable thumb – had huge advantages over the ancient scroll

It still does. Most of us can find a telephone number quicker with a bound directory than by trawling through a computerised database (an electronic scroll) Using books comes as naturally to humans as peeling bananas. Mexican Government Tourist Office, 60/61 Trafalgar Square, London WC2N (0171 839 3177).. PRINTING would be high on most people’s list of inventions that have transformed Western civilisation.

Few would list something even more influential – the book, or “codex”, an invention which preceded Gutenberg and Caxton by at least a century. Prices range from 130 pesos (around pounds 10) per person per night for the Motel Posada Primavera (00 52 7 313 0800) to 459 pesos (around pounds 35) per person per night for the Posada Jacarandas (00 52 7 315 7798).TOURSJourney Latin America (0181 747 3108) arrange travel to and around Mexico. A week’s holiday in Mexico City with a two-night stay in Cuernavaca costs from pounds 865 per person (including flights and accommodation) based on two sharing.FURTHER INFORMATIONBritish passport holders do not need a visa to visit Mexico. Alternatively, it is about a one and a half hour drive from Mexico City to Cuernavaca.

There is a regular bus service between Mexico City and Cuernavaca which costs around US$3.65.STAYING THEREHotel accommodation is widely available in Cuernavaca. From there you can take an internal flight to the airport at Temixco, which is 20 minutes away from Cuernavaca. British Airways (0345 222 111) fly direct from around pounds 434 return. The bottle goes round once more.”Salud y pesetas!”"Y tiempo para gastarlas!”It is the traditional toast, as raised by Vigil and Laruelle on the terrace of the casino, and doubtless many times by Lowry himself: “Health and wealth – and time to enjoy them”.I drain the little cup of smoky-tasting mescal, the “bloody stuff” that brought him none of these things, only moments of pure intoxication such as this, on the moonlit plains of Tlacolula, and the words of Dr Vigil seem to whisper in my ear: “Come, amigo, throw away your mind.” !TRAVEL NOTESGETTING THEREReturn flights from London to Mexico City start from around pounds 386 with Lufthansa (0345 737 747) via Frankfurt, or with Iberia (0171 830 0011) via Madrid. (For export to Taiwan, they put three or four gusano in the bottle.) There is mescal de pechuga, or “chicken- breast mescal”, so-called for the slice of maguey leaf floating in it, imparting a pretty honey-colour to the brew.