We were working separately as design consultants and were just two young people sharing a flat.It was really only by chance that we started working together It was not something we meant to do intentionally. My desk was surrounded by a library, like a literary barrier, because I don’t like to talk to other people when I’m working. I wasn’t interested in working with him; I didn’t care about him I was working on my own things. I had come to Milan to escape, to change – I liked all the Milanese designers like Armani, for instance, because they were totally different from my Sicilian background. Stefano’s life in Milan, his home town, had also been very different from my upbringing

I was indifferent to Stefano at first. DOMENICO DOLCE: I met Stefano when we were both working in another designer’s studio in the late Seventies At the beginning we didn’t care about each other at all. Mexican Tourist Office, 60-61 Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DS (0171 839 3177) In Mexico City, contact the tourist office on 525 9380..

Prices at the Rincon del Arco (0052 967 81568) start at pounds 16 for a single room.FURTHER INFORMATIONBritish passport holders do not need a visa to visit Mexico. Prices from pounds 1,309 per person, including flights and accommodation.STAYING THEREPrices at Hotel Real del Valle, in San Cristobal (fax 0052 967 80680) start at pounds 12 per night for a double room, pounds 9 for a single. Direct flights to nearby Tuxtla Gutierrez cost around pounds 95 return.TOURSJourney Latin America (0181 747 8315) runs a 21-day “Quetzal” trip taking in San Juan Chamula and San Cristobal. Buses go to most destinations from the capital: Mexico City to San Cristobal, via Oaxaca, takes about two days and costs around pounds 2 per hour’s first-class travel.

British Airways (0345 222111) operates a thrice-weekly direct service to Mexico City from Gatwick; prices start at pounds 723. Travel notes GETTING THEREIberia (0171 830 0011) flies daily from London, via Madrid, to Mexico City Fares start from pounds 538 return, mid-season. Obviously some things are beyond even a shaman.We sip the pox slowly – it strips the lining of our throats with each swallow But it could be worse, I decide At least we’re not drinking cola. “They wanted the shaman to find them a man,” he says, unable to hide his mirth. Worse still, another traveller undertakes the ceremony with Salvador and she, too, is declared a tiger and spiritually tiptop.As Salvador pours out several glasses of pox to conclude the ceremony, Pepe recalls two career women from Washington DC who travelled to Chamula after hearing that Salvador had visited George Bush. Perhaps, I decide, he has sensed my personal problems and the reason why I am travelling around Mexico alone.But the diagnosis refuses to indulge my fantasy Salvador pronounces my spirit strong, good and full of life “Your Mayan spirit animal is the tiger,” Pepe says.