On October 24, 1593, a soldier called Gil Perez was on guard duty outside the Governor’s palace in Manila.
Extra vigilance was required, as it had been learned just the day before that Governor Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas had been hacked to death by Chinese pirates.
The soldier began to feel dizzy and exhausted. He leaned against the wall and rested for a moment with his eyes closed.
When he opened his eyes a few seconds later he found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. What he couldn’t know at that time was he was standing in Mexico City’s Plaza Mejor, thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean.
He was soon noticed by some local guardsmen who spotted his unusual uniform and strange behaviour.
He was taken to the local authorities and, under questioning, he told his captors that just moments before he had been guarding the governor’s palace in Manila. He admitted that he had no idea where he was or what had happened to him.
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