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Also by Mark Adams:

Turn Right at Machu Picchu, June 2011
Hardcover

Turn Right at Machu Picchu
Mark Adams

Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

Penguin
June 2011
On Sale: June 22, 2011
352 pages
ISBN: 0525952241
EAN: 9780525952244
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction History

What happens when an adventure travel expert-who's never actually done anything adventurous-tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu?

July 24, 1911, was a day for the history books. For on that rainy morning, the young Yale professor Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and encountered an ancient city in the clouds: the now famous citadel of Machu Picchu. Nearly a century later, news reports have recast the hero explorer as a villain who smuggled out priceless artifacts and stole credit for finding one of the world's greatest archaeological sites.

Mark Adams has spent his career editing adventure and travel magazines, so his plan to investigate the allegations against Bingham by retracing the explorer's perilous path to Machu Picchu isn't completely far- fetched, even if it does require him to sleep in a tent for the first time. With a crusty, antisocial Australian survivalist and several Quechua-speaking, coca-chewing mule tenders as his guides, Adams takes readers through some of the most gorgeous and historic landscapes in Peru, from the ancient Inca capital of Cusco to the enigmatic ruins of Vitcos and Vilcabamba.

Along the way he finds a still-undiscovered country populated with brilliant and eccentric characters, as well as an answer to the question that has nagged scientists since Hiram Bingham's time: Just what was Machu Picchu?

Comments

2 comments posted.

Re: Turn Right at Machu Picchu

I happened to see "Machu Picchu" while I was looking for something else at this site. Anything concerning Mayans and/or Incas definitely catches my interest. I hope that I'll be able to find this book; it has such a great title--and cover.
(Sigrun Schulz 11:52pm July 26, 2011)

For years Machu Picchu has been on my bucket list; indeed, long before I heard of such a thing. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm even capable of attempting such a trip since my body doesn't like doing anything the least strenuous. Thus my only way of still experiencing this marvelous site will be by reading this book. But then, I'm used to being an armchair traveler. My motto: If you can't do, read about it. I'm sure I could do a lot worse.
(Sigrun Schulz 3:55am September 4, 2011)