Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

by Mark Adams

Overview

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING TRAVEL MEMOIR

What happens when an unadventurous adventure writer tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu?

In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu is Adams’ fascinating and funny account of his journey through some of the world’s most majestic, historic, and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: Just what was Machu Picchu?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452297982
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/24/2012
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	68,279
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark Adams is the author of the acclaimed history Mr. America, which The Washington Post named a Best Book of 2009, and the New York Times bestsellers Meet Me in Atlantis and Turn Right at Machu Picchu. A writer for many national magazines, including GQ, Men's Journal, and New York, he lives near New York City with his wife and children.

Read an Excerpt

John's “martini explorer” comment had unnerved me a little—compared to Bingham, I was a white-wine spritzer explorer—so before committing to anything, I thought I should mention that it had been a while since I had slept outdoors. What came out of my mouth instead was “I might not be completely up-to-date on the latest tent-erecting methods.”
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Turn Right at Machu Picchu"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Mark Adams.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Turn Right at Machu Picchu

“[An] engaging and sometimes hilarious book.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A serious (and seriously funny) travelogue, a smart and tightly written history, and an investigative report into perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery in the last century.”—NationalGeographic.com

“An engaging, informative guide to all things Inca.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Adams deftly weaves together Inca history, Bingham's story, and his own less heroic escapade....Those favoring a quirkier retelling [of Bingham's exploits] will relish Mr. Adam's wry, revealing romp through the Andes.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Quite funny and unpretentiously well informed...The perfect way to acknowledge the lost city’s one hundredth birthday.”—Christian Science Monitor (“Editor’s Choice”)

“[An] entirely delightful book.”—The Washington Post

“With a healthy sense of humor...Adams unearths a fascinating story, transporting his readers back to 1911, when Yale professor Hiram Bingham III hiked the Andes and stumbled upon on of South America's most miraculous and cloistered meccas.”—NPR.org

From the Publisher

"[An] entirely delightful book."

Jonathan Yardley

“An engaging, informative guide to all things Inca.

Entertainment Weekly

“Quite funny and unpretentiously well informed...The perfect way to acknowledge the lost city’s 100th birthday.

Christian Science Monitor ("Editor's Choice")

…ebullient…The book seamlessly joins three narrative threads: the brutal 16th-century conquest of the Incas by the Spanish conquistadors and the subsequent retreat of the rebellious ruler, Manco Inca, into a series of jungle redoubts; Bingham's 1911 expedition that retraced Manco's flight; and Adams's own mishap-filled recreation of Bingham's trip a century later.
—The New York Times Book Review

Joshua Hammer

Journalist Adams, whose previous Mr. America was an entertaining rediscovery of the life of early 20th-century fitness guru Bernard Macfadden, explores the weird crevasses of American exploration. In this fascinating history/travelogue, Adams looks at the work of Hiram Bingham III, who became a national sensation after he "discovered" the ancient city of Machu Picchu in July 1911. To celebrate the centennial of Bingham's discovery, Adams attempts to follow Bingham's exact footsteps through the Andes Mountains of Peru, with two clear goals: to figure out "how Bingham had gotten to Machu Picchu in the first place" and, in the face of recent claims that he had illegally smuggled artifacts out of the country, to understand the broader story of Bingham's "all-consuming attempt to solve the mystery of why such a spectacular granite city had been built in such a spellbinding location." Adams successfully weaves Bingham's tales—as well as resuscitating Bingham's positive reputation and accomplishments—into his own description of difficult but often amusing travels with his companions, a rugged Australian survivalist and four local mule tenders, which climaxes with an amazing visual moment that happens only once a year at Machu Picchu on the morning of the winter solstice. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Although Adams was an editor of adventure travel magazines (Outside and National Geographic Adventure), by his own admission he last slept in a tent as a teenager in his parents' yard. In this narrative of his trek through the Peruvian highlands and tropical forests he shares three stories. He writes of the Incas' encounter with the conquistadors and the ultimate collapse of their empire in 1572. The second arc is that of the Yale explorer Hiram Bingham III and his three expeditions in the early 20th century to Peru in search of the lost city of Vilcabamba—the last jungle capital of the rebel Inca state. The last, but certainly not least, is Adams's account of his own trip and the intrepid Australian guide and Peruvian handlers who got him safely to Machu Picchu and back. VERDICT This delightful travelog is reminiscent of Hugh Thomson's The White Rock and Tahir Shah's Trail of Feathers. Adams, both funny and insightful, is intrigued by Machu Picchu without seeming New Agey, and the characters he introduces are compelling. Recommended for adventurers and armchair travelers alike. [See Prepub Alert, 1/3/11.]—Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Library Journal

Intent on undertaking an audacious open-air exploit, but lacking even rudimentary camping skills or basic gear, an adventure-travel writer recounts his unconventional trek to the mysterious Machu Picchu.

Teamed with an irascible Australian guide and a group of Quechua-speaking mule tenders, Adams (Mr. America:How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet, 2009) journeyed through the wilds of Peru to unravel the persistent puzzle surrounding the Lost City of the Incas: What was its purpose? The author deftly weaves together two story lines, each peopled with striking characters and astonishing landscapes. Told in alternating chapters, Adams details the life and times of Hiram Bingham III, the outsized early-20th-century explorer credited with "discovering" Machu Picchu, whose reputation has recently suffered due to an archaeological controversy. Overlaid on this extensively researched and entertaining historical framework is the author's humorous recounting of his personal and physical transformation during the demanding trek. Following one extremely strenuous hike, Adams confronted a vacation dilemma. He could either jump on a train or walk another six miles with his 60-pound pack filled with books. "This might be my only chance to hike like a serious adventurer, to carry my own pack like atraveler," he writes, "not heave it onto the luggage rack like atourist." Coupled with his keen eye for the absurd and his knowledge of the travel industry, the author gleefully remarks on the excesses of the increasingly commercialized adventure-travel business, while never hesitating to point out his own foibles.

A funny, erudite retrospection offering more subtle and lastingrewards than the usual package tour.

Kirkus Reviews