



Turn Right at Machu Picchu
Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
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4.1 • 231 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Right Turn at Machu Pichu
Great read. I wish I'd found this book before I journeyed into Inca country.
Read Before Traveling to Machu Picchu
I began reding Turn Right at Machu Picchu several weeks before I started my travels to Peru, cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in September 2015. I had the requisite tour books for Peru but "Turn Right" brought a whole new prospective to my travels. By combining the historical route taken by Hiram Bingham in his quest for the Lost City of the Incas with his personal experiences, Adams gave extra meaning to my trip. Instead of just marveling at the scenery on the train from Ollantayambo to Aguas Callientes I looked for the entry into the Cloud Forest Jungle and it was breathtaking. It was as if I was seeing this green jungle as Mark Adams described it. My travels to visit Machu Picchu were made more meaningful by this amazing combination of history and reality.
Machu Picchu w/humor
I found this book to be very well written, very interesting, and also the humor here and there to break up what could be some dry reading was very much appreciated and I laughed out loud a few times.