Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781101535400 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 06/30/2011 |
| Sold by: | Penguin Group |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Sales rank: | 21,092 |
| File size: | 17 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
3.9 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
62 reviews.
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Mark Adams' "Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time" is a book that's a bit hard to classify. All at once, it's a serious (and seriously funny) travelogue; a smart and tightly written history; and an investigative report into the greatest archaeological discovery of the last century.
Author Adams spent time writing and editing for the now defunct National Geographic Adventurer magazine and despite working with and alongside some of the world's hardest core adventure travelers, he admits to not being much of one himself. He'd visited Machu Picchu with his son, but he'd done it the tourist way. He wanted to REdiscover Machu Picchu - the way its' original discoverer, Hiram Bingham, had 100 years ago this July. He wanted to hike, climb, slog, tent and explore his way through the Vilcabamba region of Peru and finish at the site that was recently named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.
Adams doesn't camp and hadn't been in a tent for years leading up to his Peruvian excursion. His preparation for the trip was extensive, including dressing the part of adventurer. "Have you ever seen Mr. Travel Guy? He's the fellow who strides through international airports dressed like he's flying off to hunt wildebeests - shirt with dozens of pockets, drip-dry pants that zip off into shorts, floppy hat with a cord pulled tight under the chin in case a twister blows through the baggage claim area. All of this describes exactly what I was wearing. I could have been trick-or-treating as Hemingway."
Make no mistake. Adams trip was an uncompromising adventure. There were no soft train rides, or helicopter drops into the jungle. Adams hiked, slept in tents, and climbed miles of off-the-beaten-path terrain. His only chance at being successful in this endeavor was to surround himself with quality guides and support. He emphasized when he hired his guide, experienced explorer and discoverer in his own right John Leivers, that he wanted his trip to be about walking in Bingham's footsteps.
While Leivers was his primary guide, Adams was surrounded by a colorful and interesting crowd, some of which speak only the ancient language of the Inca - quechua. One guide genuinely feared a man-eating devil goat that guarded the entrance to a farm used as a campsite. Adams points out that rumors and ghosts are abound in Peru and particularly in the Andes where "the mischievous twins of Superstition and Legend tend to thrive." Adams also struggled to communicate with Leivers because they come from such different worlds and experiences. Adams finally strikes a note of commonality when a fairly severe bout of bowel issues made his adventurer guide reminisce about his own time with the same problem.
He takes seemingly meaningless interactions and with only a few words turns them into something substantive, funny and culturally eye-opening. "One of the things about Peru that I'd found it hardest to adjust to - even more so than the popularity of Nescafe in a country that grew some of the finest coffee beans in the world -- was la hora perunana, Peruvian Time. This is the code, indecipherable to North Americans, by which Peruvians determine the latest possible moment that it is acceptable to arrive for an appointment. The statement "I'll be right back" can mean just that, or it can mean that the speaker is about to depart via steamship for Cairo. The habit drove Bingham banan
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I bought this book because my college aged son was about to embark on a year-long volunteer position in the mountains of Peru. I wanted a little background and some history. I got both and more.
Adams is an engaging and fluid writer, as you would expect from a desk bound editor of a travel journal finally adventuring rather than editing other's travellogs. What I did not expect was how funny Adams was, and how his personality lent itself to observation of the amazing Andes.
His persoanal account of his own travels is woven nicely with the history of the exploration of the region by a Yale professor in the early 20th century, and a history of the Inca Empire.
Adams writes with equal parts of admiration for the professor/adventurer and modern distain for the disrespect shown by a plunderer of the Lost City of the Incas. He also writes with humor and tenderness and an obvious love of the Andes, his guides and porters.
I have recommended this book to a large and diverse group of readers, from my son, wife and father, to history buffs and to fans of "fish out of water" comedies and to readers of non-fiction adverture tales.
You will not be disappointed by the book.
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"Turn Right at Machu Pic­chu: Redis­cov­er­ing the Lost City One Step at a Time" by Mark Adams is a non-fiction book in which the author fol­lows the foot­steps of Hiram Bing­ham III.
Jour­nal­ist Mark Adams has spent a lot of time read­ing and edit­ing sto­ries for travel mag­a­zines. This time he decided to be part of the story and inves­ti­gate alle­ga­tions brought against Hiram Bing­ham III by retrac­ing the famous explorer's journey.
Part travel jour­nal, part adven­ture story and part his­tory les­son, Adams takes the read­ers into the extra­or­di­nary and col­or­ful land of Peru in his search to find out what exactly was Machu Picchu.
One hun­dred years ago today explorer Hiram Bing­ham III found Machu Pic­chu and brought his find­ings to the rest of the world. Mark Adams (web­site), who worked for adven­ture mag­a­zines, used his con­tacts to fol­low Bingham's foot­steps in the jun­gles of Peru.
I vis­ited Machu Pic­chu in 1992, before there was a cap on vis­i­tors and the touris­tic part of the visit was not as oiled as it is today. We had to find our own guide, hired some mules on the way and hoped we had enough food to last us for sev­eral days while we walked the Inca Trail.
At the time I didn't appre­ci­ate what I was doing, I was young, in shape and fig­ured that it's a "must do". Sev­eral years later it dawned on me what I was priv­i­leged to do and priv­i­leged to see and experience.
In "Turn Right at Machu Pic­chu: Redis­cov­er­ing the Lost City One Step at a Time" Mark Adams takes my lit­tle trip a step fur­ther, he actu­ally walks in the foot­steps of Hiram Bing­ham III in places where few have ventured.
The book is in part a funny/serious trav­el­ogue, part smart his­tory and part inves­tiga­tive report into Bingham's dis­cov­ery all encom­passed in an unbend­ing adven­ture. Mr. Adams, who was not a seri­ous adven­turer at the begin­ning of the trip, did well by sur­round­ing him­self with John Leivers , a pro­fes­sional guide who, for me, was the high­light of this book.
I cer­tainly under­stood Mr. Adams' annoy­ance with what he calls "Peru­vian Time". It drove me, a per­son who con­sid­ers being on time as being late, absolutely nuts. There is a whole another issue which Mr. Adams passed on telling about the loose def­i­n­i­tion of "the truth" as well as for­eign­ers being "fair game" / walk­ing ATM machine, all of which sim­ply rang up a wrong nerve with me.
Adams' jour­ney par­al­lels the one Bing­ham describes in his books "Inca Land" and "Lost City of the Incas". Adams writes a very read­able nar­ra­tive of his jour­ney, Inca his­tory, Bingham's adven­tures as well as a lit­tle Peru­vian his­tory and cul­ture tidbits.
Being that the first hand research mate­r­ial that is avail­able for the Inca Empire has been chopped and diced by the emper­ors to glo­rify them­selv
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An interesting travelogue of Mr. Adams' treks in Peru interspersed with data about Hiram Bingham, the purported discoverer of Machu Picchu and a history of the Inca Empire's downfall as Pizarro and his ilk pillage the Empire and murder its rulers. Mr. Adams descriptions of the ruins in several locations accompanied with his historical perspectives gives us a glimpse into what the Empire looked like in its heyday. Adams writes a compelling account and presents a great way to learn about this period in Peru's history. E readers should refer to the glossary and historical chronology at the back of the book for enhanced understanding of the text. I wish I had realized it was there before I finished the book.
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Mark Adams has taken and documented a trip that many of us only wish we could take. This story captured me from the beginning and once started, the Nook was difficult to put down. Following the steps of Bingham, Adams travels in the Andes of Peru to visit several of the "lost" Inca strongholds, from the heights of the mountains to the depths of the humid Amazon jungle. Not only does he make these Inca areas sound wonderful to visit, but the human side of his adventure with John and the porters makes you feel like you are with him and his team.
My Step Daughter has taken the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and has experienced some of this adventure (of which I know I am unfit to do...at this time anyway). But Adams goes beyond the routine traveler's trip to Machu Picchu and does it the old fashion way - on foot and straight up hill in sweaty clothes, bitting insects, aching feet and strained muscles. Would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Bingham, Machu Picchu's discovery and real adventure travel in general.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Mark Adams entertainingly relates his own trek in Peru, as he follows in the footsteps of Hiram Bingham III and his "discovery" of Machu Picchu in 1911. Having traveled in Peru myself, I can relate to much of what he shares.
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History and humor all together! I'm going to Peru in a couple of months and this book told the history in an interesting way with lots of humor thrown in. Mark Adams did an excellent job on this one!
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I loved this book! I've always wanted to visit Machu Picchu and this book gives a completely different view of one of the most well-known Incan city. It has definitely changed the way I want to experience Machu Picchu. Great book...especially as I had just finished "Ice Maiden."
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Mark Adams decides to retrace the steps of explorer Hiram Bingham who is credited with the discovery of Machu Picchu, an Inca site in Peru. The narrative is at times engaging and at times a bit repetitive. The problems seem to stem from trying to incorporate the historical account of Hiram Bingham with the modern-day account of his excursion. The author's use of humor was good throughout the narrative, and it is perhaps this element that has elevated it above other books of modern adventures.
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After many years as an editor at National Geographic Adventure magazine, Mark Adams decided that he had had enough of sending other writers off to the far reaches of the globe in search of riveting stories from the world¿s most inaccessible places. As the hundredth anniversary of Hiram Bingham¿s discovery of Machu Picchu loomed, Adams, married to a Peruvian woman and long fascinated with Bingham (thought by many to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones), decided that this was the assignment to get himself out of his New York office.And so, with limited outdoors experience (Adams hadn¿t been in a tent in he couldn¿t remember how long), the author set off to follow in the footsteps of the famous explorer through the jungles of South America. Through a fine balance of humor, thorough research, a well structured narrative, and lively prose, the reader is ushered along on a journey through three eras of history-the age of the Inca, the age of Hiram Bingham, and the age of Mark Adams. Many authors in a memoir of this sort inject far too much of themselves into the narrative. Adams uses his experience to provide comic relief but leaves the focus on Bingham and the Incan history which he strove to unearth in the jungles of Peru. Hiram Bingham¿s own pursuit to answer questions pertaining to the Inca which remained unexplored or unanswered in his own day, in part for his own scholarly knowledge, and in part his desire to build his own legacy, was well laid out by Mark Adams. Throughout this exploration of Bingham¿s quest the reader is carried along through three time phases simultaneously.Not being one for jungles (Snakes? I think not!), I was happy to follow along from the comfort and relative safety of my own corner of the globe-yes, we have bears here in the Last Frontier, but at least I can see the threat coming! Mark Adams¿ prose is so vivid, the reader will feel transported. I highly recommend this one for its history, adventure, and verve.
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Entertaining, fun, informative, awesome book! makes me want to put my boots on , get my backpack and go walk the Inca Trail.
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This was as entertaining, fun to read book, and a good introduction to a subject I didn't know much about. Adams is a very engaging writer--which is his strength and also a bit of a weakness. Why it's a strength is obvious. Why I think it's also a weakness is that he tends to turn everyone in the book into a "character" by focusing on their humorous quirks or just by writing about them in his consistent ironic tone. After a couple of hundred pages, this begins to wear a bit thin, although Adams' humor is never forced.The book's second weakness is its organization. Adams weaves the story of his own trip to Machu Picchu with the story of Hiram Bingham III's expeditions. This works for the most part when describing Bingham's initial journey to Machu Picchu and Adams' own parallel journey, but the last few chapters of the book covering the aftermath of Bingham's "discovery" of Machu Picchu and Adams' further research and return to Peru lacks the same focus. The overall amount of real information conveyed by this book suffers by it not being organized in a way that reveals things a bit more logically. I will give Adams credit, however, for not (at least so far as I know) re-sequencing everything to make a better story they way John Berendt did in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."Not to focus on these shortcomings, however. This is still a very enjoyable book. It does rouse an admiration in me for the Inca planners and builders who imagined and created Machu Picchu and the other sites discussed in this book. Oddly though, after reading it, I actually have less desire to go to Machu Picchu.
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I am a sophomore in high school and I had a research project about the Incas and their civilization. After reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, I regretted choosing this book as my primary source for my project. The book was essentially based upon Hiram Bingham and his book, Lost City of the Incas. Throughout the whole book, Adams quoted Bingham’s book several times that there was about one quote on every page. About half way when reading Adams’ book, I thought to myself that reading Bingham’s book would have been a better and smarter choice. I will admit that in the book, it discusses many major points in Inca history, important cities, and useful travel tips but I thought some information Adams’ shared was irrelevant and unnecessary. For example, Adams’ provides background information about Hiram Bingham’s life, family, and achievements in multiple chapters. He describes the past lives of Bingham’s great-grandfather, the jobs Hiram Bingham has had, and the family history of his wife.
What I did enjoy most about the book was Adam’s journey throughout Peru. He describes where they stayed, the scenery of the mountains and jungles, and how he had to learn lots of new things such as how to use a machete, how to set up a tent, and how to survive in the middle of nowhere.
The book overall is well-written and would recommend to those who are interested in traveling through Peru, ancient Inca civilization, and Hiram Bingham. It informs the reader a lot about Machu Picchu and the history around how it came to be. It’s also filled with a lot of Peruvian vocabulary, culture, and facts. As my final opinion, I wouldn’t read it again and I would choose Lost City of the Incas as my primary source.
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I am a sophomore in high school and I had a research project about the Incas and their civilization. After reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, I regretted choosing this book as my primary source for my project. The book was essentially based upon Hiram Bingham and his book, Lost City of the Incas. Throughout the whole book, Adams quoted Bingham’s book several times that there was about one quote on every page. About half way when reading Adams’ book, I thought to myself that reading Bingham’s book would have been a better and smarter choice. I will admit that in the book, it discusses many major points in Inca history, important cities, and useful travel tips but I thought some information Adams’ shared was irrelevant and unnecessary. For example, Adams’ provides background information about Hiram Bingham’s life, family, and achievements in multiple chapters. He describes the past lives of Bingham’s great-grandfather, the jobs Hiram Bingham has had, and the family history of his wife.
What I did enjoy most about the book was Adam’s journey throughout Peru. He describes where they stayed, the scenery of the mountains and jungles, and how he had to learn lots of new things such as how to use a machete, how to set up a tent, and how to survive in the middle of nowhere.
The book overall is well-written and would recommend to those who are interested in traveling through Peru, ancient Inca civilization, and Hiram Bingham. It informs the reader a lot about Machu Picchu and the history around how it came to be. It’s also filled with a lot of Peruvian vocabulary, culture, and facts. As my final opinion, I wouldn’t read it again and I would choose Lost City of the Incas as my primary source.
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Very good read but I got confused on the name of the places.
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Actually this is a 4 1/2 star book for me, because I wished for more words in the glossary and a clearer marking for Adams travel route on the maps. Since my husband and I and a small group of friends visited Machu Picchu a few years, I was drawn to this book. It was a good match! I really enjoyed the intertwining of Hiram Bingham's stories, the Incan history, the Spanish invaders, and different people who shared the author's journey. All kinds of bits of information from other books I've read popped up in this book and that added to my enjoyment. Having been to the Peabody Museum and being a fan of National Geographic made those bits more meaningful. Most of all, I liked the sections about Machu Picchu itself. If you are planning a trip to Machu Picchu, sign-up for a tour and a tour guide, so you can really get the most out of the trip. Our tour guide was fabulous! if altitude sickness strikes you but you are able to ride the train (wonderful experience) and the bus, go to Machu Picchu. Just sitting at the entrance area is very worthwhile and your friends and family will come back with descriptions of where they were on their guided tour for a few hours.
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It was fantastic for the most part but it lacks edge..extremely dry..you can tell the author doesn't have a natural sense of adventure..
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A fabulous, well written book
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it's kind of boring...
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Fun.book to read. Liked the humor and the description of both Bingham's trips and the author's trips. Great storytelling.
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