Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
“A place like Angkor Wat is fantastic,” he said, referring to the enormous twelfth-century temple complex in Cambodia. “But they didn’t have the problems there that the Incas did here. This place is a statement: look at how we can tame nature.”
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
For the first time since dropping out of graduate school, I remembered an unpleasant weekend spent struggling to comprehend the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s explanation of the difference between calling something beautiful and calling it sublime. Nowadays, we throw around the word “sublime” to describe gooey desserts or overpriced handbags. In Kant’
... See moreMark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
John pointed to the far end of the site, where groups of Inca Trail hikers who’d awakened at four to meet the sunrise at the Sun Gate—virtually every tour company uses this supposedly magical moment as a selling point—were waiting impatiently for their first glimpse of the city. “The Sun Gate at sunrise is a complete waste of time,” John said as we
... See moreMark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
“There’s one fellow I know from Amazonas Explorer named Efrain—he’s very, very good. Speaks Quechua and English, knows his history.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
The Machu Picchu Guidebook: A Self-Guided Tour, by Ruth Wright. An excellent guidebook that explains how and why the Incas built the various structures at Machu Picchu.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
According to the fascinating book The Languages of the Andes, Quechua includes a vast number of words to denote the act “to carry.”
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
The Conquest of the Incas, by John Hemming. The definitive history of Francisco Pizarro’s occupation of Peru, and the starting point for any serious examination of Inca history.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
Should you find yourself in Cusco en route to Machu Picchu, I highly recommend that you stop for a drink at the Cross Keys Pub. Not only is it the best place to get a beer in town, but just inside the second-floor entrance, to the right, are some old scrapbooks that are well worth a look.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center, by Johan Reinhard. The original, and best, explanation of why Machu Picchu is most likely situated where it is.