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
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.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
“Okay, open your eyes. This is my way of saying, ‘Welcome to the Inca Trail.’”
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
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
Scientists have calculated that there are thirty-four types of climatic zones on the face of the earth. Peru has twenty of them.
Mark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
“Everyone knows about Machu Picchu and, less so of course, places like Espiritu Pampa and Choquequirao. That’s because Bingham wrote about those things in his books. But he went to dozens of places, some that almost no one else has gone to since. He was dealing with corruption, thievery, people of dubious character—and he was under a lot of pressur
... See moreMark Adams • Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
Patallacta is now believed to have been a satellite of Machu Picchu, a settlement where several hundred laborers resided and much of the food consumed at Machu Picchu was grown.