Turn Right At Machu Picchu: Rediscovering The Lost City One Step At A Time by Mark Adams is a history / travel book published in 2011.
In 1909, Yale professor Hiram Bingham III arrived in Cusco, Peru, where a local prefect told him a centuries-old legend of a hidden Inca city lost to history. Believing it could be his chance for fame and fortune, Bingham set out to find it – but instead, he discovered Machu Picchu on July 24, 1911.
In a unique journey, author Mark Adams retraces Bingham’s route through the Andes and dense jungle, despite his lack of experience with hunting, fishing, or even sleeping in a tent. Combining Inca history, Bingham’s “discovery,” and Adams’ own travel experience, the book offers an engaging narrative of exploration and history.
Machu Picchu is one of the 7 Wonders Of The World
Purchase the book by clicking this link!
Enjoy!
Table of Contents
Peru Information
- The cloud forest in Peru can grow over in about three years and can get up to 40 feet high
- Llamas were important for the Incas:
- Wool
- Pack Mules
- Meat
- Peru’s geography is one of the most diverse in the world
- Rainforests (including unmapped Amazon)
- Mountains (24,000+ ft peaks)
- Deserts & sand dunes
- Hotspot for seismic & volcanic activity
- World’s deepest canyon (Colca Canyon = 2x deeper than Grand Canyon)
- 34 types of climatic zones on the face of the earth… Peru has 20
The Incan Empire
- The Empire
- Spanned 2,500 miles with 10 million people
- Capital → Cusco
- Peak years → 1438–1532
- Engineering & Infrastructure
- Built sites in relation to one another over vast distances
- Road system was among the most advanced in the world
- Messages relayed 1,000+ mountainous miles (Quito to Cusco) in 12 days
- Fish transported 300 miles inland and still fresh for the emperor
- Walkable route from southern Colombia to central Chile
- Sophisticated water channels & fountains still work today
- In Cusco, stone foundations from Incan buildings remain
- Fitted without mortar, still seamless after centuries of earthquakes
- Machu Picchu
- Likely built around 1450
- Not the civilization’s origin
- Purpose still debated: possibly a royal estate, religious center, or school for elites
History of The Incas’ Last Days
- 1519 → Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico and began the conquest of the Aztec Empire
- 1520 → Francisco Pizarro landed in Panama and became inspired by Cortés to seek riches in the south
- 1528 → Pizarro became convinced of a great civilization in “Birú” and returned to Spain to get royal permission
- 1532 → Pizarro returned to Peru with 180 soldiers, horses, and guns – vastly superior to Incan slings and clubs
- Nov 1532 → Pizarro kidnapped Emperor Atahualpa despite being outnumbered 30,000 to 180
- 1533 → After collecting a ransom of 6+ tons of gold, Pizarro executed Atahualpa and installed Manco as a puppet ruler
- 1536 → Manco led a massive Inca revolt, capturing Sacsayhuaman and besieging Cusco
- 1537 → Incas retreated to Vitcos, then founded a new jungle capital at Vilcabamba
- 1539 → Civil war broke out among the Pizarro brothers as they returned to Cusco.
- 1541 → Francisco Pizarro was assassinated by fellow Spaniards; the killers fled and joined the Incas
- 1544 → The same Spaniards betrayed and killed Emperor Manco
- 1545 → Manco’s son Sayri Tupac became emperor of Vilcabamba
- 1558 → Sayri Tupac died and his brother Titu Cusi became emperor
- 1571 → Titu Cusi died; their younger brother Túpac Amaru became emperor and rejected Spanish rule
- 1572 → Spaniards launched a final war, found Vilcabamba empty, and hunted Túpac Amaru 200+ miles through the jungle
- July 24, 1572 → Túpac Amaru was captured and beheaded; his head became a symbol of resistance and prophecy
The Early Years Of Hiram Bingham
- 1875 → Hiram Bingham III was born in Honolulu
- 1892 → At age 16, tried to board a steamship to England to reach Africa but was stopped
- 1894 → Entered Yale University
- 1897 → Met Alfreda Mitchell, heiress to the Tiffany Jewelry fortune
- 1899 → Completed his master’s degree at UC Berkeley
- 1900 → Began PhD in South American history at Harvard
- 1900 → Married Alfreda Mitchell
- 1905 → Earned doctorate and was recruited by Woodrow Wilson (then president of Princeton) to teach
- 1905 → Embarked on a 1,000-mile expedition across the Venezuelan and Colombian Andes with explorer Hamilton Rice
- 1905 → Faced extreme jungle hardship; at one point, the team survived solely on Bingham’s hunting
- 1909 → Entered Peru for the first time and fell in love with Cusco
- 1909 → Learned about the “Lost City of the Incas” – a hidden city where the Incas allegedly withdrew during the Spanish invasion
- Early 1900s → Height of public fascination with ancient and “lost” cities like Chichen Itza and the Valley of the Kings
- June 8, 1911 → Bingham departed on his expedition to find the Lost City of the Incas
“Finding” Machu Picchu
- July 1911 → Bingham arrived at Mandor Pampa; a local mentioned ruins called “Huayna Picchu or a Machu Picchu.”
- July 24, 1911 → Bingham “discovered” Machu Picchu
- On a rainy morning, Bingham paid a tavernkeeper to guide him to the ruins the man had bragged about the night before
- After asking where they were headed, the guide pointed straight up a steep, cloud-covered mountain
- Bingham left at 10 AM and ascended for 80 minutes on all fours through dense cloud forest
- Reached the ruins, inhabited by tenant farmers who rented from the tavernkeeper; walls of white granite were masterfully fitted
- The site overlooked the Urubamba River and was surrounded by panoramic, towering mountain peaks
- Bingham’s first recorded visit to Machu Picchu lasted under five hours
- July 1911 → The next day, continued down the Urubamba Valley without revisiting Machu Picchu
- July 1911 → Reached Espiritu Pampa; underwhelmed by its architecture compared to Cusco and did not return
- December 1911 → Returned to New York City
- Late 1911 → Yale and National Geographic agreed to fund another expedition
Subsequent Expeditions
- 1912 → Bingham left again for Peru
- Peru began preserving indigenous treasures and struck a deal: the U.S. could export discoveries, but Peru could demand them back at any time
- December 1912 → Returned to NYC; the expedition was a failure — no major artifacts
- 1913 → National Geographic released its first-ever special issue, entirely devoted to Machu Picchu, with over 250 photographs, inciting excitement
- 1915 → Returned to Peru
- Charged with illegally excavating and exporting thousands of artifacts
- Despite being largest and most expensive expedition, it was nearly a complete failure — except for discovering the Inca Trail
- Returned to the U.S. the same year
- 1916 → Joined the National Guard; during WWI, commanded 8,000 men
- 1922 → Elected Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
- 1924 → Elected Governor and Senator of Connecticut
- 1933 → Censured and voted out of Congress for placing a lobbyist on his payroll
- 1948 → Published Lost City of the Incas, recounting his adventures
- Failed to share credit: claimed to be the first to see Machu Picchu since the Incas, despite tenant farmers living there, others’ names carved into stone, and locals guiding him
- 1964 → Explorer Gene Savoy proved the real Lost City of the Incas (Vilcabamba) was actually Espiritu Pampa, not Machu Picchu
Author Mark Adams’ Trek
- Author Mark Adams retraced Hiram Bingham’s route through the Andes and jungle
- Spent months on foot, following the original path to Machu Picchu
- Had never hunted, fished, mountain-biked, started a fire without matches, or slept in a tent before
- Included many stories from his journey:
- Children deep in the jungle who had never heard of the United States
- Met the family that originally owned Machu Picchu, who sold it to the Peruvian government for worthless bonds
- Met the former Peruvian president’s wife who publicly sued the U.S.
- The U.S. had refused to return smuggled artifacts from Machu Picchu
Check out more History posts!
- The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano
- In The Time Of The Revolution by Alan Axelrod
- Turn Right At Machu Picchu by Mark Adams
- Under The Black Flag by David Cordingly