Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

by Mark Adams

The ability to arrive uninvited in an alien land and convince one’s hosts that almost everything they believe is wrong requires a rather forceful personality. The Reverend Bingham sought to Christianize Hawaii by bending its inhabitants to his will, which conveniently was indistinguishable from the will of God.

Professors were anonymous creatures that played to small audiences.

If I had to choose one word to describe the cloud forest in a rainstorm, it would be slippery. Dusty dirt trails swell into gooey mudslides. Rocks take on boot-repellant properties. Pretty log bridges over gurgling streams are transformed into menacing frictionless cylinders, plotting to hurl careless walkers into the white water below. The jungle’s warm breath fogs up eyeglasses and creeps underneath Gore-Tex jackets, creating portable steam rooms. Once everything is hecho una sopa—soaked like a soup—the temperature drops.