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It's been 3 years (in a month) that I went on a 2-week adventure to South America, where I got to see Bolivian salt flats, lagunas, flamingos, hiked the Lares Trek for 3 days, saw so many llamas/alpacas, visited old cities, saw Machu Picchu, and climbed Huaynapicchu Mountain.
While the big cities like La Paz don't interest me as much, the natural landscape of Peru and Bolivia are absolutely breathtaking, although that might be the altitude.
While on our guided Lares Trek and tour of Machu Picchu, it's clear that while we have plenty of theories about the Inca, we still don't know a whole lot. I definitely received mixed messages from both scholars (in articles and books) and Peruvian guides about Machu Picchu's original purpose. I've heard such answers as the Inca escape from the Spanish, an Inca ruler's summer home, the end of a spiritual Inca pilgrimage, and a university.
If anything, Mark Adam's book made it even more clear that this mystical city set high on a mountaintop is, and forever will be, a complete mystery. There is not enough concrete evidence, and any evidence there is seems to conflict other accounts, to say what Machu Picchu really was. Machu Picchu had been looted and ransacked multiple times before Hiram Bingham had even arrived, and it's hard to say what purpose rooms and buildings serve when only the stones are left.
Mark Adams' journey across Inca trails, following Hiram Bingham's footsteps, was entertaining, informative, and interesting. He intersperses his personal hiking with Hiram Bingham's journey and the history of the Spanish vs. the Inca. This way, events in three timelines are either kept together via geography and is less confusing and boring than a third dedicated to original history, a third to Hiram, and a third to Mark.
The adventurer craze that swept the industrialized nations (mostly America and Europe) in the early 1900s is not only funny to read about with hindsight (who in their life hasn't wanted to experience an adventure like that??) and also very problematic. In fact, there are still multiple, ongoing lawsuits over thee artifacts Hiram brought and smuggled out of South America.
Mark is funny in a lowkey way, like he's not going out of his way to be a comedian, but throws in some funny lines. John, the Australian guide, is entertaining because he's exactly the rugged, tough adventurer stereotype, yet Mark never pokes fun at him, or his porters. Sure, everyone is a bit of a character and a little zany, but it feels like affectionate depictions, never cruel.
While we're in isolation due to the coronavirus, reading this book is a bit like experiencing the Inca ruins, but not quite the same. I'd always recommend visiting South America in person and hiking the trails yourself (if you can), but this is always a good substitute.
While the big cities like La Paz don't interest me as much, the natural landscape of Peru and Bolivia are absolutely breathtaking, although that might be the altitude.
While on our guided Lares Trek and tour of Machu Picchu, it's clear that while we have plenty of theories about the Inca, we still don't know a whole lot. I definitely received mixed messages from both scholars (in articles and books) and Peruvian guides about Machu Picchu's original purpose. I've heard such answers as the Inca escape from the Spanish, an Inca ruler's summer home, the end of a spiritual Inca pilgrimage, and a university.
If anything, Mark Adam's book made it even more clear that this mystical city set high on a mountaintop is, and forever will be, a complete mystery. There is not enough concrete evidence, and any evidence there is seems to conflict other accounts, to say what Machu Picchu really was. Machu Picchu had been looted and ransacked multiple times before Hiram Bingham had even arrived, and it's hard to say what purpose rooms and buildings serve when only the stones are left.
Mark Adams' journey across Inca trails, following Hiram Bingham's footsteps, was entertaining, informative, and interesting. He intersperses his personal hiking with Hiram Bingham's journey and the history of the Spanish vs. the Inca. This way, events in three timelines are either kept together via geography and is less confusing and boring than a third dedicated to original history, a third to Hiram, and a third to Mark.
The adventurer craze that swept the industrialized nations (mostly America and Europe) in the early 1900s is not only funny to read about with hindsight (who in their life hasn't wanted to experience an adventure like that??) and also very problematic. In fact, there are still multiple, ongoing lawsuits over thee artifacts Hiram brought and smuggled out of South America.
Mark is funny in a lowkey way, like he's not going out of his way to be a comedian, but throws in some funny lines. John, the Australian guide, is entertaining because he's exactly the rugged, tough adventurer stereotype, yet Mark never pokes fun at him, or his porters. Sure, everyone is a bit of a character and a little zany, but it feels like affectionate depictions, never cruel.
While we're in isolation due to the coronavirus, reading this book is a bit like experiencing the Inca ruins, but not quite the same. I'd always recommend visiting South America in person and hiking the trails yourself (if you can), but this is always a good substitute.