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The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland
One man goes in search of the lost cities of the Amazon in the Inca heartland.
The lost cities of South America have always exercised a powerful hold on the popular imagination. The ruins of the Incas and other pre-Colombian civilisations are scattered over thousands of miles of still largely uncharted territory, particularly in the Eastern Andes, where the mountains fall away towards the Amazon.
Twenty-five years ago, Hugh Thomson set off into the cloud-forest on foot to find a ruin that had been carelessly lost again after its initial discovery. Into his history of the Inca Empire he weaves the story of his adventures as he travelled to the most remote Inca cities. It is also the story of the great explorers in whose footsteps he followed, such as Hiram Bingham and Gene Savoy.
The lost cities of South America have always exercised a powerful hold on the popular imagination. The ruins of the Incas and other pre-Colombian civilisations are scattered over thousands of miles of still largely uncharted territory, particularly in the Eastern Andes, where the mountains fall away towards the Amazon.
Twenty-five years ago, Hugh Thomson set off into the cloud-forest on foot to find a ruin that had been carelessly lost again after its initial discovery. Into his history of the Inca Empire he weaves the story of his adventures as he travelled to the most remote Inca cities. It is also the story of the great explorers in whose footsteps he followed, such as Hiram Bingham and Gene Savoy.
440 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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1413 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Thomson
138 books42 followersHugh Thomson believes strongly that the world is not as explored as we like to suppose.
He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'
For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.
For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.
His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.
His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.
In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.
"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)
See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.
He writes about the wilder corners of the planet, from the edges of Peru to the Himalayas, looking for Inca ruins and lost cultures. Geographical commented that 'he is a writer who explores and not an explorer who writes.'
For 'The Green Road into the Trees', he returned to Britain to write about his own country. It won the inaugural Wainwright Prize for Best Nature and Travel Writing. 'An immensely enjoyable book: curious, articulate, intellectually playful and savagely candid.' Spectator.
For the successful sequel, 'One Man and a Mule', he decided to have ‘a South American adventure in England’ by taking a mule as a pack animal across the north of the country.
His most recent book is his first novel - ‘Viva Byron!’ - which imagines what might have happened if the poet had not died an early death in Greece - but instead lived - and then some! - by going to South America with the great last love of his life, Countess Teresa Guiccioli, to help Simon Bolivar liberate it from the Spanish. "Hugh Thomson is a mesmerising storyteller." Sara Wheeler.
His previous books include: 'The White Rock', 'Nanda Devi' and 'Cochineal Red: Travels through Ancient Peru' (all Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and he has collected some of his favourite places in the lavishly illustrated '50 Wonders of the World'.
In 2009 he wrote 'Tequila Oil', a memoir about getting lost in Mexico when he was eighteen and, in the words of the Alice Cooper song, 'didn't know what he wanted'. It was serialised by BBC R4 as 'Book of the Week'.
"Delightful, celebratory and honest....In a way 'Tequila Oil' is the first installment of his now-complete trilogy, his 'Cochineal Red' and 'The White Rock' being two of the finest books on Latin America of recent years." (Rory MacLean, The Guardian)
See www.thewhiterock.co.uk for more, including his blog and events at which he is speaking.
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July 1, 2016
Hugh Thomson first went to Peruvian Andes at the age of 22. He was seeking a ruin that had been discovered a while ago, before being lost to time again. As a fresh faced youth, he found the Inca people and the places he visited compelling, confusing but most of all intoxicating. Walking in the footsteps of the great explorers, such as Bingham, who discovered Machu Picchu and Chambi a famous South American photographer, he travels across plains, over mountains and hacks through jungles in search of the people of this land. However, this book is more than that; it is a personal journey back through time to see the sights of the ancient civilisation and to learn of how it was destroyed by the brutal Spanish conquistadors.
Drawing on his experience of making documentaries Thomson has woven together the historical account of the Incas along with details of his two expeditions to the South American continent. As he went several times with a substantial gap in between the first and second visits, he has split his account over two sections. In each part, he writes about the people and places, the heart stopping moments when travelling in the mountains and jungles and of life in the towns and villages in Peru. The first trip was with two friends, but later he went alone, employing guides to accompany him as he sought the hidden world of the Inca. Whilst this is good, and I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it was as good as Tequila Oil, his trip to Mexico. Still worth reading though for an insight into the modern lands that sit on so much history.
Drawing on his experience of making documentaries Thomson has woven together the historical account of the Incas along with details of his two expeditions to the South American continent. As he went several times with a substantial gap in between the first and second visits, he has split his account over two sections. In each part, he writes about the people and places, the heart stopping moments when travelling in the mountains and jungles and of life in the towns and villages in Peru. The first trip was with two friends, but later he went alone, employing guides to accompany him as he sought the hidden world of the Inca. Whilst this is good, and I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it was as good as Tequila Oil, his trip to Mexico. Still worth reading though for an insight into the modern lands that sit on so much history.
September 17, 2019
Man walks into a bar - barman says "I heard a story about an Inca ruin that was found and then lost again".
Man says "why don't you go and look for it?" and he does... That's the plot of this book ☺️. It also happens to be one of the best exploration books I've read.
The author has no knowledge of archaeology, no experience as an explorer and no real knowledge of the Incas - that changes! For those with an interest this is extremely readable and I feel better informed than I was before I read this. Obviously you get the story of his exploration however you get vastly more than that. He incorporates so much in this book. Power struggles within Peru as well as those outside over a number of centuries. Culture and history are here as well as some examination of exploration of the continent. Is Machu Picchu really what the tourist trail thinks it is? It made me think about things we think we know and filled in some spaces about things I knew nothing about. Recommended - highly - to anyone interested.
Man says "why don't you go and look for it?" and he does... That's the plot of this book ☺️. It also happens to be one of the best exploration books I've read.
The author has no knowledge of archaeology, no experience as an explorer and no real knowledge of the Incas - that changes! For those with an interest this is extremely readable and I feel better informed than I was before I read this. Obviously you get the story of his exploration however you get vastly more than that. He incorporates so much in this book. Power struggles within Peru as well as those outside over a number of centuries. Culture and history are here as well as some examination of exploration of the continent. Is Machu Picchu really what the tourist trail thinks it is? It made me think about things we think we know and filled in some spaces about things I knew nothing about. Recommended - highly - to anyone interested.
July 4, 2024
Have Google maps at the ready. I read the Kindle version, so the maps were a bit small.
In 1982 Hugh Thomson was a 21-year-old in London. He sets off with a couple of mates to Peru to look for the Inca Fortress, Llactapata, as you do. It had been discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1912 but then lost again as the jungle engulfed it. They are explorers and not archaeologists as Hugh keeps telling us.
This is an intelligent and well written book. A lot of hard work and research has gone into it. There is a ton of information here from a historical perspective as we follow Hugh from Peru into Bolivia and other countries like Ecuador. He travelled thousands of miles.
I prefer a travelogue format with history thrown in. This is more the other way round with a lot of history about the Incas with a bit of travel thrown in as he visits different Inca sites (they had quite the empire at one stage). We are told about this expanding Inca empire, the civil wars and the Spanish Conquistadors. I had a bit of a tough time keeping up with it all if I'm honest.
In 1982 Hugh Thomson was a 21-year-old in London. He sets off with a couple of mates to Peru to look for the Inca Fortress, Llactapata, as you do. It had been discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1912 but then lost again as the jungle engulfed it. They are explorers and not archaeologists as Hugh keeps telling us.
This is an intelligent and well written book. A lot of hard work and research has gone into it. There is a ton of information here from a historical perspective as we follow Hugh from Peru into Bolivia and other countries like Ecuador. He travelled thousands of miles.
I prefer a travelogue format with history thrown in. This is more the other way round with a lot of history about the Incas with a bit of travel thrown in as he visits different Inca sites (they had quite the empire at one stage). We are told about this expanding Inca empire, the civil wars and the Spanish Conquistadors. I had a bit of a tough time keeping up with it all if I'm honest.
February 15, 2017
"The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland" by Hugh Thomson
This is a book about the lure of the unknown, the fabled, the view over the next horizon. In this autobiographical book, Hugh Thomson leaps from a life as an undirected youth in London, to the wildest of ideas, and that is to go exploring in Peru in the hopes of finding lost cities rumored in the accounts of the conquistadors.
This true tale could have been a story of disastrous failures; and certainly there are hardships along the way, but there are amazing successes, too. Since I have traveled in this region, the book was especially evocative to me. There is a sense of shock, followed by elation when the glint of stone in the undergrowth reveals itself to be a lost ruin and the author describes these moments with a clarity which will make you catch your breath.
Thomson also gives a wonderful description of the nearby settled towns and villages, capturing the flavor of each place and the personality of the people in a way that make you feel that you know them.
But best of all is the view from the ridge lines of the Inca, when the history which lead him there gives way to the spectacular views of the mountain tops and jungle wrapped valleys. If you can't go to Peru, this is the next best thing!
June 28, 2008
I read this one whilst kicking around Cusco, and recommend it very highly for anyone getting into the Andean portions of Peru.
Thomson vividly and good-humouredly describes the business of both his own exploration and that of others, simulaneously giving credit where it's due and puncturing a few legends - those created by explorers and archaeologists about the Incas, and, perhaps more amusingly, those created by explorers and archaeologists about themselves.
The book is a satisfying mix of ancient history and tales of Thomson's own crazily impressive accomplishments (some guy in a pub reckons there's some ruins to be found, well, s'pose I'll fly out there and find them, then some more, then write an excellent book about it), meaning that it rarely gets too dull for those of us who can't stomach too many accounts of climactic ancient battles.
It's particularly enjoyable to read about Thomson's return to Peru towards the book's end; his enthusiasm for the country and for the remaining exploration to be done mean that he doesn't waste time moaning like a bitter old expat hippy about 'all the bloody tourists'.
Lovely stuff that'll give you a taste of the Incas and of exploration a world away from just about any tour you can find down Gringo Alley.
(I'd also recommend his look at the guys who preceded the Incas, Cochineal Red - for my money, those were the most interesting and exotic civilisations of South America.)
Thomson vividly and good-humouredly describes the business of both his own exploration and that of others, simulaneously giving credit where it's due and puncturing a few legends - those created by explorers and archaeologists about the Incas, and, perhaps more amusingly, those created by explorers and archaeologists about themselves.
The book is a satisfying mix of ancient history and tales of Thomson's own crazily impressive accomplishments (some guy in a pub reckons there's some ruins to be found, well, s'pose I'll fly out there and find them, then some more, then write an excellent book about it), meaning that it rarely gets too dull for those of us who can't stomach too many accounts of climactic ancient battles.
It's particularly enjoyable to read about Thomson's return to Peru towards the book's end; his enthusiasm for the country and for the remaining exploration to be done mean that he doesn't waste time moaning like a bitter old expat hippy about 'all the bloody tourists'.
Lovely stuff that'll give you a taste of the Incas and of exploration a world away from just about any tour you can find down Gringo Alley.
(I'd also recommend his look at the guys who preceded the Incas, Cochineal Red - for my money, those were the most interesting and exotic civilisations of South America.)
October 7, 2008
A well-crafted hybrid of memoir, travel book and history. It begins with Thomson's quixotic decision as a 21-year-old, untrained, to go to Peru and re-find an Inca ruin that had been discovered, then lost again. In the decades since, he's become a more seasoned explorer and a documentary filmmaker, and his love for the mountainous areas of Peru is a constant.
Interwoven with his descriptions of the beautiful, punishing terrain and the abandoned complexes of the Inca are anecdotes of the bizarre characters that have explored the area, the relationship between people of the mountains and of the jungle, the demands of outsiders' tourism and spirituality on the Inca's image, and the often forgotten history of the Inca's last stand. The sites he explores are part of their "rump kingdom", the Vilcabamba, from which they held off the Spanish for decades with guerrilla tactics and cagey diplomacy. While unlike the reviewer from The New York Times Book Review, I am content to remain an 'armchair traveler' and leave these treks to Thomson, I am inspired to read further on the fascinating history of the Inca.
Interwoven with his descriptions of the beautiful, punishing terrain and the abandoned complexes of the Inca are anecdotes of the bizarre characters that have explored the area, the relationship between people of the mountains and of the jungle, the demands of outsiders' tourism and spirituality on the Inca's image, and the often forgotten history of the Inca's last stand. The sites he explores are part of their "rump kingdom", the Vilcabamba, from which they held off the Spanish for decades with guerrilla tactics and cagey diplomacy. While unlike the reviewer from The New York Times Book Review, I am content to remain an 'armchair traveler' and leave these treks to Thomson, I am inspired to read further on the fascinating history of the Inca.
September 29, 2009
This book combined so many interests of mine, I don't see how I couldn't have liked it. Exploration, maps, history, travel, mountains, archaeology, family trees -- all that was missing was polar exploration, but since much of it took place at chilly altitudes, I'm still a pretty happy reader.
Thomson masterfully interweaves his own personal experiences as an explorer with accounts of colleagues, historical information and cultural observances in a way that seems effortless. His sympathy with the peoples of eastern Peru, both ancient and modern, comes through readily. I really appreciated the way the book was laid out. He starts in Cuzco, the likely cradle of Incan civilization and works his way chronologically toward this empire's sad end, using various ruins and historical sites to illustrate this historical path. Thomson's gives deference to this order in the book over the order in which he visited these areas, and I think that was a good choice.
His knowledge of the history of Incan civilization is apparent, as well as his familiarity with the history of how that civilization has been, and continues to be, discovered.
Thomson masterfully interweaves his own personal experiences as an explorer with accounts of colleagues, historical information and cultural observances in a way that seems effortless. His sympathy with the peoples of eastern Peru, both ancient and modern, comes through readily. I really appreciated the way the book was laid out. He starts in Cuzco, the likely cradle of Incan civilization and works his way chronologically toward this empire's sad end, using various ruins and historical sites to illustrate this historical path. Thomson's gives deference to this order in the book over the order in which he visited these areas, and I think that was a good choice.
His knowledge of the history of Incan civilization is apparent, as well as his familiarity with the history of how that civilization has been, and continues to be, discovered.
August 13, 2024
I first went mountain biking from Cusco to Machu Picchu in 1985 on a trip run by Gary Ziegler a Coloradan Vietnam Vet who trekked with the author Hugh Thomson exploring little known Incan ruins throughout the Villcabamba and Urabumba regions.
Little did I know that I would spend almost a year in Lima and Cusco in the early 1990s, trying to extract myself with my "almost" adopted daughter from the bureaucratic and dysfunctional legal system of Peru. So this book, tracing Thomson through his explorations of the Incan trails brought back a lot of memories of my time in Peru, with eccentric characters, through Sandero bombings, interminable meetings and appointments, wandering through Cusco and Miraflores, meeting with various officials, hiring three different lawyers and there was always.... "meńana".... "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow". The average reader might not be that interested in this book but because of my personal experience of living in Peru and the Peruvian culture, I was transported into the past.
Little did I know that I would spend almost a year in Lima and Cusco in the early 1990s, trying to extract myself with my "almost" adopted daughter from the bureaucratic and dysfunctional legal system of Peru. So this book, tracing Thomson through his explorations of the Incan trails brought back a lot of memories of my time in Peru, with eccentric characters, through Sandero bombings, interminable meetings and appointments, wandering through Cusco and Miraflores, meeting with various officials, hiring three different lawyers and there was always.... "meńana".... "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow". The average reader might not be that interested in this book but because of my personal experience of living in Peru and the Peruvian culture, I was transported into the past.
March 2, 2021
Rewelacyjna książka, spodoba się każdemu, kto tak jak ja, uwielbia historię, archeologię, odkrycia. Jest dość długa i szczegółowa (autor nie ubarwia specjalnie, pisze o trudach wypraw, co jest super i pozwala dostrzec, że wyprawy w takie miejsca to nie wycieczka na Gubałówkę), ale jednocześnie lekko napisana, czytałam z ogromną przyjemnością. Doceniam też bardzo podejście Thomsona do estetyki i tak naprawdę do piękna otaczających go w trakcie wypraw miejsc, to było świetne - nie rozprawiał tylko o użytkowości tych miejsc dla Inków, ale także rozkminiał bardzo fajnie, dlaczego akurat w takim, a nie innym miejscu powstawały te budowle, biorąc pod uwagę aspekt estetyczny chociażby. Nie znam się też za bardzo na tym, o czym teraz napiszę, ale wydaje mi się, że też nie było tu za dużo takiego protekcjonalnego podejścia białego człowieka do dawnych i obecnych społeczności Ameryki Południowej, ale nie będę więcej pisać, żeby nie zdradzać.
Jednym z moich marzeń jest wyprawa do Peru, dzięki tej książce utwierdziłam się jeszcze bardziej w przekonaniu, że chcę tam pojechać (po tej lekturze na google maps całe Peru i pół Boliwii mam teraz w zielonych pinach z zaznaczonymi wszystkimi miejscami, które chciałabym zobaczyć, haha). Niech tylko ten covid się wreszcie skończy!
Jednym z moich marzeń jest wyprawa do Peru, dzięki tej książce utwierdziłam się jeszcze bardziej w przekonaniu, że chcę tam pojechać (po tej lekturze na google maps całe Peru i pół Boliwii mam teraz w zielonych pinach z zaznaczonymi wszystkimi miejscami, które chciałabym zobaczyć, haha). Niech tylko ten covid się wreszcie skończy!
January 9, 2018
A fine read about the Inca civilization and the Spanish conquistadores. This is also the first person account of a young man’s adventurous explorations of the ancient ruins. Fascinating combination of history and adventure for anyone, but an especially fine choice if you happen to be heading to Peru.
April 28, 2019
A very readable memoir of exploration and travel throughout Peru coupled with well-researched and detailed historical and archaeological accounts. More personal and entertaining than Hemming’s The Conquest of the Inca, of course, and also based on a great desire to extinguish much of the mythic and exaggerated accounts of explorers like Bingham.
September 22, 2015
_The White Rock_ by Hugh Thomson is a fascinating, well-written account of both the author's travels to Inca sites in Peru and Bolivia and his efforts to address the big discrepancies between popular conceptions of the Incas and the actual evidence of what they were like, an effort complicated by the fact that the Incas left no written record and much of what know about them comes from the often biased accounts of Spanish conquistadors and from the supposition of archaeologists.
Though Thomson visited a number of Inca sites throughout the book, Machu Picchu clearly dominates, as it is most famous Inca site, the one most likely known to the average person. The very familiarity of the place he wrote can lead to misleading impressions of the Incas and Thomson regretted that few visitors to Peru traveled beyond it.
The author recounted a number of misconceptions regarding the site. Many suppose that it is a major site for archaeologists; it is not, as the site was thoroughly excavated by the famous (and some say "over-enthusiastic and cack-handed") Hiram Bingham in the early years of the 20th century, who acted "with the over-confidence of an age of certainty" and so thoroughly excavated the site that little was left for later researchers. In addition, later restoration efforts to prepare the site for tourists were often done with little thought for archaeological preservation.
Speaking of Hiram Bingham, he is famous for having discovered the site. Thomson wrote that it would more accurate that he should be famous for having publicized the site. A geographer by the name of Antonio Raimondi had a site labeled as Cerro Machu Picchu on a map made in 1875 and in 1902, a full ten years before Bingham visited, Don Enrique Palma of Cuzco visited the site and left an inscription on its walls.
Tour guides and many popular books on Machu Picchu speak of the city's great religious significance, but Thomson interviewed archaeologists who said that the site was not a religious shrine at all. Occupied for less than a hundred years, largely forgotten after it was abandoned (something the Incas would not have done if it was a religious or especially a pilgrimage site), it was basically a winter quarters for the Inca emperor (known as the Inca), a country estate or leisure complex, a "gigantic hunting folly" that was "both too impractical and ostentatious" to maintain, basically an old country house and pleasure resort built on a grand scale at the height of the Inca Empire and then "left to fade away as royal tastes and fashion moved on." While the site was attractive both for its milder and warmer climate that Cuzco and its abundance of game, it was an expensive locale to live in.
Those who maintain the notion that the site was religious point to the great number of female skeletons unearthed at the site, labeled by many as "Virgins of the Sun." In fact later studies showed that the proportion of male and female remains was about equal; this misconception dates back to one of Bingham's colleagues, George Eaton, who in 1912 wrongly identified most of the remains as female.
Another misconception (albeit one that the Incas themselves promoted) was that they were the only or the first Andean or South American civilization. Incan rulers like the famous Pachacuti (originally known as Inca Yupanqui but who took the title Pachacuti or "Transformer of the Earth") promoted within their own society powerful origin stories, as Pachacuti, though important as he led the first wave of Inca conquests to Bolivia and Lake Titicaca, bringing an area from Colombia to Chile, some 3000 miles and about the size of continental Europe, under Inca control, carefully promulgated official versions of Inca history.
In reality, the Incas were adept at incorporating whole tribes into the Empire, as large numbers of people or even whole populations were taken away from their homelands to serve as tribute labor elsewhere in a system called mitamayo (the workers were called mitimaes). Thomson compared the Incas to Stalin in the way that they moved around client peoples, shipping them from one part of the empire to another to do jobs, moving potentially difficult peoples into new, uninhabited (and distant) areas, even splitting towns into upper and lower sections and having them compete in providing services to the State and the town itself.
The Incas were noted for appropriating the ruins of previous civilizations, altering them as they saw fit, manipulating and distorting the meaning of the ruins and of history. In reality, the Incas, "[f]ar from imposing order on an unruly bunch of savages, ...were merely the latest dominant tribe (and a short-lived one at the that) in a series of Andean civilizations" that had existed for over 2000 years previously. The Incas built their achievements on earlier civilizations such as the Moche of the north of Peru (noted for their magnificent pottery), the Huari, and the Tiahuanaco culture (who produced magnificent stone buildings) near Lake Titicaca.
Thomson also recounted many other aspects of the Incas. He noted their careful uses of terraces and canals, giving them the ability to support thousands where only dozens now live today. I had heard of Peruvian mummies before, but I had no idea of their role in Inca society; when each Inca died, his estate or panaca continued to maintain his palace as if he were still alive, with the Inca's mummified form resident in the old palace and brought out for feast days and coronations (Thomson wrote that the"mummy lobby" was very powerful towards the end of the Inca empire and was a system open to much abuse). Other interesting topics covered include the building, planning, and maintenance of Inca roads, Inca architectural methods and styles, and the course of the Spanish Conquest, particularly the struggles of the last Inca Emperors.
The book is also a great and witty travelogue particularly of Peru, with maps and many photos.
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Though Thomson visited a number of Inca sites throughout the book, Machu Picchu clearly dominates, as it is most famous Inca site, the one most likely known to the average person. The very familiarity of the place he wrote can lead to misleading impressions of the Incas and Thomson regretted that few visitors to Peru traveled beyond it.
The author recounted a number of misconceptions regarding the site. Many suppose that it is a major site for archaeologists; it is not, as the site was thoroughly excavated by the famous (and some say "over-enthusiastic and cack-handed") Hiram Bingham in the early years of the 20th century, who acted "with the over-confidence of an age of certainty" and so thoroughly excavated the site that little was left for later researchers. In addition, later restoration efforts to prepare the site for tourists were often done with little thought for archaeological preservation.
Speaking of Hiram Bingham, he is famous for having discovered the site. Thomson wrote that it would more accurate that he should be famous for having publicized the site. A geographer by the name of Antonio Raimondi had a site labeled as Cerro Machu Picchu on a map made in 1875 and in 1902, a full ten years before Bingham visited, Don Enrique Palma of Cuzco visited the site and left an inscription on its walls.
Tour guides and many popular books on Machu Picchu speak of the city's great religious significance, but Thomson interviewed archaeologists who said that the site was not a religious shrine at all. Occupied for less than a hundred years, largely forgotten after it was abandoned (something the Incas would not have done if it was a religious or especially a pilgrimage site), it was basically a winter quarters for the Inca emperor (known as the Inca), a country estate or leisure complex, a "gigantic hunting folly" that was "both too impractical and ostentatious" to maintain, basically an old country house and pleasure resort built on a grand scale at the height of the Inca Empire and then "left to fade away as royal tastes and fashion moved on." While the site was attractive both for its milder and warmer climate that Cuzco and its abundance of game, it was an expensive locale to live in.
Those who maintain the notion that the site was religious point to the great number of female skeletons unearthed at the site, labeled by many as "Virgins of the Sun." In fact later studies showed that the proportion of male and female remains was about equal; this misconception dates back to one of Bingham's colleagues, George Eaton, who in 1912 wrongly identified most of the remains as female.
Another misconception (albeit one that the Incas themselves promoted) was that they were the only or the first Andean or South American civilization. Incan rulers like the famous Pachacuti (originally known as Inca Yupanqui but who took the title Pachacuti or "Transformer of the Earth") promoted within their own society powerful origin stories, as Pachacuti, though important as he led the first wave of Inca conquests to Bolivia and Lake Titicaca, bringing an area from Colombia to Chile, some 3000 miles and about the size of continental Europe, under Inca control, carefully promulgated official versions of Inca history.
In reality, the Incas were adept at incorporating whole tribes into the Empire, as large numbers of people or even whole populations were taken away from their homelands to serve as tribute labor elsewhere in a system called mitamayo (the workers were called mitimaes). Thomson compared the Incas to Stalin in the way that they moved around client peoples, shipping them from one part of the empire to another to do jobs, moving potentially difficult peoples into new, uninhabited (and distant) areas, even splitting towns into upper and lower sections and having them compete in providing services to the State and the town itself.
The Incas were noted for appropriating the ruins of previous civilizations, altering them as they saw fit, manipulating and distorting the meaning of the ruins and of history. In reality, the Incas, "[f]ar from imposing order on an unruly bunch of savages, ...were merely the latest dominant tribe (and a short-lived one at the that) in a series of Andean civilizations" that had existed for over 2000 years previously. The Incas built their achievements on earlier civilizations such as the Moche of the north of Peru (noted for their magnificent pottery), the Huari, and the Tiahuanaco culture (who produced magnificent stone buildings) near Lake Titicaca.
Thomson also recounted many other aspects of the Incas. He noted their careful uses of terraces and canals, giving them the ability to support thousands where only dozens now live today. I had heard of Peruvian mummies before, but I had no idea of their role in Inca society; when each Inca died, his estate or panaca continued to maintain his palace as if he were still alive, with the Inca's mummified form resident in the old palace and brought out for feast days and coronations (Thomson wrote that the"mummy lobby" was very powerful towards the end of the Inca empire and was a system open to much abuse). Other interesting topics covered include the building, planning, and maintenance of Inca roads, Inca architectural methods and styles, and the course of the Spanish Conquest, particularly the struggles of the last Inca Emperors.
The book is also a great and witty travelogue particularly of Peru, with maps and many photos.
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July 2, 2022
This is not an easy read, just due to the sheer denseness of both the info and the actual text! But, assuming you wouldn’t land on this book in anyway unless you already had an interest in Incan culture and the history of Peru, it is very interesting. I enjoyed how Thomson talked about so much more of the history and culture at the time of the conquest than what we typically hear in the nutshell version. My Spanish teacher heart very much enjoyed this.
December 31, 2022
Ta książka ma wszystko, co potrzeba. Wciągające opisy podróży przeplatają się z bardzo rzetelną, i przede wszystkim nie europocentryczną wiedzą na temat państwa Inków. Gdyby tego było mało, autor raczy nas też ciekawostkami na temat współczesnej historii Peru, Boliwii i Ekwadoru, a także daje głos rdzennym mieszkańcom. No i jak się spodziewałam, z racji że temat od zawsze bardzo mnie interesował, mam teraz ochotę jechać do Peru :)
April 28, 2025
Adventurously inspiring and a well-detailed account of Incan history.
Quite dry, slow burning and lacking a lot of the excitement of exploration. Nonetheless, it is fascinating and an informative read
Quite dry, slow burning and lacking a lot of the excitement of exploration. Nonetheless, it is fascinating and an informative read
October 5, 2018
The Inca are often misunderstood. Without a known written language, much of their history is based on speculation, archaeological remains, and oral tradition. It is this mysterious nature that draws many people to the old Inca empire, which was centered in Peru, but whose influence extended beyond that country’s modern borders. It is also what drew Hugh Thomson to Peru. Part of the attraction of his book is his blend of carefree adventure and curiosity for history. He balances his narrative around his attempt to reach the last known refuge of the Inca as well as the famous expeditions of Hiram Bingham, and the story of the Inca’s last stand against the Spanish conquest. The book succeeds in capturing the intrigue of this land, its people (both ancient and modern), and the spirit of exploration. The only noticeable flaw in Thomson’s account is his failure to maintain the enthusiasm in his writing consistently as he travels deeper into the jungle of the land and the history.
June 9, 2015
Good story of modern-day explorers looking for Inca ruins in the mountains and jungles of Peru. A little too "New Journalism" touchy-feely and not enough straightforward writing knocks it down a peg from "What a classic!" status.
And I wish there were more pictures.
But it does stir that part of the imagination where there are places of the world not yet explored, or once explored but long-since lost, the sense of a very far-away place in time and space that where there could still exist El Dorado.
And I wish there were more pictures.
But it does stir that part of the imagination where there are places of the world not yet explored, or once explored but long-since lost, the sense of a very far-away place in time and space that where there could still exist El Dorado.
March 1, 2018
This is my first book on the Inca, so I learned a lot. I hope the author did a good job factually speaking, since I do not have separate knowledge. He does cite a good range of sources, including a number of recent explorers, revent defined as being alive in the 1982-2001 period in which he was involved prior to finishing the book.
There are three stories here, the author's memoirs of his expeditions, summaries of other explorers' expeditions, and a brief history of the Inca empire, which was large at its maximum but lasted as an Incan empire only a century.
There are three stories here, the author's memoirs of his expeditions, summaries of other explorers' expeditions, and a brief history of the Inca empire, which was large at its maximum but lasted as an Incan empire only a century.
May 18, 2017
Just came back from trekking in Peru, found this book delved into Inca history in a very readable way. Having visited many of the sites he writes of, it was fun to see them described by someone else. I first saw the White Rock in 2000 then again in 2015, the Vilcabamba area is still much unchanged, unlike Machu Picchu which is increasingly overrun with tourists.
December 13, 2017
I liked the book quite a bit. I only completed half of it before I hiked the Inca Trail up to Machu Picchu, and then the second half after I had finished. I think I actually enjoyed it much more with the experience of hiking the trail fresh in my mind. I was able to picture the places, buildings and landscapes that he was describing. A must read on a pre-Peru trip read list!
August 17, 2007
A modern day account of exploring Manchu Picchu in the Andes and exposition of the fascinating tale of the Incas when the Spanish invaded.
May 15, 2016
I started reading this before we went to Peru, but I just couldn't get into it. Even after our trip!
June 29, 2019
Wonderful book, makes one want to travel to Peru to find more "undiscovered" sites...great combination of travelogue and history of Inca empire.
February 18, 2025
In his early years, Thomson visits Peru and decides to find the Inca city Llactapata, which had not been visited since Hiram Bingham found it in in 1912. Further travels through Bolivia and Ecuador finally lead him to the Inca city Ollantaytambo.
Thomson returns in 1999, seeing much change In Peru. He visits Choquequirao, noting its similarities to Macho Pucchu. The stone arrangement suggests that whoever built Choquequirao presumably did so only after the Inca conquest of Chachapoyas.
When the Spanish invaded, the Incas retreated to Vilcabamba. Thomson visits Vilcabamba and the White Rock - an especially visible outcrop, supposedly sacred with many carvings.
The Incas were a relatively small group centered around Cuzco. The larger Empire was comprised of other ethnic groups who had been subjugated by either treaty or war and were variously compliant with the continuation of that Empire. The Chachapoyans rebelled frequently and hated the Incas far more than they did the invading Spaniards.
Thomson is fascinated by the Inca road system. He notes that camelids are far more accomplished climbers than the horse and so can negotiate stairways. The Incas could therefore avoid the lengthy ‘zig-zag’ technique by which European roads climbed a mountain slope and instead simply use steep stairs to gain height, so reducing road-building to a quarter of the European length.
The author feels that archaeologists and explorers may have failed to appreciate the primacy that the Incas gave to mountain aesthetics,
Landslides can cause floods in Peru when they block a river until it overflows the temporary dam, creating a surge that caan destroy much of the lower valley. In one instance, a train driver returning to Cuzco noticed the river drying up, realized there had been a landslide upstream, stopped the train and got the passengers to climb to higher ground before the train was swept away.
An excellent book with a good blend of exploration, history and Peruvian culture.
Thomson returns in 1999, seeing much change In Peru. He visits Choquequirao, noting its similarities to Macho Pucchu. The stone arrangement suggests that whoever built Choquequirao presumably did so only after the Inca conquest of Chachapoyas.
When the Spanish invaded, the Incas retreated to Vilcabamba. Thomson visits Vilcabamba and the White Rock - an especially visible outcrop, supposedly sacred with many carvings.
The Incas were a relatively small group centered around Cuzco. The larger Empire was comprised of other ethnic groups who had been subjugated by either treaty or war and were variously compliant with the continuation of that Empire. The Chachapoyans rebelled frequently and hated the Incas far more than they did the invading Spaniards.
Thomson is fascinated by the Inca road system. He notes that camelids are far more accomplished climbers than the horse and so can negotiate stairways. The Incas could therefore avoid the lengthy ‘zig-zag’ technique by which European roads climbed a mountain slope and instead simply use steep stairs to gain height, so reducing road-building to a quarter of the European length.
The author feels that archaeologists and explorers may have failed to appreciate the primacy that the Incas gave to mountain aesthetics,
Landslides can cause floods in Peru when they block a river until it overflows the temporary dam, creating a surge that caan destroy much of the lower valley. In one instance, a train driver returning to Cuzco noticed the river drying up, realized there had been a landslide upstream, stopped the train and got the passengers to climb to higher ground before the train was swept away.
An excellent book with a good blend of exploration, history and Peruvian culture.
August 12, 2022
Hmm this was just ok.
I've read a few of Hugh Thomson's books now and really enjoyed Tequila Oil, The Green Road Into The Trees and One Man and a Mule: Across England with a Pack Mule.
This just didn't come up to scratch in terms of writing. It was funny in parts and interesting in parts but those parts weren't enough to add up to a whole appeal. Eventually the story felt repetitive and cyclical and reading felt like a drudgery.
Not to worry, off to my local charity bookshop with this one.
I've read a few of Hugh Thomson's books now and really enjoyed Tequila Oil, The Green Road Into The Trees and One Man and a Mule: Across England with a Pack Mule.
This just didn't come up to scratch in terms of writing. It was funny in parts and interesting in parts but those parts weren't enough to add up to a whole appeal. Eventually the story felt repetitive and cyclical and reading felt like a drudgery.
Not to worry, off to my local charity bookshop with this one.
December 29, 2024
After reading other reviews, I think I expected to find more Inca history than I did in this book. However, it’s still a mostly enjoyable read! I am not a huge fan of explorer-style books, as I am more interested in learning about what was discovered than hearing their stories of HOW it was discovered. Thomson has weird Spanish translations, too, although in most cases not technically wrong (I assume - since my Spanish is much more Mexican than Peruvian, maybe his translations are fine?). Apart from a few sections with little historical or cultural context, I generally enjoyed the read. I most definitely learned about the Incas, specifically during the time that the Spanish arrived and fought to conquer Peru, and I look forward to learning more and exploring the many sources cited here. Overall a well-researched book, not quite academic but closer to that standard than many adventure tales!
July 30, 2023
This book is a mix of Hugh Thompson talking about his explorataions through Peru and some of the neighboring regions (Bolivia and Equidor) intermixed with a history of the regions he is exploring. The history part I enjoyed. It told a broader story than just the story of the Conquest. Talking about Indigenous people that inhibited Peru before the Incas as well as some of the more modern momentous events there. It was the story of his exploration that kind of brought the book down for me as they just weren't as interesting as one might think such a thing would be. A lot of it was just talking about hacking through the jungle and being miserable. I didn't get much of a feel for what the places he was going were really like.
October 17, 2023
Not bad. I read it in tandem with John Harrison's Cloud Road, also reviewed by me. That book's a travel narrative along the Inca Road remnants, while Thomson provides a paired tale. First 2/3 back closer to the early 1980s, then returning to see the titular site as the climax of his excursions twenty years later. Heavier on archeology, although the pace keeps varied with plenty of "local color," reflections on the tourist vs traveler self-definitions of those along the Andean Gringo Trail, and considerations of the romanticism with which many in the West apply mistakenly to the stone remains and the Amazonian thickets, both of which continue to intrigue and baffle us.
November 7, 2019
This was a really interesting book. The author tells of his own travels through Inca territory following the old trails. He intersperses his own adventure with other explorers notes and findings, and the people he meets along the way. Complete with a great sense of humour, this book makes for an entertaining and educational read. If you like reading about the Incas or people’s travels this is a great read.
July 1, 2025
The first part of the book, in which the author travels to Peru and searches for the 'lost city' of Llactapata, is actually the least interesting, as it's a little dry and the action happens quickly, without much ceremony or reflection. However, the rest of the book is significantly more enjoyable, as it's more akin to a travelogue in which the author travels around Peru and Bolivia, meeting a motley cast of characters and having a series of interesting experiences.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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