I like people who do crazy things, and I like adventures that start in bars. Hugh Thomson and his “The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland,” cover both of these concepts quite nicely. “Hey, we heard there was a ruin discovered decades ago but lost again due to poor record keeping.” “We should go find it.” “Are you an explorer?” “No, I’m a bartender but what difference does that make.”
The real hero here is not Thomson and his gang of fellow explorers or those that came before them.
The hero here is the history, the story, the cultures past and present, and the Andes themselves. For anyone who has ventured to these parts, well, you know precisely what I’m talking about. The history of the Andes and the history of the Inca are so deep, so layered and so imposing. Rough would be how I would describe life in these places. High altitude and high drama but released in a slow burn of coca leaves and subsistence living. The Andes do not give up their secrets easily. Get it, read it.