Inca Land

In 1911, a young historian set out on a quest that would be regarded as one of the most important expeditions in the history of the National Geographic Society. With breathless enthusiasm and an unquenchable thirst for adventure, Hiram Bingham followed rumor after rumor in search of a lost city, through unspoiled mountain villages and the treacherous Peruvian highlands. Nothing could have prepared him for the moment when, after crossing a rope bridge suspended 2,000 feet above a raging river and climbing a harrowing precipice, he came upon stone-faced terraces climbing up a hillside, leading to a plaza with two temples. ''The sight held me spellbound,'' declared Bingham at the sight of the once great city. He had found Machu Picchu.