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In every atlas there is a country missing from the maps of South America: the Andean nation. For five months John Harrison journeys through this secret country, walking alone into remote villages where he is the first gringo the inhabitants have ever seen, and where life continues as if Columbus had never sailed. He lives at over 10,000 feet for most of the trip, following the great road of the Incas: the Camino Real, or Royal Road. Hand built over 500 years ago, it crosses the most difficult and dangerous mountains in all the Americas, diving into sweltering canyons and soaring up into the snows. 1500 miles, half of it on foot, take him from the Equator to Cuzco and the most magical city of all: Machu Picchu. He is attacked, gets lost and is trapped by floods, but when he went home he discovered he had lost what he cared for most.

‘Slowly in my life, I have learned that I was born to be a wanderer. It has simply taken time to lose the fear, and do it.’ From Cloud Road

John Harrison is a writer and adventurer whose last travel book Where the Earth Ends was a Sunday Times Book of the Week and was praised by Jan Morris and many others. Articles by John have twice won the Alexander Cordell national travel-writing competition. He spends much of the year driving small boats in Polar regions and guiding and lecturing on small expedition vessels. His short stories are widely published and he reviews for a variety of publications as well as critiquing manuscripts for Britain’s premier literary advice agency: TLC.

He is also an accomplished draughtsman and artist - see the c urrent projects page.

CLOUD ROAD WINS WALES BOOK OF THE YEAR!

I don’t look half as happy as I felt when I collected the first prize, a trophy and £10,000 last night in a rather glamorous ceremony at Cardiff. I had dipped into the books of the other two finalists, and they were scarily good. My old mate Ned Thomas won the Welsh language prize. Special tribute to Celia for taking on a semi-employed Polar boat driver and lecturer who claimed to be a writer but was never at home to do any.

The next one, Forgotten Footprints, about Antarctica, is out May 2011.