Markham travelled by a roundabout route, proceeding first to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then overland to Boston and New York, before taking a steamer to Panama. After crossing the isthmus of Panama, he sailed for Callao, finally arriving there on 16 October. He set out for the Peruvian interior on 7 December 1852, heading across the Andes towards his goal, the ancient Inca city of Cuzco. On the way, Markham paused for nearly a month in the town of Ayacucho, to study the local culture and increase his knowledge of the Quechua people. He then travelled on towards Cuzco, and after crossing a swinging bridge—the Apurimac Bridge—suspended above the raging Apurímac River, he and his party passed through fertile valleys which brought them finally to the city of Cuzco, on 20 March 1853.