Ancient Ruins and Modern Comforts in the Andes

Stone routes continue to shape movement across the Andes. Long before modern roads, these paths connected valleys, high plateaus, and ceremonial centers. Builders adapted them to steep slopes, unstable ground, and extreme weather. Today, hikers follow the same alignments, moving through landscapes shaped by geology and deliberate human planning. Walking these routes reveals how Andean…

A partly cloudy blue sky over Machu Picchu atop the Andes Mountains in Peru.