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When
the Spaniards arrived in the central Andes of South America they met the
Incas and believed that everything was Inca, this has originated a confusion
that still nowadays goes on. Most people - even locals -, think that all
the ruins, archaeological sites and stone paved trails were built by the
Incas.
The truth is that for centuries
(actually, more than two millennium) before the Incas there were other
cultures that dominated different regions of the Andean high lands and
the Amazonian territories. It is said that there are thousands of kilometers
of pre-hispanic trails, mostly created during the Tiwanacu period or before.
Thjis complex web of trails was used for trading and communication. The
Incas took advantage of this road network, improved and rebuilt some sections,
and reorganize it accordingly to their own administrative system.
Unfortunately, a big part of this road network - meant for build for people
or Llamas - have been destroyed during colonial times (when the Spaniards
remove out the stones to allow their horses to use the trails) and nowadays
due to the mining industry.
But not all are bad news, a great part of this trails survived and are
almost intact and showing the original civil engineering work. Actually,
it is almost impossible not to step on them when hiking in the Andes.
In remote areas of the country, locals do still use these trails regularly
to transport their products almost all year around and these are the trails
we follow on our treks.
Who said technical mountaineering skills were needed to get to high altitude summits?. That is not true in the Andean western (volcanic) mountain range, one of the most remote regions of South America between the Atacama Desert and the Uyuni salt flats. Opposed to "Mountaineering Expeditions", "Trekking Peaks" do not require technical experience. Although summit-days may be long and strenuous, no glacier traversing, crevasse crossing or steep ice climbing is required.
In most of our Trekking Peaks expeditions, we ascend (mostly hike) the main volcanoes of the region, namely: Tunupa, Ollague, Caquella, Cañapa, Acotango, Tapaquilcha, Uturuncu, Llicancahur, Sairecabur, Putana, and many other minor cones. High peaks that were regularly climbed for religious reasons during pre-hispanic times.
Probably all these
names don’t mean much to you or maybe you have heard about some
of them, but the most important thing to know is that with proper acclimatization
they are feasible for most of the people. Some of these volcanoes even
have abandoned roads of old sulphur mines that can be hiked almost to
their summits in one-day journeys.
The mandatory acclimatization process is typically done in the neighbor
area while visiting National Parks, protected areas, geysers and salt
lakes, Indian villages, and trekking other "small" volcanoes.
Among the TOP
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