Inca Road System History and Information

This road covered Colombia, western Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, reaching Chile and northern Argentina.

The roads varied in quality and size, and the Incas had different needs. The expansion of their empire was made possible by the llamas, who could carry their merchandise long distances like beasts of burden.

The lama was an animal that satisfied all kinds of purposes. Every time the Spaniards used these tiresome roads in the mountains, they risked killing themselves. The royal roads were reserved for royal travelers.

Many chroniclers have testified to the beauty of these roads. “The explorer Victor Von Hagen traveled to explore the Qhapaq Ñan in 1952; it was an expedition narrated very interestingly in his book, “Road to the Sun: In Search of the Inca’s Royal Roads.” He writes, “A message Sent with the official corridor (Chasqui) from Quito to Cusco could cover 1230 miles in five days. The same message could be sent to the furthest point of Lake Titicaca in three days “and famously,” and in his palace in Cusco, the Inca could dine on fresh fish from the coast, 200 miles above the highest Andes, in only two days. “Puno – Titicaca Lake

One thousand two hundred thirty miles in five days! “Von Hagen and his team discovered a wide road between Jauja and Bonbon and a series of well-preserved stations for the chasquis (Okla) that allowed them to conduct investigations with the local corridors. They proved it could cover the distance between Cusco and Quito in five days!

The Inca Trail was a pilgrimage route to Machu Picchu used by the Inca (or Emperor) in the 15th century. Between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, there is a diversity of places where one can notice the variety of architectural resources that give rationality, importance, and mysticism to the Camino Real. It had no commercial use.