A growing network of paved roads, a new cable car to ancient ruins and a rising number of fine restaurants and hotels have made the northern city of Chachapoyas one of Peru’s fastest growing destinations. Yet its main attraction, the hilltop citadel of Kuélap, still only receives a fraction of the tourists who go to Machu Pichu, which has become so congested that authorities introduced timed entries in 2019.

The Inca may be Peru’s most iconic civilization, but the enigmatic Chachapoya ‘cloud warriors’ lived a similarly complex existence in the modern-day region of Amazonas with intricate walled settlements and lavish burial chambers for their mummified dead. Here’s a look at how you can help combat overcrowding at the Inca sites near Cusco by instead delving into this lesser-known civilization of the north… (continue reading at Lonely Planet)