Inca Road System
Another thing that was very important to the Inca was their roads. Since they lived in the mountains it was very hard for the Inca to get around. To deal with this problem the Inca built roads. A lot of roads. Although we do not exactly know how much terrain they covered, it is estimated that there are 40,000 kilometers of Inca roads in the Andes. Most roads were paved and made of stone but the some were simply dirt roads that were still successful roads however. Every 20 kilometers or so there was a mini village called a tampu so the Inca could take a break, go to the bathroom, or stay overnight in a lodge. The roads were essential to the Inca postal service as well. A man would run along the road till he got to the station of the next postman who would then carry on to the next postman etc. There were certain places were the Inca built walls to keep people from falling off the road since it was so steep. The main reason, however, that the roads were so important was because the Inca never invented the wheel. The Inca's only means of transportation were llamas which don't like to be ridden. The Incan roads were so great that some are still in use today. This is why the Incas roads were so important.