Cordillera Blanca in the Andes, Ancash region, Peru

The Andes mountains are incredibly stunning, and if you go past where the average tourist goes, your concept of "a mountain" will never be the same.

So rural that you actually get a glimpse of how vast our galaxy really is.

Laguna Querococha at over 14,000 ft.

Pass through the tunnel to the "jungle side" of the mountains and you are greeted by evidence of Spanish colonialism at its best.

Not only can Teofilia pack a burro like this, she can also hike the 12,500 ft high mountainside while knitting.

Alpaca wool for knitting anyone?

And who hikes up to those fields to farm?

Huantsan peak, one of the sacred mountains.

Pilgrimages to the top of another sacred mountain still happen every year... It was the slowest 6 mile hike of my life!

Drying out choclo.... mmmmmmm

Political propaganda in the rural areas of Ancash = paint an abandoned building.

The Cordillera Blanca at its best!