Journey on the Estrada Real: Encounters in the Mountains of Brazil

Brazil's Estrada Real — The Royal Road — was constructed in 1697 to allow the Portuguese to bring the gold and diamonds down from the hills of Minas Gerais. It stretched over 800 miles from the ports at Rio de Janeiro and Paraty to the mines at Diamantina.

The road is still there, winding through the mountains of Minas Gerais, passing through villages and towns once opulent, now deteriorating but still remaining very much in the 19th century.

Glenn Alan Cheney walked up the road for two month...