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Annual Construction of the Qeswachaka Inca Rope Bridge

The annual re-building of the Inca bridge in Huinchiri, called the Qeswachaka, is a tradition that has been celebrated for almost 700 years. The communities that live in these highlands gather for 4 days on the banks of the Apurimac River to demolish the old bridge and construct a new bridge. This is usually accompanied by copious amounts of Chicha drinking (corn beer), dancing and singing.

In an ever-modernising world, this is the one time of the year that these communities are able to gather to swap stories and catch up with local community news and inter-mingle. This annual meeting makes you realize that this is possibly the only way that these communities are able to survive and keep their traditions alive. The building of the Qeswachaka Inca Bridge seems to be more about the mixing of communities than the actual importance of the construction. This is evident when you arrive at the site and drive over the large metal bridge approximately 300 meters up river.

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It is obvious that the Inca Bridge is not necessary for crossing the wide river gorge. As we arrive, roll-call is well underway  and everyone is given a specific task for the day. We are met by the master bridge builder and he explains the proceedings.

The ladies gather on the slopes of the ravine with large bales of grass, where they chatter among themselves in Quechua whilst sprinkling water over the grass and batter away at the stems with rounded rocks. Young children run from lady to lady distributing more grass bundles while the older children are at the waters´ edge dunking the rolls of already made rope in the river to ensure more flexibility.

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Three shamans position themselves in the shade from where they hand out almost pure alcohol and handfuls of coca leaves and occasionally stoke a fire with dried llama dung. Two men have the task of walking up and down the steep slopes with a huge bin filled with chicha beer, which they distribute to the approximately 300 thirsty workers. The remainder of the men gather on opposite sides of the ravine where they have tied the thickly braided cables to existing Inca stone bases. The process of creating the bridge is amazing as it is constructed entirely from grass. Firstly the ladies weave two thin bundles of grass together to form a string approximately half an inch thick. They then weave these strings together to form thicker ropes.

The men then take these ropes and weave them together to form thick base cables roughly ten inches thick. Four of these cables are strung across the ravine, two for the walkway and two for the hand railings. Two groups of men are called at intervals to pull the cables as tight as possible from one end to the other.

While one group is sweating and tugging away at the cables, being driven by a man resembling a slave driver, the other group take a well deserved break and sit around drinking chicha and chewing coca leaves. It may be the combination of chicha, coca, sweet-smelling burning llama dung and the alcohol handed out the shamans, but by 10 o´clock in the morning everyone seems far more jovial than they were a few hours before.

By 1 o´clock most of the men are ready to find a shady spot and take a nap. We say our goodbyes and head off back to Cusco.

The following day woven grass mats will be tied down on the bridge platform and rope ballistrades will be put in place. This will be the last day of the Qeswachaka Bridge construction, until next year in April, when the current bridge will be cut down and dropped into the river, and a new one will be put in its place.

Author and Photographer: Robert Els - Escaped to Latin America