Queshuachaca

Queshuachaca (from Cuzco Quechua q’iswa chaka 'straw-rope bridge', ) is the last remaining Inca rope bridge, consisting of grass ropes that span the Apurímac River near Huinchiri, in Quehue District, Canas Province, Peru.

Even though there is a modern bridge nearby, the residents of the region keep the ancient tradition and skills alive by renewing the bridge annually, during the second week of June. Several family groups from the communities of Chaupibanda, Choccayhua, Huinchiri and Collana Quehue, have each prepared a number of grass-ropes to be formed into cables at the site, others prepare mats for decking, and the reconstruction is a communal effort. In ancient times the effort would have been a form of tax (Mit'a), with participants expected to perform the rebuilding; nowadays the builders have indicated that effort is performed to honor their ancestors and the Pachamama (Earth Mother).