Checacupe Bridges

At Checacupe the Pitumayo is crossed three times within a few dozen metres, and the three crossings are five hundred years apart. A q'eswachaka - an Inca-style suspension bridge of braided ichu grass - has been rebuilt on the original abutments and can be walked across; beside it stands a colonial stone arch bridge from the seventeenth century, still intact; and above both runs the modern road bridge carrying the Cusco to Puno traffic. Seeing the three together makes the point about engineering continuity better than any museum display. The grass bridge needs replacing regularly, and the village renews it in a communal effort of the same kind that maintains the better-known Q'eswachaka at Huinchiri. Checacupe also has a colonial church with a painted interior and a carved altarpiece, and the village is a short detour from the main road.

What you actually see

• The rope bridge - Inca-style braided grass, rebuilt and walkable.
• The colonial arch - a seventeenth-century stone bridge still standing beside it.
• The modern crossing - the road bridge above both.
• The church - a painted colonial interior in the village.

When to go

April to October. Thirty to sixty minutes as a stop on the Cusco to Puno road. The rope bridge is renewed periodically and may be closed during works.

Honest expectations

The grass bridge sways and has open sides - it unsettles some people and small children need holding. It is a reconstruction, not an original. Facilities in the village are basic. Most Puno buses do not stop here.

Nearby

Raqchi is south towards Sicuani; Combapata and the Q'eswachaka road are nearby.