Early morning drive for about an hour to Urcos, a colorful Andean market, where traditional trading of goods takes place.  On the way we will visit the colonial church of Andahuaylillas with its renowned frescoes and the pre-Inca Wari site at Pikillacta.  After lunch we will continue o the road to Sicuani, visiting the site of Raqchi, an Inca-Wari site, with the highest temple built to honor Wiracocha.  From here we drive to Yanacocha and our campsite near Keswachaca. BL/D

Our goal is a site seldom visited by outsiders: the last authentic Inca suspension bridge, spanning the narrow inner gorge of the Apurimac. 

We should be able to visit the bridge site and see the construction under way, then have lunch before returning to the bridge to watch this marvel of native engineering take form. 

The suspension bridge, known in Quechua as a keshwachaca, is made of q´oya grass, a tough Andean bunchgrass and must be renewed every year. The rebuilding is a three-day community project performed each June. The bridge was first made known to the outside world by explorer/author Loren McIntyre (see McIntyre's fascinating article in the Dec. 1973 issue of National Geographic), and is believed to be the last Inka straw bridge that has been continuously rebuilt since Inca times. It spans the Apurimac where it passes through a narrow. We will be arriving on the final day of bridge construction and hope to see the renewed bridge actually go up. Those brave enough to trust a bridge of straw 60 feet above the swift Apurimac can walk across the bridge. 

We should be able to witness the laying of the floor and the stringing of the sides, which starts at each end and proceeds towards the middle and finishes with the laying of mats of brush.  Once the bridge is finished, it is dedicated by local officials, blessed by a shaman, and opened once again for crossing

The day ends with a folk festival celebrating the bridge. Late afternoon transport back to Cusco.  Overnight at hotel, dinner on your own.  B/L