Keshwa Chaca is the old bridge, constructed since Inka times. The bridge of Keshwa Chaca crosses over the river Apurimac and connects the Vilcanota valley with hairpin curves. Every year the bridge is re-built by during a rebuilding festival. This is organized by the people of comunidad campesina living in Huinchiri.

Basic Structure

It is a suspension bridge over the valley of the upper Río Apurimac. This bridge is made of ropes which are hand woven grass. As the bridge is handmade and it has seen the weather of whole year,, so it is very risky to cross. For the purpose of transportation there is also another steel girder bridge nearby. Thus it is not essential that this rope bridge be rebuilt for any present-day transportation purposes. Still the Quechua/Machu Piccho people maintain to rebuild the bridge once a year, as ever. It is their tradition, and by doing this they admire their ancestors. They perform their festival at this bridge.

The Old Bridge

The land sliding has destroyed parts of the Inka road and the bridge is now very not easy to trace. It can be, now located over the Apurimac river near today’s bridge at Huinchiri. The bridge on the Inka highway between Cuzco and Lima, crossing the Apurimac near the base of awesome canyons is the most famed of all the Inka bridges. It is several hundreds of meters down near the Apurimac river. The bridge was used by the Inka armies and the attacking Spanish Conquistadors too. After the take-over this bridge was used for about 450 years and rebuilt once or twice per year. Later another wire rope suspension bridge was built at a different location. With the passage of time it was forgotten by in the 1890s.

Discovery of Old Bridge

This bridge was later approached by Victor Von Hagen in the beginning of 1950s. It was difficult to reach the bridge from the Cuzco side because the landslides have destroyed major parts of the Inka road on that side. Still it can be reached from the southwest side (Lima side) of the Río Apurimac valley. But it still requires a local guide to locate it.                                                     There are many small tunnels one after the other on the trail of old Inka road.  These tunnels are so small that they look like window and skylights. There is no other road near these tunnels so it is believed to be built by the Inkas. But Inka did not have horses and mules so these might not used by them. There are holes in the tunnel walls made by drill for enlarging the tunnel which was probably done after Inkas during the colonial times for the passage. Landslides have destroyed many parts of Inka road. But its remains can be seen from the track just below the lower end of the tunnel. A t the same point it is crossed by bridge and after that point it is destroyed by landslides. It is very difficult to climb the cliff to reach to the road. Due to landslides, while crossing, there are chances to fall into the river. It is only possible to reach there by holding the canyon walls.

Going ahead of the slide there is narrow inner ravine called pongo. It is the place of old bridge for hundreds of years. From here the old road continues. At the other edge of bridge (the Cuzco side) the bridge is mounted a place called estribo by the Spaniards.  It is natural rock projection. If we look from the Lima wall edge of the bridge we can look straight across to the remains of the Cuzco edge of bridge. Now it seems like the estribo is just a few loose grey rocks at the other edge of bridgehead.

Tourist Attraction

It is very interesting to visit the festival. Many adventure groups come to visit the festival. Most of the groups are local. A local adventure group named Rutahsa Adventures group come here each year. They fetch many things for the village children every time when they come. These things include school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and children’s clothing as a “mini-aid program”. All these things are divided into the children of four communities who participated in the construction process.

The Festival

At the time of rebuilding the bridge a huge festival is held. It is arranged by the people living in Huinchiri. There are the four groups of official of the Huinchiri who are responsible for rebuilding the bridge. The main festival is held for three days.

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At 303 Genesee Street in Utica, NY stands the magnificent public library building. In the middle of bustling New York city traffic, this Utica Public Library provide a sweet little escape. It is our place to visit in 2009. The building just oozes history and its gorgeous architecture is second to none. It is over 100 year old. If maintained well enough, I am sure Utica Public Library will last us another hundred years.

Directions to Utica Public Library

For Directions to Utica Public Library, New york Click here

Timings and What to Expect

Utica Public Library is a Public library.This library is the central facility associated with the the library system that serves Utica, NY. The collection of the library contains 164063 volumes. The library circulates 220163 items per year. The library serves a population of 60651 residents .

According to Official Website of Library Following are its opening hours:

Monday and Tuesday: 8:30am-8:00pm
Wednesday – Friday: 8:30am-5:30pm
Saturday: 8:30am-5:00pm

Library had 20 public access computer systems with highspeed broadband Internet connection. printing facility is also available. Also there is a special children section. More Here

A Tour of Utica Public Library

History of Utica Public Library

The Utica public Library was built in the first decade of the 1900’s, and was last renovated in 1991. The property was given to the city by two of Utica’s most famous philanthropists, Thomas R. Proctor and Frederick T. Proctor. They were brothers who had married sisters from another wealthy Utica family. The home of Thomas Proctor and Maria Williams is across the street– it’s a living museum and we have visited it several times. It’s called Fountain Elms.

More Picture of  Utica Library here.

Technorati Tags: travel,places to visit,new york,2009

Internet is a strange place… torrent and p2p world is even stranger. while searching for UFO on P2P, I came across this document from US Govt.’s 1954 – Operation Majestic Team. Till now all information about UFO’s came from civilian sources. This document that was classified at that time reveals that US Govt. did know that UFO exist & thus they created a proper manual with standard operating procedures for handling extra terrestrial objects and life forms. Operation Majestic team existed and the team members were called Majic Eyes.

This team supposedly responded to all UFO sightings & took possession of all materials and evidence. They interviewed the people involved and pretty much responsible of cleaning up the whole scene. The manual talks about in great length about how to pack and unpack materials found on site.

This sounds like “Men in Black” story but the unclassified documents have revealed that there is much more to this whole UFO scene than US Govt. has actually told us. This also suggest that contrary to what most Scientist want us to think. Extra Terrestrial Objects and Life forms do exist and we are not alone in this Universe.

Click here to download the US Govt.’s Official Manual to handle UFO’s

Over the past third of a century, the US Govt’s conduct with regard to UFOs has been characterized as nonfeasance, misfeasance and malfeasance. Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, a public interest group, was formed to foster a review of the reality and significance of UFOs and government’s policies and practices regarding them.

Since 1981, CAUS called upon the Federal Govt. to

1. Admit that the public has been misled about the nature of UFOs
2. Acknowledge that UFOs exist
3. Reverse its position that further scientific study of UFO reports is unwarranted.

CAUS seeks the immediate declassification and public dissemination of all official UFO Documentation.

In 1981 , PETER A. GERSTEN , a New York Attorney was hired by CAUS(Citizen Against UFO Secrecy). Peter filled a class action suit against US Govt. and department of defense as well as Dept. of homeland security.  he continued his legal efforts for nearly 3 years. He did manage to get 3 – 4 documents de-classified.

Peter still awaits a US Court decision on release of over 200 additional CIA Documents relating to UFO.

Click here to Download Clippings of Peter’s Article published in 1981

I do not claim accuracy of any of these documents as I just found them accidentally over a P2P network. But I do think that people have a right to know and form their own opinion. By sharing these documents I am just helping out the cause of free information for every one.

Even if it is just an hoax, still I hope this post is a great conversation starter especially during a lengthy commute or a boring day at office.