Meet the chaskis, the Andes' original messaging app.

Young, fast, and on call 24/7

Chaskis were short-distance relay runners who carried official messages and small parcels for the Inca state. They were young men picked for their running skills, assigned through the mit'a labor-tax system, and trained from an early age. The job mattered enough that chaskis were let off other mit'a duties like farming or mining.¹

The relay: hand it on, every 10–15 km

Each runner covered a short leg of road to a chaskiwasi ("chaski house"), a small station where the next runner waited. Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian puts these stations about 10–15 km apart.^1,2 Along the road there were also bigger tambos, way stations where travelers on state business could rest and resupply.³

The original push notification: a conch shell

A chaski's kit was light: a small bag, maybe a quipu, and a shell trumpet (the pututu). As he got near the next station he blew the trumpet so the next runner was ready to go. Then the two ran side by side while the message and any goods were handed over.¹

How fast was "fast"?

Historians' estimates vary, so take these as ballpark numbers. Smithsonian educators estimate the relay covered about 240 km (150 miles) a day, and could carry a message the roughly 2,000 km between Quito and Cusco in about a week.¹ The Spanish who arrived in the 1530s couldn't match that with horses on those roads.

Messages: memorized words + knotted cords

The Inca had no writing system as we know it, so spoken messages were memorized and repeated word for word to the next runner. Runners could also carry quipus (khipus), the knotted-cord records that held numbers and data.^1,2

The Qhapaq Ñan: a road through six countries

Qhapaq Ñan means roughly "the Royal Road" or "the Way of the Lord", and it was reserved for state business.² UNESCO describes it as a network of more than 30,000 km, built by the Incas over several centuries, partly on top of older roads. It runs from the Andes peaks (over 6,000 m) to the coast, through hot rainforests, fertile valleys and deserts.³ Smithsonian puts the whole network at about 40,000 km.² The two numbers differ because they count different things, so we say 30,000–40,000 km.

Today the road crosses Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. In 2014 those six countries got it listed together as a single UNESCO World Heritage Site.³ All of it was built without wheeled carts, iron tools or large draft animals.² Llamas carried cargo, and people did the rest on foot.

Bridges made of grass

To cross gorges, the Inca wove suspension bridges out of plant fiber. One is still in use: Q'eswachaka, over the Apurímac River in Cusco region. Every year the Quechua communities of Huinchiri, Chaupibanda, Choccayhua and Ccollana Quehue rebuild it in about three days. They twist straw into thin cords, braid those into six big cables, and tie the cables to ancient stone bases.⁴ UNESCO added this tradition to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.⁴ The rebuild usually happens in the second week of June.⁵

Data storage, Inca style 🪢

A quipu (khipu) is a main cord with many colored strings hanging from it, and the knots record information. Many quipus used a base-10 system, where the type and position of a knot showed its value.⁶ Specialists called khipukamayuq used them to keep census counts, track goods and people moving through the empire, and record other official information.^2,6 Researchers are still working out whether some quipus also recorded stories or words.⁶

The knotted cords in our logo are a little quipu, a nod to the original data plan. 🧶

Stuff to tell your tour group

ChronicleFresh fish, delivered by relay. The Spanish Jesuit chronicler Bernabé Cobo (1600s) wrote that when the Inca ruler in Cusco wanted fresh fish from the sea, runners brought it "very fresh in less than two days", even though Cusco is "over seventy leagues" from the coast.⁷ Smithsonian educators also mention chaskis carrying fresh fish and mullu (spiny oyster shell) for royalty.¹ That's a colonial-era account, so take the exact timing with a pinch of sea salt.

No wheels, no horses. The whole road system was built and used without wheeled carts or large work animals like horses.² Everything moved on foot, or on a llama.

A VIP-only road. The Qhapaq Ñan was for state business: armies, officials, goods and chaskis. It wasn't a public highway.²

Bridge-building is a family affair. Q'eswachaka's weaving skills are passed down within families, and every household brings its own share of cord.^4,5

Walk where the chaskis ran

Heads up: signal on remote trails is patchy on every network. Do it the chaski way and download your offline maps before you set off.