Coca Museum
Small private collection tracing the coca leaf from Andean ritual object to relay-runner fuel to modern controversy.
Location
About this audio guide
The Coca Museum in Cusco opens on a chasqui, one of the Inca empire's relay runners, sprinting downhill along the Qhapaq Ñan with a wad of chewed coca in his cheek. It follows the chaskiwasi relay stations spaced along the royal road, the strict rules for passing a message without ever slowing down, and the harsh penalty for getting it wrong. Inside, small woven chuspa bags once used to carry coca sit alongside older Paracas-era ceramics showing chewers with one cheek swollen just like a runner's. Look closely at those faces before moving on to the road itself.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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