Maras and Moray in Cusco city

Maras: mine of salt

Towards the northwest of this town are “the Salineras de Maras” which are well known. You can get there by foot on a bridle path, or you can also get there by car on a dirt road. These salt mines are also known as “salt mines”. They form about 3000 small wells with an approximate area of about 5 m² each. In times of drought these are filled with salt water that comes from a natural spring that is located above the wells. When the water evaporates, the salt crystallizes. When the salt reaches about 10 cm in height from the floor it is removed and then bagged in cloth sacks

to be sent to the markets of the region; today that salt is being iodized by state standards. This salt, in addition to sodium chloride, has other minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and copper.

Moray: Experimental center

The archaeological remains are located 7 kilometers from Maras, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, 38 km northwest of Cuzco. It is possible to get to Moray through the road that starts from the town or directly from a deviation from the main road. Moray is Quechua word and names a sector occupied by the peasant communities of Misminay and Kaccllarakay.

It was possibly an Inca agricultural research center where crop experiments were carried out at different heights, the layout of its platforms produces a gradient of micro climates having the center of the circular terraces with centric higher temperature and gradually decreasing towards the outside at lower temperatures, thus being able to simulate up to 20 different types of micro climates. It is believed that Moray could have served as a model for the calculation of agricultural production not only from the Urubamba Valley, but also from different parts of the Tahuantinsuyo.

After breakfast, our guide will pass by the hotel in Cusco or Sacred Valley at 09:30 am to start this new experience, our first stop will be in the town of Chinchero, we will visit a local house to appreciate the tissue demonstration, will appreciate the Chinchero woman keep intact the ancestral customs, continue the excursion to the mine of Maras, where you will appreciate the wells of salt collection, we will continue to the agricultural experimental center of Moray, in the Inca era was a very important center where the plants acclimatized in a system of circular terraces. At the end of the excursion, our guide will leave you at your hotel in the Sacred Valley or in the city of Cusco.

• Tourist vehicle. Guia biligue.
• Income to Maras.
• Income to Moray (if you have BTG to take).
• Picnic.
• Mineral water and snacks.

Not included:

• Meals not described in the program.
• Additional drinks.

Suggestions:

• Camera.
• sunblock
• Sun cap.
• Clothes for the cold.
• Money small denomination.