Full Day Tour to Maras Salt Mines and Moray

CHINCHERO

The colonial town Chinchero was built on top of an Inca town, surrounded by multicoloured fields whilst it is close to a lagoon of the same name that provides water to nearby agricultural areas. We will pass the town and then directly head to our main destination, the circles of Moray. During our journey we will enjoy the great views of the cordillera Vilcanota snow carpets, where the native people dedicate their lifes to agriculture.

MORAY

A few minutes drive from Chinchero, we will go off road reaching the main Inca agriculture laboratory, the circles of Moray. The stone construcion consists of descending circles in a volcano crater, uniformly constructed 150 meters deep, which were used to grow different crops even in the ecosystem of the Andes.

This place has an amazing irrigation system, also being constructed with a filtration system to avoid flows and damage to crops. Also, many ceremonies to the earth (Pacha Mama) took place in the deepest circle. Therefore, this multifunctional location serves as a place for both agricultural and spiritual purposes.

MARAS/ SALINERAS (Salt mines)

A fast 20 minutes ride from Moray we arrive to a little valley where the Salineras of Maras (Maras Salt mines) are located, one of the biggest mysteries of nature. From the depths of the mountain sprouts a spring of extremely salty water. Since the Incas ruled these lands, they used these salt mines and made them up from about 3000 small wells with an average size of about 4 ms² and 10 cm depth. They are exploited ever since until nowadays, producing salt by natural evaporation, a simple natural process: the salty water fills up the wells, allowing the sun to hit and to evaporate the water while the remaining substance left is pure natural salt.