Moray Terraces and Maras Salt Mines Day Trip

You will be picked up from your hotel at the specific set time and head to the town of Maras. Located on the West of Cusco at 3,300 meters above sea lever, this place is located close to the mountain range of Urubamba and the summits of Veronica (5,682 meters) and Chicon (5,530 m.s.n.m). Learn about its occupation which began when the Incas left Qosqo and settled in this small town. You'll also see the church which has very traditional religious architecture with the interior of the church containing linen cloths from the Cusqueña School.

You'll then head to see the Moray terraces. About 7 kilometers southwest of Maras; this is a unique archaeological site. It has gigantic natural holes in the surface of the land which were used to construct agricultural terraces or platforms to create channels for irrigation. Learn about the use of these terraces by the Inca community and how it helped them with agriculture.

Finally, you'll see the salt mines, located northwest of the town of Maras. These are formed by about 3,000 small wells with an area average of about 5 square meters. During the time of drought, Incas would fill these with salt water every 3 days which would evaporate and the salt contained would gradually solidify. This salt would then be granulated and packed in bags for shipment to the markets of the region.

After learning a great deal of history of two important places of the Inca culture, you will return to Cusco at approximately 3:30pm.