Moray and Salinas de Maras

Cusco has lot of ruins related to Inca Empire. Being in the Andes mountains, there are also many spots that showcases the beauty of this mighty mountain range but Moray and Maras are quite unique though they are dated to the Inka days.

Travel to Moray

I had booked a day tour to these places. The tour operator promptly picked me at the hotel and then we proceeded on the bus to Moray. On the way, the bus stopped at Chinchero. It is a small town with prominent view of the snowcapped peak of Salcantay. Chinchero is also renowned for Peruvian weaving where local women in their traditional dress demonstrated the weaving process. A nice break to the journey to Moray.

We were a kilometre away from Moray and the the bus had a flat tyre. It was a tough task for the driver to change the tyre. At 3,500 meters with hot sun, he had a difficult job. Fellow passengers also helped him in the process. It took about 45 minutes to change the tyre. The gravel road might be the reason for flat tyre.

Moray

Moray was an agricultural laboratory for Incas. The terraced circular depressions were used to grow the tropical crops. How tropical crops could be grown in Andes region? That is where the engineering marvel of Incas come into picture. The depth, orientation to the sun and the wind means that there is a temperature difference of around 15C between top and bottom!!

There are three such depressions in the area. Visitors are allowed to walk in a designated path. It is a huge complex and requires some time to really understand and appreciate this beautiful piece of engineering.

The Cusco tourist ticket covers the Moray archeological site.

Maras salt flats (Salinas de Maras)

We started from Moray towards the salt plains. As we descended into the valley, the salt plains appeared. A local stream that originates from a spring has salty water and the salt is obtained by evaporating it. There are about 4,000 salt ponds where the water flows through some intricate system. The maximum depth of the pond is 30 cm.

The salt has been generated from pre Inca times. Today, a co-operative society maintains the salt ponds. One needs to become member of the community to own the salt pond.

Tourists were allowed to walk in the salt ponds earlier but due to contamination concerns people are only allowed to view it from the platform.

Final words

Moray and Salinas de Maras are really great places to see near Cusco. They are about 1.5 hours from Cusco and can be combined together. It is difficult to reach these places in public transportation. The best option is to join the tours or take taxi (which works out if there are 3-4 people).