A Side Trip to Maras
For anyone using Cusco as a home base for their Peruvian adventure, there is no shortage of day tours to pick from. Just stroll around central Cusco, visitors can quickly familiarize themselves with all the top attractions in this part of Peru. Besides Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain, two of the most intriguing sights are the archaeological site of Moray and the Salt Mines of Maras. As it happened, both sites are located in the town of Maras. Fortunately, Maras is conveniently located along the main road connecting Cusco and the Sacred Valley. A visit to both places was a no-brainer for us.
The beautiful high plateau of Maras.
Maras is located on a plateau south of the Sacred Valley. As we got further from Cusco, the scenery became more and more dramatic. Right after the town of Chincero, the level of urban development quickly tapered off. We were greeted with unspoiled scenery. The contrast between the high meadow and snow-capped peaks was sublime. The beauty of the Peruvian highland was spectacular and somewhat unexpected. It reminded me of pictures of Chilean Patagonia online. I almost had to pinch myself to believe it was real.
Interestingly, the national government started building a new international airport in this area. A new Chicero International Airport is meant to replace the outdated Cusco Airport and a major international gateway for Peru. The construction faced widespread opposition due to the ecological and cultural impact on the surrounding community. Both UNESCO and the World Monument Fund appealed to national leaders to halt the construction. Many worry that the new airport may inadvertently destroy the landscape that draws in tourists in the first place.
Moray Archaeological Site
Since we were staying in the village of Yucay on the valley floor, it was a thirty-minute drive to Maras. Our first stop is Moray, one of the most unique Inca sites. Despite Moray’s popularity, we had a difficult time finding our way. An unexpected road closure on the main road led us to detours via unmarked backroads. It ended up taking us an extra thirty minutes to get there. Judging from all the other cars in the parking lots, it appeared that most tourists traveled by either private taxis or tour buses. Self-driving is not as popular as we imagined.
Archaeology aside, the scenery here was out of this world.
The ticket booth of Moray.
The avocado-shaped Moray is absolutely adorable.
One of the best things for anyone visiting Cusco is to pick up a Cusco Tourist Ticket (Boleto Turistica del Cusco). For 130 PEN, the ticket provides admission to sixteen of the region’s most popular tourist sites in a ten-day period. Interestingly, most of these sites do not offer a la carte admission. Visitors would have to decide which subset of these sites to visit. For anyone doing a self-driving tour, picking up a full ticket made a lot of sense. Because the ticket includes places like Pisac and Sacsayhuaman, it also serves as a handy travel guide.
Before Moray, we had already visited two other Inca ruins covered in this ticket: Chincero and Ollantaytambo. Both have a series of agricultural terraces tumbling down the side of a hill into the valley. On the other hand, Moray is situated on top of a geographic depression and bears no military significance. The avocado-shaped geometry of these terraces seems too modern to be Inca. At first glance, Moray seems like an Inca amphitheater or a religious site. Could this be a portal into the underworld? Some even speculate it could be an astronomical center.
The agricultural terraces of Moray.
According to archeologists, Moray was built about 800 to 600 years ago. The site was “rediscovered” through a 1932 aerial survey; the geometric clarity was visible even with overgrown vegetation. And just like Machu Picchu, Moray has always been known to local farming families. Because the Incas had no written language, archaeologists had to postulate the original purpose of Moray through the excavated artifacts. While archaeologists don’t believe the ruin was religious in nature, many conclude that the land depression was a meteor crater. It was likely the Inca selected the site because of its unique geography.
The agricultural terraces of Moray.
These stone steps are our favorite features of any Inca site.
Like other Inca sites, Moray has a complex irrigation system that channeled water from a reservoir uphill. An anthropologist in 1975 postulated that Moray may have been an experimental agriculture field during the Inca times. Aside from varieties of plant matter retrieved on-site, the researcher noticed a dramatic temperature difference from the top to the bottom. It is said that the variation could be as much as 27 degrees Fahrenheit. This dramatic temperature difference resulted in different microclimate. The circular shape also meant the Incas could calibrate varying degrees of sun exposure.
These unusual climatic conditions allowed the Incas to study and experiment with how different crops thrived in specific conditions. I learned from my Inca Trail trek that the Incas inhabited wide-ranging climate zones of the Andes to maximize economic output; it only makes sense for them to adjust their cultivation technique by figuring out which crop performs the best at specific temperatures and sun exposure. The crops they found on site include potatoes, quinoa, kiwicha, pumpkin, and coca leaf. For all we know, Moray may have made the Inca the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere.
The golden light made it a perfect photography opportunity.
At more than 11,500 feet, the high plateau of Moray is a windswept environment that is not all hospitable to agriculture. From the moment we descended to the terraced fields, we could immediately feel the difference in both temperature and humidity. Brian forgot to bring his jacket for the day, so he was happy to find refuge in the warmth and tranquility of Moray. The archaeology park comprises three terrace fields: Moray, Simamuyu, and Intiwatanamuyu. While avocado-shaped Moray is the most interesting, the other two are perfect circles and worth a peek.
Because so much of the site was roped off from visitors, our visit to Moray was relatively brief and somewhat uneventful. It took us about half an hour to stroll through the marked trail. While the visit was short, I would consider the Moray a must for anyone visiting the Sacred Valley. My only advice was to arrive at Moray in the middle of the day. Because of the topographic depression, half of the site was already in shadow by our visit at four o’clock. The worst thing about visiting Peru was how short the sightseeing days are. I recommend getting out early and making the most of the limited daylight.
An observation pavilion above Moray.
Before leaving Moray, you would notice a modest single-story building by the site. This conspicuous structure is one of the most famous restaurants in this part of Peru: MIL - Food Lab and Interpretation Center. This restaurant is a relatively recent venture by Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez Véliz. It was opened in 2018 here as a tribute to Andes’s “ancestral” cuisines. All the ingredients are hyper-local, and the restaurant embraces the limitation of high-altitude ingredients and cooking techniques. Coincidentally, his flagship restaurant in Lima, Central Restaurant, earned the No. 1 spot on the “World’s 50 Best Restaurant” ranking just a few weeks before our trip. That meant a reservation is nearly impossible in the foreseeable future. By extension, I also assumed that their daily lunch services at MIL were booked out months ahead.
This anonymous structure is actually home to the most prestigious restaurant in this part of Peru.
So you can imagine my surprise when I found out MIL had a table for two available the next day! I asked Brian whether he might be interested in going to one of the best restaurants in the world. Given that we were in the middle of nowhere in Peru, it seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up. But we quickly realized that a meal at MIL costs $290 for each person, not including drinks, taxes, and tips. So expect to spend upward of $450 USD per person for a meal. But setting aside the cost of the meal, my main “issue” with dining here was that MIL only offers lunch service, which runs between noon and 2:30 p.m. Given my past experiences with the chef’s menu, I am sure the whole food theater would easily be a two or three-hour affair. Together with transportation there and back, a meal here could easily take up half of a day. In hindsight, we would have tried it had we had a few more days in the Sacred Valley. As much as I would love to try their culinary inventions, I wouldn’t trade it with visiting a few more Inca sites.
Salt Mines of Maras
Since it was already five o’clock by the time we left Moray, we had to return to the area the next to visit the Maras’s other claim of fame: the Salt Mines of Maras (Salineras of Maras). As much as we are all in awe of all the Inca ruins, a certain level of travel fatigue is almost inevitable. When we saw the pictures of crystalline white terraces, we were intrigued. Over the past few years, Brain and I visited salt fields in Malta and Taiwan. Considering that salt was one of the most highly prized commodities until recent times, I personally found these ancient salt mines endlessly fascinating.
A beautiful art installation at Mountain View Experience.
Like our visit to Moray yesterday, the road to the salt mines was not particularly well-marked. The last twenty minutes of the drive was on an unpaved road. A convoy of minibusses and tourist taxis reassured us that we were on the right track. Once again, we were accompanied by the gorgeous view of the high plateau and mountain peaks. Even though this stretch of the road was rough, there were quite a few high-end boutique accommodations. The one place that intrigued us the most is Mountain View Experience, a hipster resort with A-frame huts. I even spotted a few influencers taking selfies with llamas in private hot tubs.
After fifteen minutes, we arrived at a checkpoint. I admit that I thought this might be a roadside “shake-down.” It turns out to be the official ticket booth for the salt mines. At 10 PEN a person, I think it was pretty reasonable by American standards. And speaking of the admission price, one of the unique things about this salt mine is the system of collective ownership called “ayni”. It is a Quechua term that means reciprocity and mutual ownership and reflects ancient Inca practices. Since the Inca times, different Inca families have been responsible for tending their respective salt ponds.
A bird-eye view of the salt mines.
A bird-eye view of the salt mines.
A bird-eye view of the salt mines.
After another ten-minute drive, we finally got our first glimpse of the salt mines. From a roadside pullout, we had an impressive bird's-eye view of the entire complex. I was not quite prepared to comprehend the scale of the salt mines. It took me a minute to adjust to the bright white saline pools. They almost look like a beehive from a distance. The Salt Mines of Maras comprise more than 4,500 salt wells terraced on the hill of Qaqawiñay. Measuring around five acres, this place has been a place of salt production uninterrupted for over 2,200 years. And despite all the technological advances of the modern ages, salt harvesting here was still a manual task like in ancient times.
The varying colors of the salt wells indicate varying degrees of quality.
The varying colors of the salt wells indicate varying degrees of quality.
The classic view of the Salt Mines of Maras.
From the lookout, it was another three minutes until we arrived at the parking lot. With only about two dozen spots, we were lucky to get in without waiting. I was surprised by just how popular the place is among tourists. It was great seeing the success of Maras since it contributes so much to the local community. Lining the walkway are local families selling bags of souvenir salt of all kinds. The salts of Maras are so famous that you could pick up packs of these salts from most tourist shops in Cusco.
While everyone made a beeline toward the observational platforms, my favorite part of the complex was the source of the salt stream. After all, this was what made this place possible. It was remarkable how a tiny saline stream could produce this amount of salt year after year. We had a lot of fun tracing the flow path of the water. It reminded me of our visit to the Aflaj irrigation systems in Oman. The engineering skills of the ancient people are always awe-inspiring. It is a perfect illustration of the profound impacts of human ingenuity.
The source of the saline stream that feeds the salt wells.
Crazy to think this little trickle feeds thousands of salt wells.
Tracing the distribution of the saline stream was fun.
For obvious reasons, salt production is a seasonal affair. During the winter dry season, the harvest took place once amount. The abundance of sunlight means higher production and quality. The white and pinkish-colored salt is the highest quality. During the rainy season, there is more sediment, making the salt brownish. The bottom-most layer of the salt will be used for industrial salt. As much as artisanal salt was a thing in the past decade, salt remains one of the cheapest “spices” in our kitchen for the most part. Most of us have too little appreciation for salt.
The salt wells of Maras.
Throwing a chuck of salt crystal to a tourist on the observation platform.
During our visit, about a dozen families were tending the salt wells. Because it is still an active salt field, they do not allow visitors to enter the salt wells. I am sure that they would have made a killing out of taking tourists on in-depth tours or perhaps a photo opportunity. However, I did notice a woman working near the platform that seemed to enjoy all the attention of tourists’ cameras a little too much. She even passed along a big chunk of salt crystals to tourists. It must be an unusual and distracting workplace. For anyone who bothered to bring binoculars on the trip, this is probably the best place to use them. The crystalline structure around the salt wells is sublime.
The salt deposits along the salt wells are sublime.
Because visitors’ access is limited to the observation platform, our visit was only half an hour from start to end. Realistically, one could “see” the entire place in under ten minutes. As much as we enjoyed our visit, it was a photo stop. For anyone on a tight schedule, the Salt Mines of Maras may not be worth your precious sightseeing day. But if you are a UNESCO enthusiast like myself, you might be intersted to know that the site has been on UNESCO's tentative list since 2019.
Maras
After visiting Moray and the salt mine, most visitors were quick to press forward to other sites in the Sacred Valley. Few cared to make a stop at the actual town center of Maras. The town was founded during colonial times and became a refuge for those fleeing Cusco due to the escalating battle between the Spanish colonists and Inca rulers. Many of these refugees eventually settled in other smaller settlements such as Mara and Sebastián. Many in this region still hold Maras in high regard for its historical role in the past. The town is bestowed the name the “Town of Benevolence.”
Plaza de Armas de Maras.
Despite Maras’s historical significance and a colonial church, the town never received development and attention from the government. Today, it is considered a backwater with little to no tourist infrastructure. Even so, Maras is still home to a hundred or so residents. On our way to Moray, the town square was lively, with a big gathering of locals in traditional costumes. Just as we were about to park and partake in the festivity, we realized it was a funeral. When we returned hours later, the town center became dead quiet. Even so, we decided to have a quick stroll around town and enjoy the tranquil ambiance.
Surrounding the Plaza de Armas de Maras are many government buildings, including this Tourist information office.
A quiet street in central Maras.
The monument on Plaza de Armas de Maras.
Aside from government offices and the colonial church, the most interesting monument here is the monument in the middle of Plaza de Arma. On top of the monument are statues of peasant couples and their mules. The three sides of the statue pedestal have integral architectural models of three landmarks of Maras: the Moray Archaeological Site, the colonial Church of San Francisco, and the Salt Mines of Maras. I think this monument is a perfect end to our side trip to Maras, don’t you?
