Pick up from the hotel and transfer by bus to the Poblado de Maras located 48 km northwest of the city of Cusco (1 hour). We will visit Maras, which was an important town during the viceroyalty; This is demonstrated by the church and the mansions that still preserve the shields of indigenous nobility on their facades. Currently its main economic activity is agriculture. Then we will continue on the trail to the Andenes de Moray agricultural laboratory of Moray. (25 minutes by car). Famous place for the sunken amphitheater, formed by four circular platforms that seem to disappear inside the puna, like an artificial crater. Apparently, the place was an Inka agricultural research center dedicated to experimenting with crops around the different altitude levels of their plots (some at more than 100 m depth). The terraces, built on retaining walls filled with earth
fertile and watered by complex irrigation systems, allowed cultivating more than 250 species
vegetables.
We will continue the journey to Las Salineras, 10 km from the town of Maras, salt mines whose exploitation is as old as Tahuantinsuyo. The residents channel the saline water that emanates from the ground -from a waterhole called "Qoripujio"- towards pools in which, due to the effects of the sun, it evaporates leaving the salt on the surface, which is then treated to be sold in the local market. . The view of the set of approximately three thousand pools is spectacular. The residents show visitors their ancestral techniques and allow them to participate in the harvest.
Return to the city of Cusco and end of the tour at approximately 1:00 p.m.
