This excursion will take you to the natural salt mines of Salineras, through ancient colonial villages located in the Sacred Valley and surrounded by high snow-capped mountains.
First we will head to Chinchero, where we will see an exhibition of natural and traditional textile production. We will continue to the town of Maras, known for its colonial style houses and interesting churches.
From Maras we will go to Moray, one of the most interesting Inca constructions, which is believed to have been an agricultural experimentation station. Then we will go to Salineras, where the famous salt mines are located. Finally, the bus will take you back to Cusco. As you can see, this tour has it all: natural beauty, cultural sites and impressive salt mines, don’t miss the opportunity to take this trip!
Trip details
Departure: daily
Duration: half day Half day
Price: contact us
Other: The program is subject to change
Our adventure will start from the city of Cusco, we will pass by your accommodation between 8:20 am to 8:40 am, to head towards the picturesque district of Maras, appreciating on the route the great variety of flora and fauna of the Andes, and then head to the archaeological center of Moray, famous for its circular shape and was used in Inca times as a center of agricultural experimentation, Moray is also a strategic point to appreciate the peaks of the snowy peaks of the Vilcanota mountain range.
At the end of the visit to Moray, we will continue with our tour to go to the salt mines, which will take us about 20 minutes to reach the checkpoint, to enter the salt mines we can see more than 3000 wells of salt that was and is used for consumption until today.
Finally we will take our transportation back to the city of Cusco, culminating our service in the main square or agreed point.
About three thousand wells in a staggered shape measuring approximately 5 square meters located on the slopes of the hill, the site dates from the Inca period that continues to this day as in ancient times, worked by the inhabitants of the area, Maras was a very important place in the time of the viceroyalty as it was the main supplier of salt from the Sierra Meridional, in the town of Maras which was founded by the Spanish in the year 1,556. It is located 48 km (30 miles) northwest of Cusco at 3,028 masl / 11,028 fasl. The temperature ranges from 1 to 21 degrees Celsius. In the town of Maras you can see colonial houses, the coats of arms of the nobility and caciquez with fine stone carvings on the doorways or lintels with coats of arms, names of the owner or the date they were built are preserved intact despite the passage of time.
It is an impressive archaeological site of terraces in the form of concentric circular rings built by the Inca culture to possibly recreate a series of microclimates, an experimental biological station in which the Incas took advantage of the different temperatures and microclimates. In each of the circular terraces to plant a variety of crops experimentally improved the temperature of each terrace determined that the Incas managed to develop about 20 ecological zones where they produced products such as quinoa, kiwicha as well as pumpkin, squash and a thousand varieties of potatoes.
CONTACT
chaskitrek2@gmail.com
Address: Calle del Medio N° 135 Plaza de Armas Cusco – Perú
Phone: +51 984 295 630
Phone: +51 984 556 303
OFFICE HOURS
Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. &
3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
RUC:
10416206606
BUSINESS NAME:
CHASKI TREK
Chaski Trek is a professional licensed adventure and cultural tour operator and is owned by a Peruvian family. With the assistance of our well-trained team of professional tour guides and office staff we do our best to offer our clients a high quality service.
Our office is located right on the beautiful Plaza de Armas in the historic capital of the ancient Inca Empire, Cusco.
Our office is located right in the beautiful Plaza de Armas of the historic capital of the ancient Inca Empire, Cusco.