September 12th, 2015
I’m back in Cusco at Kilombo hostel for three reasons. One: more competitive ping png games with the friendly owner, two: To see some of the sacred valley sites I missed last time I was here, and Three: to meet up with Natalie a friend I first met down in the south of Chile. But while she’s up exploring Machu Picchu I’ve got a few days to kill so I head to the BTG Ticket Office at Avenida. El Sol 103 Galerías Turísticas
(Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 08:00 – 18:00 hrs) to buy the very expensive Sacred Valley tourist ticket (130 Soles for the week long variety). You can find more information about your ticket options here.
For those who don’t know, the Sacred Valley is a collection of tourist sites in and around Cusco, mostly focusing on Incan and Pre Incan ruins, which abound in this area the first domain of the Incas. Somewhat Annoyingly they are all linked together on one ticket, so if you want to visit any of them you must pay for all of them, at any rate I’ve decided it’s worth it, and ticket in hand I head to a small tourist agency just down the street from Fuego Restaurant (Awesome burgers) and book a tour to Salinas de Maras, and Moray ruins, the later being one of the Sacred Valley sites. It runs from 9 am to about 330 pm and only costs 30 Soles as long as you don’t require a guide who speaks perfect English.
The next morning I’m waiting outside the agency for what becomes a somewhat confusing affair of walking through Cusco finding the right bus and the right tour, though our young guide gets me there and I climb aboard alongside a new friend from Quebec.
The rather large tourist bus winds up and into the mountains that surround Cusco following the same path I took on my mini bus journey towards Machu Picchu, pulling in for the first stop after about 45 minutes. I’m quickly reminded of every tour I ever took in Turkey as this stop is a brief demonstration of the way they die wools in this small town for all the artesian handicrafts and clothes for sale here, and then a big sales pitch. It’s interesting but definitely designed for you to buy things, and my long trip time and limited bag space make that not a feasible reality.
Still, it’s a brief stop and then we’re back in the bus heading for Salinas De Maras, which is the reason I chose this tour. The Salinas are set on the downslope of one of the foothills of the andes just outside the tiny town of Maras. They are a collection of about 2000 salt pools, maintained by a complex irrigation system, and owned exclusively by family’s living in Maras. The salt made here is world famous and exported to countless different countries. They make varieties for cooking, for baths and for countless other things there, so even if the hillside was not such an incredible visual spectacle, this place would still be an interesting visit.
We pay the extra 10 sole Entrance fee at a check point and head down a winding road, suddenly coming into view of the salinas on the opposite slope. Sprawled out below us are countless glittering white pools that do not seem to belong in this world. The bus stops for just a few moments for a few photos through the glass before we continue down to go get up close and personal with one of the most famous salt production centres in the world.
We climb out of the bus and head down a winding path which feels mildly like running the gauntlet as we’re surrounded by salt and souvenir salesmen on all sides. Of course they are all perfectly pleasant and not agressive in anyway so my above simile is perhaps a tad dramatic. We emerge on to the salt pools where we learn all about the heavily salted mountain stream which is carefully directed through the pools allowing the locals to harvest the salt, which they only do for about 6 months of the year during the dry season (May through November).
After our tour guide finishes explaining the three different types of salts and their respective colours (Pink salt is crazy cool) we’re allowed to go explore on our own and told to meet back at the bus about half an hour later.
I waste no time edging my way down on of the narrow pathways between the pools deeper into the mountain until I’m entirely surrounded by the salt pools, a few being worked on by the local people. The further I go the fewer tourists I find and the better the pictures get.
I’m sad we haven’t given more time as I haven’t even made it halfway through the pools when time runs out and I have to hurry back up, this time dodging most of the shops by following a few of the workers lugging massive bags of salt up the mountain by a back path, causing a few curious stares from the young children playing while their parents sell tourists everything under the sun.
Saying a quick goodbye to this otherworldly place I climb back into the bus and we head off up the mountains towards our next destination, the ruins of Moray, what is believed to have been an agricultural area for the Incans where they simulated different ecosystems in order to help diversify the plants available to them. Each ring in the photos below would be different temperature thanks to the sun bouncing off the rock walls, thus allowing them to grow even jungle fruits in the mountains.
After a while in the bus we climb out to a somewhat crowded parking lot and flash our sacred valley tickets before walking over to the edge of the hill on looking down on the moray anyone whose researched the sacred valley knows from it’s pictures. It’s beautiful and fascinating though my enthusiasm is somewhat destroyed when our guide tells us this particular series of circles is made up of about 80% modern restorations. Off to the right is another set of the agricultural terraced circles, but it’s certainly less impressive for photos at least.
Some head down to walk around the ruins more closely but I’ve been dealing with one of my first poor reactions to the altitude after getting off the plane from Lima so I stay up above and end up talking to a nice german guy whose just returned from his Machu Picchu trek, exhausted but determined to see Marinas and Moray.
While the history and usage of Moray is undoubtedly fascinating I have to say that after the marvel that is Salinas de Maras I found the actual site somewhat underwhelming, maybe I’ve just been spoiled in my life to see too many excellent ruins. Either way as we climb back on the bus I’m eager to get back to Cusco and play some more ping pong, just about the only sporting outlet I get on the road.
