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Cusco Chinchero Moray and Salt Mines Maras Half-Day Tour

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Cusco

This half-day excursion to Moray and Minas de Sal allows you to venture into a part of the Sacred Valley, on beautiful farmland outside Cusco and near the ancient Andean town of Chinchero and its archaeological center.

You will visit the following sites: Andean Textile Center in Chinchero, Moray, Maras village, and Salt mines.

Duration: 7 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Cusco - We will pick you up from your hotel between 7:30 am and 8:00 am and head to Chinchero located at 3,762 meters high.
Chinchero - We will appreciate the traditional market, where they practice bartering, we will visit the weaving workshop there the local people who still practice the QUECHUA tradition, they will show us how they get the colors from natural plants and you can take nice pictures dressed in Andean clothes (At this point you will only visit part of the town of Chinchero and an Andean textile center.)
Moray - We continue to MORAY located at (3,450m/11,318ft) where we find the agricultural terraces with their complex system of irrigation and terraces, different levels of terraces are carved into a huge bowl, part of which was further excavated by the Incas, it is thought they were used by the Incas to discover the optimal growing conditions for their crops, these terraces served as a natural green house to grow an extraordinary variety of crops at an altitude normally not conducive for the crops, the Incas were very advanced in the knowledge of creating specific sub-climates.
Salt Maras Peru - Then we are on our way to Salt Mines, on the way we will see Maras Village where its colonial architectural beauty is still preserved, you will see the buildings are of thin stone, then we move to Salineras, the salt mine consists of 3000 small pools, every three days, during the dry season, workers fill the pools with salt water that comes from natural hot spring, this place was work since pre-Inca time until nowadays, the salt is ground up, treated with iodine packaged and sent to various markets in the region.
Cusco - Finally, you will head back to Cusco (Around 2:30 pm) in time to enjoy some lunch on your own.