minimunchkin: Moray and Maras

It felt like everywhere we turned, we'd see something incredible and the Inca ruins of Moray was yet another stunning sight. At first glance, these bowl shaped hollows look very much like a Roman amphitheater, circular in shape with stairs like terraces climbing up to the valley floor above. Our guide Miguel explained to us that the full purpose behind these terraces aren't yet fully known but it's widely believed that the ruins were once an agricultural laboratory used by the Incas. The terraces were thought to have been used as an agricultural research station. As each level has different temperatures from top to bottom, it was thought that the Incas used the terraces and the different temperatures to test and experiment with different types of crops. Previous studies done on the soil found here also showed that the soil comes from different regions which again turn to the belief that this was an experimental zone.

The immaculate circular terraces of Moray.

The biggest of three sites, the only one which has been fully restored.

Traditional Inca steps.

Climbing these must have been fairly tiring given that the Inca people were not tall in stature.

Site number two, still in its original state.

The third site, currently being restored by just those three men!

Potential fourth restoration expert??

This lady was out walking her cows and pigs, and at the same time collecting wood for the fireplace.

A clear view of the Urubamba river (where we rafted the day before).

For the kids, the Salineras de Maras was heaven. The salt pans of Maras have been used for the past five centuries since pre-Inca times to mine salt in the Sacred Valley. Thousands of individual salt pools are craved into the hillside. Ryan and Mia could not walk past a single pool without dipping their hands into the salt water and licking their fingers, eating the crystals and finally crunching on salt flakes!

Salt valley

Every family in the community owns a small pond here which they tend to and harvest by themselves.

These mines are only in operation 6 months in a year. During winter, snow destroys everything here. The people come back each Spring to start rebuilding all the ponds which takes around five months.

Harvesting the final product which takes around 5 weeks from start to end.

The natural water that flows from the mountains into these mines have a salt content of 90%.

Those fingers have been in goodness knows how many ponds in the short one hour we were there!

The salt produced here is harvested by layers - basic salt at the top, pink salt in the middle and medicinal salt on the bottom (seen in this photo from right to left), with pink being the highest quality.