Just 30 minutes from Spa-Astro-Maras-Lodge is the fantastic village of Maras. We will take a walk through the historic village and then head to the Salineras de Maras. If you are touring around the Sacred Valley, the Salineras de Maras is a place that you should not miss. Without a doubt, this is one of the most instagrammable places in all of Peru. Located on a mountainside, these picturesque salt mines are home to thousands of terraced pools, each producing around 330 pounds (150 kg) of salt per month. From a distance, the salt flats resemble a layer of snow, with a variety of different shades of white and earthy brown.
From the village we take a famous walking path down to the salt mines. Let’s walk a little through the history of the Maras Salineras. It is believed that the Salineras de Maras were built between 500 and 1100 AD by the Wari, a civilization before the Incas. During the rule of the Inca Empire, the locals saw a great opportunity in the mines and began to expand and harvest the salt pools. The extracted salt was probably used for consumption, livestock, and food storage. In Maras you will find more than 3,000 salt ponds, all connected through an impressive network of underground canals. The water channeled into the ponds comes from a natural underground spring and runs downhill toward the pools. A few days after the water fills the pools, it evaporates and leaves a thin layer of salt. The salt harvesting process has remained largely the same as 500 years ago: dried salt is carefully scraped from the sides and bottom of each pond.
We will spend some time next to the salt ponds and you will have time for photos and rest. Then we will walk just beside the ponds from the top to the bottom. We will reach finally the Urubamba river in the Sacred Valley and once we cross the river we reach a place just outside of Urubamba. Here we will have supper in a nice restaurant before we head back to the Maras – Lodge in the afternoon.