Maras
Wednesday, February 28
A few hours away from Cusco there is the small village of Maras. The real sight, however, is not the village itself, but a small valley outside the village in the heart of the Andes. This is where the “Salineras de Maras” — the region’s salt mine — are located.
The “Salineras de Maras” are essentially over 4,000 small salt fields, arranged in the form of terraces along the mountainside. The countless small salt pools are all fed by a single tiny spring, from which saline water flows from inside the mountains and gradually supplies the terraces with salt water. The spring and the flowing water look like regular water. Only the encrusted salt edges to the left and right of the spring and at the edges of the salt terraces reveal the salinity. The water flows into the salt pools and evaporates due to the abundant direct sunlight during the dry season. What remains is a salt crust, which is then collected. The Salineras de Maras are a truly impressive place, as each salt pan has a slightly different color, and the pools viewed from above, resemble a giant mosaic in the middle of the Andes.
We visited the salt mines as part of a day tour with a guide who showed us around the complex and explained everything. Visiting the Salineras de Maras on your own (without a tour or guide) costs a few euros per person and is well worth it. We thought a particularly sweet detail was that instead of an entrance ticket, you get a small bag of salt from the salt mine as a gift. A really lovely and useful souvenir of this unique place!
