Maras and Moray: Inca engineering beyond Machu Picchu

If you’ve already decided to go to Cusco, you know Machu Picchu is the main course. But if you want to come home with memories that are truly different, it’s worth seeing the engineering, colors and history of the circular terraces of Moray and the Maras salt mines (Salineras de Maras).

This half-day tour is a lesson in culture and shows you the secrets of the Inca technology that made farming in the Andes possible.

Moray, the Incas’ farming laboratory

Picture a natural amphitheater dug into the earth, with concentric rings stepping down toward the bottom. That’s Moray.

• The mystery. The Incas designed these circular terraces as a microclimate laboratory. The temperature difference between the highest ring and the bottom can reach 15 °C.
• The technology. The system made it possible to simulate several ecosystems and to adapt and improve different types of corn and other crops before spreading them across the empire. It’s the farming «NASA» of the Andean world.
• Photo tip. Climb to the highest part of the circles to capture the symmetry and hypnotic pattern of the terraces.

Maras, the white canvas of the Andes

A few minutes from Moray, the landscape changes completely: a valley with thousands of terraced salt pools that look painted onto the mountainside.

• The origin. These salt pans have been in use since before the Incas. Water from an underground spring, rich in sodium chloride, is carried through a complex system of channels to thousands of individual pools.
• The harvest. When the water evaporates in the sun, the salt is left behind. Maras salt, pinkish and high in minerals, is highly prized in cooking.
• Photo tip. Go in mid-morning or mid-afternoon, when the sun brings out the white of the salt and the pink tones of the mountain.

Logistics: the perfect pair to save time

The best thing about this pair is that the tour takes only half a day.

• Efficiency. You can do it in the morning or the afternoon and still have time for other activities or to rest. It’s perfect for an easy acclimatization day.
• Transportation. Booking an organized tour is much more practical and safer. Public transportation to both sites is complicated and involves many changes.

Moray and Maras show that the best of Cusco also lies in the ancestral ingenuity of the Andes.