About:

So a few weekends ago I was visited here in Cusco, Peru by my good friend Jen Megee.  Taking advantage of this rare visit and an almost rarer-still day off of work, Jen and I decided to visit a few interesting sites in the Sacred Valley including the agricultural terraces at Moray (you can read about it here) and the salt ponds at Maras. Both sites are located about 50km outside of Cusco in an area called Maras.

The salt ponds have been around since pre-Inca times.  The ponds are terraced and have an intricate system of channels running between them which allow the salty spring water from an underground stream to slowly pass by, filling each pond as it does. The salty water is slowly evaporated and then the crystalized salt is collected by the local salt farmers, all of whom must be members of the local communities. Pretty much all of the ponds have an area smaller than four meters squared, are less than thirty centimeters in depth and are formed in the shape of a polygon. (1)

Getting There:

There are many different ways to get to the salt ponds, including going with a tour company, renting bikes, or just driving yourself.  To save money, Jen and I decided to take a different route… we got up early Sunday morning and made our way to Ave. Grau in Cusco where we found a collectivo headed for a town called Urubamba.  The trip cost us S/. 6.00 each, or less than $2.00 per person.  The ride was very scenic, and led us through the Sacred Valley and past another small town called Chinchero which has some really nice markets and hiking, too.

About fifteen minutes before arriving at Urubamba we got off at a bus stop near a town called Maras.  Standing seemingly in the middle of nowhere, we found ourselves across the street from a number of taxi drivers offering to bring people on tours of Moray and the salt ponds for a negotiable fee. We agreed to give the taxi driver S/. 20.00 each, or a little less than $8.00 per person, to drive us to Moray and the agricultural terraces, then to the salt ponds, and finally back to the bus stop.

Getting Back:

From the bus station on the side of the road near Maras it is possible to get busses back to Cusco; however, the busses are often full of people as they are coming from the Urubamba bus terminal.  Our alternative was to split a taxi to Urubamba (about S/. 10.00 each), explore the city, grab some lunch, and then catch a bus to another small town called Pisaq (S/. 2.50 each) where we enjoyed their Sunday artisanal market.  From Pisaq you can take another collectivo back to Cusco for anywhere from S/. 3.50 to S/. 5.00 per person.

Overall Impressions:

I must admit, the salt ponds were much cooler than I was expecting them to be, and for only a S/. 7.00 entrance fee totally worth visiting.  While viewing them from above you can see that they dominate much of the mountainside and are much more expansive than you might imagine them to be.  Whilst inside the salt ponds it is extremely pretty and peaceful.  At times the salt’s resemblance to snow is uncanny, and the views are really spectacular.  In total, Jen and I spent about S/. 55.00 each for all transportation and entrance fees for Moray and the salt ponds, making this a very reasonably priced day of wonderful sights. I highly recommend this trip to anyone passing through Cusco.

Bibliography:

1) “Maras, Peru.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 July 2014. Web. 03 Aug. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maras%2C_Peru>.