Salt Mines of Maras

Possibly because I have never toured a salt flats site before, Maras saltineras impressed me a lot. The deceptive simplicity of the process, coupled with the visuals of hundreds - or is it thousands? - terraced ponds, made the site quite memorable. I also very much like that it is an active production, which further differentiates it in the area that is most famous for its remnants of civilizations long gone.

You really only need 25-30 minutes here, including the time to get from the parking lot to the viewing platform and back. The information boards are all in Spanish, so having an English-speaking guide may make the visit more enjoyable for some. There is on-site free wi-fi if you want to use an online translator and your mobile signal starts acting up in the ravine.

With your entry ticket, you get a complimentary sample pack of the pink salt that is produced at Maras. The cooks in my family later told me that it was superior to any salt they had ever bought in an American supermarket.

I got to Maras by hiring a driver for the afternoon of combined touring of the salt flats and the Moray terraces, at under $80. Neither site was crowded in mid-afternoon in early May, although my driver suggested that they would get busier towards closing times when the bus tours returning from Ollantaytambo to Cusco would make the final stop at one or the other.

We decided to move to Urumbamba after a week-long stay in Cusco during our trip to Valle Sagrado in August 2022. We thought that this was a good base to explore some of the sights between Cusco and Ollantaytambo, such as the archaeological ruins of Chinchero, the Moray terraces, and the focus of this review--the Salt Mines of Maras. We planned to visit Moray and Maras on a half-day trip, but circumstances changed and we ended up focusing on Maras.

The site

The site is located south and across the river of Urubamba. Using public transportation to get to the salt mines could be quite confusing, thus, we decided to hire a car and a driver. Before reaching the town of Maras we turned right to a well-paved road that leads to the site. Upon arrival, we noticed that there were fewer cars than expected, but the number of closed shops and eateries indicates that this place could get really crowded. Past the entrance, a path leads down to the viewing "platforms" that provide a great view of the salt mines, the gorge, and the mountains in the background. It's a beautiful sight despite the dark grey clouds that loomed over the mountains. The salt mines are basically terraces of white rectangular pools that slope down until they reach what seemed to be the bottom of the gorge (though it's not after checking Google Maps). 

We saw a bunch of locals doing different things: (1) one was …

As if Peru doesn't have enough awesome stuff to see, they added a few more tentative places in 2019. I'm quite sure most were already on the average tourist's itinerary. Take a bus from Cuzco towards Urubama and drop off at the junction heading to Maras to find a taxi driver who will take you around. If not then take a bus that heads to Maras and ask around in the "town". The junction has a shaded bus stop to wait for buses heading back. I ended up taking a bus that goes the "scenic" route through the villages which cost me nothing but pain, literally, it was almost a penny to take the bus but the road is bumpy and dusty and the "air-con" aka "windows are open" doesn't make it pleasant - you do get to meet some interesting characters though. Also the buses on the main road are often full so I was happy to get going one way or the other.

Anyhow, the region is super popular with tourists already and this was a day trip together with Moray which is ultimately a great day out but nothing I would see on the UNESCO list as outstanding value. The same salt mine structures are in northern Spain, and...well, other places. I think they do it better in Spain anyway. It also takes an effort to press through all the tourist crowds that shop on the only way down the ramps and most of it wasn't …