Maras and Moray - Half Day

Our standard half-day tour to Maras and Moray begins when we pick you up from your hotel in Cusco at around 08h00. First, we’ll head to magnificent Moray, the Inca agricultural laboratory. It takes about 1.5 hours to get there, but we’ll be driving through spectacular Andean scenery, passing by yellow wheat fields, picturesque traditional villages, and snow-capped mountains.   

Arriving at Moray, your guide will show you around the three amphitheater-like terraced structures. These terraces, which are carved in a circular series to create a bowl shape, are believed to have been used as a testing ground for various crops, to find the most optimal growing conditions. It’s an incredible sight and gives real insight into the genius of the Inca Empire. 

After exploring Moray we’ll head on to Maras, which is just two miles away. Here we’ll see the amazing salt evaporation ponds, which were used by the Incas and quite possibly by pre-Inca civilizations. More than 3,000 salt pools are carved into the mountainside, which catch highly salty water as it emerges from a spring in the mountain. The ponds catch this water, where it slowly evaporates, leaving just the salt behind. This is collected via a communal process and is most famously used to make sal de Maras, the famous pink table salt. It’s an incredible sight looking down across the salt ponds, which look like they are covered in snow or ice. 

After spending time at Maras, we’ll head back to Cusco, where we’ll drop you off at your hotel.

Highest Altitude: 3,500 m (11,483 ft).
Lowest Altitude: 3,380 m (11,086 ft).