Day 1:
Tour of Moray, Maras and Salinera on ATVss
We will start the adventure by picking you up from your hotel at Cusco to start our trip of approximately 50 minutes in our tourist transport towards the Town of Cruz Pata. Here we will have the opportunity get use to drive the ATVs for 15 or 20 minutes. Once we are ready for the unique journey, we will start the tour with the ATVs towards the experimental terraces of Moray where our guide will explain the importance of this archaeological site. Then we will go to the Salineras de Maras, an incredibly beautiful place where we will know how salt is produced. During this tour we will have magnificent views of Nevado La Verónica and Nevado de Chicón, accompanied by a magical landscape in contact with nature. At the end of the circuit, we will return to the town of Cruz Pata, where the transport will be waiting for us to move to the City of Cusco.
You will leave Cusco around 8:00 am. The first place that you will visit will be the house of the weavers’ association in Chinchero. Here the local weavers will show you the most exquisite weavings in all of South America. Next, you will travel to the ancient and important Incan agricultural testing station of Moray. Here they built great circular terraces where the temperature changed depending on the altitude. As you descend the terraces, the temperature increases. Incas had extraordinary knowledge of climates and microclimates. Plants from all over their Empire were brought here to be adapted so that they would grow at different elevations.
After Moray you will go visit the traditional town of Maras. These houses of Maras feature the coats-of-arms of Incan nobles who lived here during Incan and colonial times. Today Maras is a very traditional town.
Finally, you will explore the Salt Mines of Salineras. This is a photogenic site consisting of over 5000 small wells where salt is collected. Some of these wells are very old. Incas mined salt at this site, and this practice continued throughout the reign of the Spanish viceroys. These days local people let the salt water flow into the depressions which they have dug out. The sun then evaporates the water, leaving behind a residue of salt which is then collected and sold on the local market. You will finish up the Maras Moray Tour by returning to Cusco in the afternoon