Maras Salt Mines

I've never encountered salt up close until this South American trip. Visiting Maras / Salineras, a terraced Pre-Inca Salt mine is a huge contrast to the  flat 10,000 square kilometer salt desert of Salar del Uyuni in Bolivia. It was part of our taxi stop from Cuzco. Salineras is one of the cultural sites in the Sacred Valley of the Incas located 7 miles from Moray. It is made up of 3000 salt ponds, each with an average area of 5 square meters connected to a naturally flowing salty hot spring from the mountains.
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Salt everywhere.  Hike along the edges of the salt pond and catch a glimpse of the above view. It's fascinating how this salt mine has been operational for thousands of years.

There are bike tours that offer exploration of the Sacred Valley including hiking tours.  If you have limited time, like us, you can visit the cultural sites within a day by hiring a cab from Cuzco on your way to Ollantaytambo. It was very convenient for us before catching the last train to en route to Aguas Calientes, the lost small village at the foot of Machu Picchu .

Have an excellent week!
Love & light,
Arni


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12 comments

  1. Breakfast at CindisSeptember 10, 2013 at 2:27 AM

    Amazing !

    xo,
    Cindi
    Breakfast at Cindi’s

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  2. BekkaSeptember 10, 2013 at 3:25 AM

    Wow this is crazy, I bet it was amazing to see it in real life instead of just through photos. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. DEZMONDSeptember 10, 2013 at 4:28 AM

    oh, Machu Picchu!
    Must be very salty in this one :)

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  4. JaneSeptember 10, 2013 at 9:28 PM

    Wow. That is amazing and beautiful.

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  5. Sherry EllisSeptember 11, 2013 at 1:35 AM

    Very cool! I saw salt mines in Bonaire. It was on flat land, though - harvested from the ocean. I loved seeing your pictures!

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  6. IreneSeptember 12, 2013 at 12:12 AM

    Nice photos! This salt mine looks like an interesting place to visit. I've never found South America too alluring but there are a couple of places I wouldn't mind visiting. The Salar del Uyuni is one of them, and also the glaciars in Patagonia.

    Have a nice week, Arni!
    xoxo Irene

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  7. Girl with a New LifeSeptember 12, 2013 at 6:20 AM

    It almost looks like snow. Very cool.

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  8. miss bSeptember 12, 2013 at 7:02 PM

    Wow, these salt mines look amazing and really change the look of the landscape. This must have been a fascinating trip for you. Machu Picchu is somwehere I would like to visit sometime as I have read about it in travel magazines.

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  9. UnknownSeptember 14, 2013 at 7:08 AM

    What a unique place to visit!

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  10. UnknownSeptember 17, 2013 at 9:51 PM

    Such a wonderful place Arni, I visites a salt mines ages ago somewhere near Alicante, but not as impressive as Maras.
    Glad to be back to read you.
    Xxx

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  11. Sherry EllisSeptember 19, 2013 at 4:37 AM

    Just wanted to let you know you've been missed! Hope everything is going okay.

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  12. TestSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:58 AM

    that is so cool... i've heard much about them and would love to visit one day!

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