Peru Cusco Travel Guide - Peru Hotels - Cusco Hotels - Machu Picchu Tours

The structure that one finds in this region is Inca, although some say that they were made from times before the Incas, at least in the inferior platforms.

Maras

Location

It is located at an altitude of 11,090 feet above sea level Maras is located at a distance through the Izcuchaka-Chequered road of 48.10km through the road of Cusco - Chinchero of 48.88 ( this is the most used).

In the town of Maras, one can appreciate the change of the glaciers of the Sacred Valley and the Vilcabamba valley. Nowadays this district safes an important attractive from the Pre-Hispanic period, in the town one can see the arch from the colonial times, from the noble in the century of XVI and XX.

Maras was the force pass for the mule drivers that transport tropical products and especially the coca leaves from the jungle, to satisfy the needs of the city of Cusco and the country. It has a church that was made out of adobe, typical from architecture religious of the small towns, in this altar one can find a cross made out of granite, the interior of the church they have paintings from the school of art of Cusco representing all of the apostles, who’s painter was Don Antonio Sinchi Roqa Inka, who was born in Maras and painted all of this with much enthusiasm for his church.

From the town of Maras there is two roads, one leads to the archaeological rest of Moray and the other one to the salt mines of Maras, both of this roads have a distance of 2.5 miles.

Salt mines of Maras

Impressive complex of exploitation of salt, located in the landscape named Qoripujio, at a distance of 4km from the town of Maras.

It has salt mines; these mines were exploited since Inca times like a way to exchange economic value. From Maras one can visit the salt mines through a narrow path, here once can find itself with mules that still carry salt that is extracted from the natural salt mines.

How to get to Maras?

You can reach Maras taking a Private Tour in any travel agency, it takes one hour to get there from Cusco.

Moray

Located at 33 miles from Cusco, it has an altitude of 11,106 feet above sea level.

About 4.3 miles to the southeast of Maras you can find Moray, is an unique group of archaeological remains, the only one in this region. Moray has very deep holes, that were used to built platforms around the holes for  agriculture purpose with irrigation paths, what is interesting is how the temperature varies from the top to the bottom of the gigantic holes, this difference could reach a temperature of 59 ºF.

The biggest hole has a depth of 150 meters and the average of the platforms is of 1.80mt, from one to the other one.

The structure that one finds in this region is Incas, although some say that they were made from times before the Incas, at least in the inferior platforms. It is estimated that the bottom is over a natural rocky formation very porous that makes it easy the filtration to inside of the land; in the bottom of the depressions, floods don’t happen in the rainy time.

How to get to Moray?

You can get there taking a Private Tour in any travel agency, it takes one hour and a half to get there form Cusco by bus.