MARAS SALT AND ANDEAN WEAVERS

We leave Cusco at 8.00 am and soon drive across the fertile highlands of Anta with their patchwork style fields and splendid views of the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Urubamba. A brief stop at a Mirador affords great views of the Sacred Valley below and a recently excavated Qolqa (storage place) of the Inkas. We continue our journey to the spectacular salt pans of Salineras that have been in use for hundreds of years. The Inkas demanded tribute in salt instead of labor from the inhabitants of this area as salt was a very precious commodity. Today the salt from Salineras has become world famous as the ‘pink salt of Maras’ and the people extracting it are now exporting it to the outside world in the form of gourmet salts mixed with spices, bath salts and other preparations like salt chocolate. You may purchase some of these preparations on site.

From Salineras we drive on to the old colonial town of Maras where many of the people working the salt pans live. It was also a place where many members of the Inka elite resettled after the Spaniards reached Cusco. We can see evidence of this in some of the stone lintels of the houses. From here we continue our drive on unpaved roads through potato and barley fields to Moray, an archaeological site with five concentric terraced circles which is believed to have been an agricultural experimental station of the Inkas and one of the most beautiful sites in the Andes. We spend some time exploring this marvelous place on foot before driving on to Chinchero. We shall take our boxed lunch somewhere on the way.

The old settlement of Chinchero was the center of an ethnic group even before the Inkas arrived there. They colonized the place and Inka Tupac Yupanki, the son of Inka Pachakuteq had a summer residence built there. We can appreciate the remains of the palace and the ceremonial complex even today.

We shall also visit the beautiful colonial church, full of colorful frescoes and paintings of the famous Cusco school of paintings. Built on Inka foundations and finished with adobe clay walls and a tiled roof it nevertheless proves that Chinchero remained an important center even under colonial administration. In fact, all the places where we find important 16th and 17th-century churches today were once sacred sites of the Andean indigenous peoples.

On Sundays, there is a big market in Chinchero where people gather from the whole region dressed up in their best finery to buy or sell products, enjoy a plate of typical food with some Chicha (corn beer) and exchange the latest news. This is fascinating to watch, especially as you may still observe people engaging in barter.

At the end of our day, we shall visit a weaving project which belongs to the Centre for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. This marvelous project was instigated by local women and their objective is to recover the dying art of producing typical Andean textiles. Learn about the process of spinning wool of alpaca fibers, dyeing the wool with different plant materials, setting up portable weaving frames and the final work of weaving beautiful garments. If you purchase textiles from the project you can be sure that your money goes directly to the people that produced it with no intermediaries involved.

Included:

• Private transport
• Private English-speaking guide
• Boxed lunch (picnic)
• Entrance fees to all the sites visited

Not Included:

• Soft drinks and alcoholic drinks
• Tips and gratuities
• Extras not included in the program