Early in the morning, we will pick you up from the hotel located
in the city of Cusco to start a fascinating tour to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our first stop will be at the town of Chinchero, situated 17 miles from Cusco
city.
Here, we will visit a local workshop to appreciate the ancestral
techniques to create amazing textiles. Every Sunday the colorful and wonderful Chinchero market is open, where you
will discover a great variety of handcraft and clothes.
Then, we will visit the salt mines of Maras located on an open hill in Urubamba’s valley. The salt
pans of Maras have an impressive process created by Incas, where a
subterranean stream evaporates salty water and it emerges at a spring. The flow
is then directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that
the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient salt ponds. The water leaves salt on
the land, which is exposed to the sun.
After visiting the salt mines near the village of Maras,
head to the Moray ruins which are
made up of three coliseums thought to have been used by the Incas as a sort of
open air crop laboratory. The coliseums consist of several enormous circular terraces, the largest of which
is about 30 meters (98 feet) deep. Admire these terraces which are arranged in
concentric circles and are reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater.
The Sacred Valley of
the Incas has extensive fertile lands perfect for cultivation, as well as
impressive archaeological sites. This place will show us the lifestyle of the Inca Empire and its advanced
construction techniques.
At the end of the tour, we are going to back to the city of
Cusco and drop you off at your hotel.