Last Day in Sacred Valley
I escaped from hectic Cusco with my new friend, Isabella (Swedish pharamacist living in Ireland), on my last day at altitude. We chose to spend the day in Sacred Valley seeing the last bit of major sites that I had missed in February and March. These included Maras and Moray. Moray is a circular terraced Inca site that descends 150 meters into the ground which was used for growing different crops. The different levels supported different crops because there is a large temperature difference (micro-climates) between the top levels and bottom levels. The Incas once again proved they were extraordinary farmers and stone workers. Moray appears to be a large in-ground amphitheater and so scientists thought until they unearthed seeds and other evidence that proved it to be a unique, possibly experimental, farm. The design is quite pleasing to the eyes and climbing down into the center terrace was a good time. At the bottom we encountered strange wind patterns and some loud echoes and Isabella’s ears hurt from a high pitch tone of unknown origin. It had a very strange feel to it. The Incas built stairs into the terrace walls by having four evenly-spaced steps jut out sideways and we had fun walking up and down them. Well, maybe it was more fun walking down than up! Some bus tours came to this site while we were there, but very few people actually came down the hill. I’m not sure what the point was of visiting Moray if you’re not going to climb into it, but it certainly was more enjoyable for those of us that did get a little exercise and I was definitely glad we came via taxi rather than bus as we did at Sillustani near Puno.
Maras is a salinas built by the Incas to produce salt for consumption. They took a spring which contains a good amount of salt and channeled it into over 5000 pools that they built of mud on the canyon’s wall. They filled the pools and then relied on the sun to evaporate the water leaving behind salt crystals that are harvested. It worked so well that it is still in use today. The canyon is red rock with green plants and so the brown mud and white crystal pools of water make an amazing contrast. We hiked to the pools and then went out to the middle where you are surrounded by the pools as well as the canyon walls overlooking the Sacred Valley. It was dazzling. We ate salt, walked along the ridges of the pools attempting (and succeeding!) not to fall in, talked to one of the employees that tends to the pools and took a lot of photos. I think it is one of the most unique places I have ever visited and it is very interesting to think it has been in use for more than 500 years. The pools and crystal structures that we found made for great photography. It was a fun day seeing both of these sites and Sacred Valley once again showed that it is one of the most beautiful and interesting places in Peru and maybe on the planet. A nice dinner in Cusco ended my stay in Cusco which was sad, but at the same time I was looking forward to my last adventure in Peru’s Manu National Park rainforest. It was very nice to meet you, Isabella.
Tags: peru, south america, Travel
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