Sacred Valley, Peru

After a few awesome days exploring and eating my way through Cusco, I set off on a tour of the Sacred Valley. While definitely on the tourist route, mixed in with the endless sea of white Mercedes vans packed full of people, it was still a great way to learn about the area and see some awesome sights.

“There is no valley in South America that has such varied beauties and so many charms”.

–Hiram Bingham

One of the highlights was the still-in-use salt mines at Moray; they have been using the spring-fed salt mines since before the Incas! The Salinera de Maras is made up of approximately 4,500 natural salt wells in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Here in the Andes, a hot spring emerges at the top of the valley and sends a small stream of super duper salty water into the pans below, which is then evaporated to produce the salt. Evidence shows that the salt mines were built by the Wari civilization, pre-Inca. Production methods haven’t changed much over the years, as local families tend to their own salt wells without any external control. It is also one of the few places worldwide producing pink salt.