The Salt Mines of Maras in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

Did you know that some of the best salt in the world is produced in the middle of the Andes – hundreds of miles from any large body of salt water? I didn’t know until we visited the Salt Mines of Maras in the Sacred Valley, about 40 kilometers from Cusco, Peru.

Las Salineras de Maras

According to Wikipedia,

Since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water from a local subterranean stream. The highly salty water emerges at a spring, a natural outlet of the underground stream. The flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. … It is agreed among local residents and pond "farmers" that the cooperative system was established during the time of the Incas, if not earlier. As water evaporates from the sun-warmed ponds, the water becomes supersaturated and salt precipitates as various size crystals onto the inner surfaces of a pond's earthen walls and on the pond's earthen floor. The pond's keeper then closes the water-feeder notch and allows the pond to go dry. Within a few days the keeper carefully scrapes the dry salt from the sides and bottom, puts it into a suitable vessel, reopens the water-supply notch, and carries away the salt.

The result is a visually interesting series of terraces of salt pools. It was a great trip for the kids, as you can walk all over the salt mines and explore the mines. It was also cool for the kids to be able to see how salt is produced and to learn that these salt mines have existed for centuries.

Many people go to the Salt Mines with a tour guide, but it is also possible to get there on your own. To get there, we drove from Calca to Urubamba, and then took the road towards Chincheros. We turned off the road at the clearly-indicated detour for Maras. The views along this road, like much of the Andes and the Sacred Valley, were spectacular.

View of snow-capped peak in the distance

As it was nearly noon when we arrived at the detour, we decided to stop in Maras for lunch before going to the salt mine, where there is only a tourist café and a few snacks.

The town of Maras is about two kilometers after the turn-off point for the Salt Mines. When we arrived in Maras, there was a festival going on with plenty of stalls selling chicharrones, fried trout, and fried chicken. We ordered a few plates of food and filled ourselves up on fried food before heading back towards the salt mines.

Frying fish and chicken in Maras

The road to the salt mines is a dirt road, but it is well-maintained and easy to drive on. The only issue is that it is practically a single-lane road, so you have to watch for cars and buses coming in the other direction. There are various points at which you can pull over to let them pass. After driving all over Peru on similar roads, we have become accustomed to driving like this.

Tatiana, Raymi, and Soraya posing by the side of the road

After about 20 minutes on this dirt road, we made it to the Salt Mines of Maras. We walked through the various gift shops and began to tour the salt mines. The kids went on their own adventure through the mine while I admired the view. It was fun for the kids to explore the mines on their own and check out the different colors and textures of the salt formations.

Tatiana, Raymi and Soraya at the Salt Mines

The kids - off to explore by themselves

Before leaving, we purchased a few bags of Peruvian Pink Salt as a souvenir.

After leaving the Salt Mines, we decided to keep driving to Cusco. It took about an hour to get to the edge of the city, and another 30 minutes to get through traffic to our hotel – Casa de Mama 2 – in Cusco.