Firstly we visit the Moray amphitheatre, used as a agricultural laboratory in Inka´s time, these include most notably several enormous terraced circular depressions that were used to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops.
The depth of the pits (the largest is about 30 m deep) creates a temperature gradient of as much as 15° C between the top and the bottom. As with many other Inca sites, it also has a very sophisticated irrigation system for providing the plants with water;after that we continued to Maras, where we can see how the local work in the old salt mines, since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water (provided by a nearby subterranean stream) in the sun, leaving the salt behind.
In the mines there are thousands of salt-pools; when light is reflected there the effect is said to be quite stunning.
Route:
Cusco - Maras - Moray - Cusco
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