On our last day in Cusco, we chose an ATV tour over a cooking class on guinea pigs. Did we choose wrong?

Cusco

We got picked up by a different guide as today was Jose’s day off. Deborah had another tour scheduled on her own but came back early due to the guide not speaking English and not feeling well. The guide took us to a gift shop where he explained how the different salts are made and then proceeded to give us samples along with some type of trail mix. I noticed the couple in the picture ate some and then put it back in the sample box. Pilau!

Cusco

Driving down into the Sacred Valley, where the thousands of salt ponds of sodium chloride sat waiting to be harvested.

Salineras de Maras

Entrance to the Maras Salt Mines that is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has been in continuous use since pre-Inca times.

Maras Salt Mines

Group photo with part of the 3,000 salt ponds at 10,500′ elevation which are owned by 600 local families who harvest and sell the salt.

Maras Salt Mines

Aerial view from the pop-up drone operator.

Maras Salt Mines

The workers hauling heavy bags of salt to be stacked and trucked to their customers.

Maras Salt Mines

Looking at the salt ponds that are fed by a saltwater stream at 89 degrees Fahrenheit into 13’x4′ ponds and the sun evaporates the saltwater in about three days and leaves roughly 400 pounds of salt for the locals to bag and sell.

Cusco

We then drove to an ATV outfitter and tried out the ATVs before we were let loose on the backroads.

Cusco

Slow down. Going around a bend.

Cusco

Taking a group photo at a break from all that dust we were inhaling. I should have got that neck gaiter.

Cusco

Keeping the group together as best as we could.

Cusco

Sharing the road.

Cusco

Mingling with the other parked cars.

Moray

Group photo at the Inca archaeological ruin that are circular terraces that descend down 490′ and each level was fed by an irrigation system and each level gets affected by the sunlight in varying intensity and the temperature drops as it gets lower to the bottom, from 9 to 20 degrees. In other words, an advanced greenhouse.

Cusco

We drove back to our hotel and got ready for our trip back home. Deborah had elected to stay an additional three days on her own to visit other places. Found out later that Deborah got checked into a hospital for an assortment of illnesses for several days.

All pau

We flew back home with amazing memories from our week long trip. While the experience was slightly blemished by Mari’s stolen phone and Deborah’s illness, it was overall a fun time with good friends.

Photos taken by Aida Gordon, Chico Cantu, Deborah Tom, Mari Saito, Matt Vidaurri, and yours truly. Not necessarily in order.

Note: I have been made aware that some hikers have been using my blog as a hiking guide and getting lost on the trails. Please note that this blog was made to document the hike for the crew(s) that did it. That is why some of my comments will seem to have no relevance or meaning to anybody outside of the crew(s) that hiked that trail. My blog was never meant as a hiking guide, so please do not treat it as such. If you find inspiration and entertainment from these hikes, that is more than enough. If you plan on replicating these hikes, do so in the knowledge that you should do your own research accordingly as trail conditions, access, legalities and so forth are constantly in flux. What was current today is most likely yesterdays news. Please be prepared to accept any risks and responsibilities on your own as you should know your own limitations, experience and abilities before you even set foot on a trail, as even the “simplest” or “easiest” of trails can present potential pitfalls for even the most “experienced” hikers. One should also always let somebody know of your hiking plans in case something doesn’t go as planned, better safe than sorry.