It was another beautiful day in Peru and we had a fun yet relaxing day.

We started at 7 AM with a visit to the Maras salt mines or Salineras de Maras. This is a series of ponds owned by families in Maras and Pichingoto. It’s also a UNESCO world heritage site.

There’s a warm salty spring at the top of the valley that has three times the amount of salt of ocean water. The salt water flows into the ponds (called salineras), till full and then is diverted to the next pond. During the dry season evaporation quickly causes a salty crust to form at the top of the ponds. The salt on top is the premium salt. The salt in the middle is called kitchen salt, and the salt towards the bottom of the pond that’s darker is used for industrial use, animals, or bath salts, generally for non-edible purposes. The salt is harvested once a month. You can read more about this process and site here.

Salt is not inexpensive commodity. It’s gathered in hundred pound bags which sell for about $20. The families make most of their money via tourism.

After visiting the salt mines visited a store that sold the salt and of course some Peruvian chocolate. Then it was on to our next stop the Moray ruins.

The Moray ruins consist of many circular terraces which the Incas used as a type of outdoor laboratory for farming. They are about 100 feet deep and have different micro climates. Different crops would fare better on the top row than the bottom row. They weren’t discovered until the 1930s because the Spaniards who conquered Peru were looking for gold and cities, and didn’t think these terrorists were of any interest. They are located on a plateau of 12,000 feet.

We also saw fields of quinoa and kiwicha (amaranth). Kiwicha, like quinoa is a gluten-free superfood grain

After leaving the Moray ruins we went back to Ollyantambo for a Pachemanca barbecue. It’s an underground hot stone barbecue prepared by Andean people since the Incas. First, there’s a hot fire at the stones are all around it and on top of it and get very hot. Then the stones are removed. The fire is put out and food is placed on top of a layer of the hot stones. More stones are put on top and then more food with vegetables being the last item.

For this barbecue, they had pots of quinoa & vegetables, pork, lamb, and chicken, and a variety of Peruvian potatoes, and some fava beans in their pods. While we were waiting for the food to cook, which only took about 20 minutes, a beautiful green salad was served. Then we watched as the layers were removed from the food first dirt then a lot of covers made of canvas then banana leaves and then the food.

Everything was absolutely delicious. The meat was served with various sauces, a spicy one, a moderately spicy one and a mild one.

The farm/restaurant/hotel where this event took place in organic farm and all the food was produced on site.

Before the barbecue started, we had an education in coffee roasting, and after the barbecue, we had an education in making flavored alcohol.

We walked around the town a bit more and found out where the fruits and vegetables were hiding. There was a market, not far from the main square and another market that was closing up as we walked by near a soccer field. There was quite a bit of street food being prepared, and we think we saw guinea pigs being roasted! There’s a ton of restaurants here and you can find just about anything on the menu from guinea pig to ceviche! And on the tops of many buildings are small decorations, the meaning of which I do not know yet. We tried to visit the chocolate museum, but it was closed. I think it’s more a place to learn about cooking.

Tomorrow we have a very early start as we are going to hike part of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.