The Sacred Valley: Ancient Ruins & Andean Gorges

Departing Cusco brings you northwest onto the high plains of Chinchero to reach the Salinas de Maras. This is a spectacular, world-famous agricultural wonder. Nestled inside a narrow clay gorge, over 3,000 terraced, hand-built evaporation pools are fed by a single, highly concentrated natural hot spring of salt water. The water has filtered slowly down through porous salt-rock layers for centuries. The result is an unbelievable, white-and-pink patchwork of pools reflecting the blue sky. Walking the clifftop boardwalk is a deeply silent, geographic experience; the dry air is crisp, and the ground is covered in a delicate layer of salt crystals. Nearby, you will visit the Moray Terraces—three massive, hand-carved agricultural craters that resemble deep amphitheaters, where the Incas built a series of concentric circular stone terraces to create a sophisticated agricultural laboratory, with temperature variations of up to 15°C between the top and bottom decks!

Winding north past the salt pans brings you to the historic town of Ollantaytambo, the launch pad to Machu Picchu. Perched on a hill above the Urubamba River, this is the only town in Peru that has preserved its original Inca town planning, with stone-paved streets, wooden doors, and flowing water channels. The undisputed visual centerpiece is the Ollantaytambo Fortress. This is a spectacular, world-famous archaeological masterpiece. Climbing the steep, vertical stone terraces is a deeply historic, and powerful experience. The scale is monumental, and the ruins feature the Temple of the Sun—a colossal, hand-carved solid pink-granite wall of six vertical stone monoliths that weigh up to 50 tons, transported from high-mountain quarries across the river rapids, showcasing the absolute pinnacle of Inca stone-carved craftsmanship.