Las salineras de Maras

Half an hour drive from Cuzco is the town of Maras and its salt mines.

Toured the salineras de Maras on Saturday, a salt-producing "facility" on the side of a mountain in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

A small stream trickles from a well at the base of a nevada, out into a gorge -- which just happens to have a huge salt mine underneath. At least 600 years ago, locals found that the water from the mountain flowed steadily, providing a cheap means for extraction of salt.

The mountain stream that is the sole source of water for all the salt "paddies" seen above runs through the bottom left of this pic. That´s it -- a stream about a foot wide and 4 inches deep.

The salt is hauled up and spread out over hundreds of small plots that most resemble rice paddies. Each paddie is about 4 inches deep, with the salt about two inches thick, as is the water. The water from the one stream is spread irrigation-like to all the paddies. With the incessant sun up here, about 2 miles above sea level, evaporation is constant.

The locals check the water levels constantly. Small rocks are placed, or removed, from the rivlet of water running into each paddie, depending on its need.

According to the locals, salt was used to trade with other tribes for yucca, meat, animals, whatever. Everyone used salt, so they had a viable commodity that still brings in revenue today.

One of the old women seen here spent a half hour berating a young male worker for not working hard and steady enough. The matriarchs down here are pretty tough.