2019-05-22 Inkaterra Hacienda Hotel, Urubamba, Peru

Another bright and clear day for our second full day tour of the Sacred Valley

Once again we head off west along the base of the tall mountains passing through the small town of Yucay

We pass the local school of the town, with the entrance painted in very bright colours

On our way to our first stop at Maras, we pass quite stunning scenery

The colour of the fields in the foreground were amazing, in contrast to the surrounding mountains in the back ground

Our first glimpse of the famous salt terraces of Maras from the road high above the site

The view of the valley beyond the salt terraces was equally as spectacular

We continued down to the entrance to the salt terraces, which amazingly have been in use since Inca times

Different coloured salts are produced here at the Maras salt terraces

After our visit to the salt terraces we head towards the town of Maras

Plaza de Armas is the main square in Maras which has a well photographed centre piece statue

The locals of Maras have set up a lunch stall by the main square

Continuing west towards Moray we pass many fields of crops

Quinoa crops awaiting harvest with stunning glaziers in the mountains behind

Our next visit is to Moray, which is famous for its embedded amphitheatre formed by four circular terraces which seem to disappear into the interior like an artificial crater

Evidence seem to suggest that Moray was an important centre of Inca agriculture research on crops grown on different sized plots and at various altitudes. The irrigated fertile soil was experimented with more than 250 different types of vegetables and also cereals like corn, quinoa and kiwicha

Other terraced circles nearby are still in the stages of being excavated. It is believed these were also used to test growth of vegetables etc in different altitudes and micro climates as were done in the large site

While visiting the Moray site which is at the height of 3,500 m above sea level, it was amazing listening to the haunting sounds of the pan pipe flutist

We continue on from Moray to our last stop, heading south east to the small town of Chinchero

It is quite amazing to see how many native Australian eucalyptus trees are growing in Peru

A popular and fun way to visit some of the towns in the Sacred Valley

On the road to Chinchero we came across a panorama lookout which looked down on the Urabamba Valley and we could clearly see the hotel we were staying in below

With my camera lens to the maximum I could clearly see the Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba Hotel in the far distance

Locally produced weaved products are for sale here at the panorama outlook by the road

Once we arrived in the small quaint town of Chinchero we first visited an establishment set up a number of years ago to display the traditional locally weaved products and also demonstrated the method of dying yarn and weaving