The Salineras de Maras are one of the most photogenic sights in the Sacred Valley: more than three thousand small salt pans stepped down a hillside, each filled with mineral-rich water from a natural spring. The brine evaporates in the sun, leaving behind a crystalline layer of salt that families harvest by hand using pre-Inca techniques unchanged in the essentials for over a thousand years.
The colours shift through the day and the season — white, pink, ochre, rust — depending on the mineral content of the water and the stage of evaporation. In the morning the water is often a vivid turquoise; by afternoon the evaporating pools turn chalky and pale. The terracing extends down a steep hillside above the Urubamba River, and the scale only becomes clear when you spot people working near the base, suddenly tiny against the expanse of stepped pools.
The salt is sold at a small shop at the entrance and makes a good purchase — it is locally produced, distinctive in flavour, and doesn't weigh much. You can walk among the active terraces; just stay on the marked paths to avoid disturbing the salt beds. The site is usually combined with a visit to Moray, about 5 km away by road.