One of the strangest and most photographed sights in the Sacred Valley. The Salineras are around 3,000 small terraced salt pans cascading down a hillside above the village of Maras. Each pan holds a few centimetres of brine, fed by an underground saline spring, and the salt is harvested by hand as the water evaporates.
The pans are at their most striking when actively in use — the colour changes through pink, white, and dusty grey depending on the stage of evaporation. A walking path runs through the middle of the complex; the salt produced is sold at small stalls at the entrance and in shops throughout the valley.
The site is around 8 kilometres from the village of Maras itself, and an easy combined visit with Moray. Most agencies in Cuzco or Urubamba sell a half-day Maras-Moray tour for around 60 to 100 soles per person.