Peru
Maras

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    • Day 18

      What a day! Part 2

      March 14, 2023 in Peru

      The scenic drive through the sacred valley is beautiful with the snow cap mountains, and emerald green range. Next stop, Himalayan salt wells. There are 3700 salt wells, owned by the people of the surrounding village. The only mountain to offer salt water is here and these wells have been established since pre Inca days so that's around 1000BC - operating continuously. From here we drove to Moray which is an agriculture wonder. Each ring is a terrace that was used to grow food. Each level has its own microclimate that the Incas used to cultivate different types of fruits, vegetables and plants. All of this was built in the 1400-1500's without anything more than rocks, and chisels. They are so precise and perfect, it's hard to imagine how this is accomplished? It was a hike down and around this place. We then enjoyed a great typical Peruvian lunch.Read more

    • Day 22

      Once upon a time

      January 14 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Secret Valley Tag. Also gehen wir den Geheimnissen der Inkas mal auf die Spur. Indiana Jones wäre stolz auf uns.

      Die örtliche Rental-Mafia hat uns den eigenen Mietwagen ja zerdroschen, dafür hat uns Väterchen Zufall aber noch eine ziemlich räudige Touri-Company bei der x-ten Stadtdurchquerung beschert. Optisch so eine Kaschemme, die man nie freiwillig betritt, also genau der Charme, der Fußballchaoten tendenziell immer anzieht. Um beim Thema zu bleiben, Organe hätte man dort vermutlich auch erwerben können, auf jeden Fall aber waren dort die günstigsten Raten für private Touren abrufbar - irgendeine Schrottkarre mit vier Reifen wird uns dann schon durch die Gegend ballern. Handdrauf Du schmieriger Geselle und schon wechseln 350 Soles den Besitzer. Eine goldene Geldklammer und ein Hahnenkampf im Hinterzimmer hätten den optischen Charme perfekt abgerundet.

      Lissys kritisches Augenrunzeln versteht sich von selbst, aber natürlich sitzen wir fast pünktlich um 6 im Auto. Abfahrt effektiv eine Stunde früher als die Gruppenreisen, sollte also alles passen.

      So oder so - wir haben eine Menge abzuarbeiten. Archäologisches Zentrum in Chinchero, Inka-Stätte Moray, Salzminen in Maras, Ruinen in Ollantaytambo, Inka-Stätte in Pisac. Wir sind hier ja nicht zum Spaß und es reicht ja, wenn der dunkeldeutsche Landstrich Deutschlands dumm stirbt, müssen wir ja nicht dazugehören.

      Der Tag besteht somit überwiegend aus Steinen, Steinen und noch mehr Steinen. Und einer Menge Mehrausgaben, denn gefühlt hat die peruanische Tourismusbehörde einfach mal pauschal und überall den Eintrittpreis verdoppelt. Ich sag es ja schon immer, die Ampel und die Mehrwertsteuererhöhung in Deutschland sind wirklich an Allem schuld. Merkel muss weg. Wir sind das Volk. Da geht ja gleich der deutsche Wutbürger mit mir durch.

      Dank gutem Guide allerdings recht transparent und interessant vermittelt, ganz nebenbei ist es tatsächlich sehr beachtlich, was da von den Abkömmlingem des Sonnengottes "Inti" an Mauern, Festungen, Terrassen und Plattformen zusammengehämmert wurde.

      Obwohl wir an jeder einzelnen Station früher als die Masse sind, nervt freilich das Gewusel. Sonntag. Familientag. Tolle Idee. Tendenziell sollte es straffrei sein, irgendwelche selbstverliebten Selfie*otzen mit ihrem eigenen Selfiestick zu erdrosseln. Ich verspreche, ich mache dann auch ein Insta-Video vom letzten Atemzug. Wo sind eigentlich meine Blutdrucktsbletten?

      Bei all der Hektik sollte freilich nicht vergessen werden, dass Al Bundy 1966 vier Touchdowns in einem Spiel gemacht hat und den Polk High School Panthers damit zur Stadtmeisterschaft verholfen hat. Hoppla, im Thema verrutscht. Ich wollte eher daran erinnern, dass wir bis zum heutigen Tag kein Meerschweinchen auf dem Gewissen haben. Gelegenheiten dafür gab es heute genug, aber so ein Scheidungsanwalt kostet ja auch was, dann übt man sich eben im Verzicht. Inwieweit so ein guinea-pig am Spieß allerdings überhaupt appetitlich aussieht, liegt eh' in den Augen des Betrachters. Auch deshalb gibt es am Abend mal wieder klassisch peruanischen... Burger. Quasi wie Schnitzel auf Malle, nur besser.
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    • Day 3

      Vale Sagrado - Salineas Maras

      August 20, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

      CEGOSSSSS ...
      Chegamos a Maras, onde fica uma das maiores Salinas do Peru. Aprendemos sobre o processo natural e ouvimos hístorias como o mar abaixou de nível, mantedo o sal dentro das montanhas e toda a hístoria de como o sal já foi valioso e moeda de troca.

      "SALário"
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    • Day 48

      Valle Sagrado

      August 20, 2023 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Restless as always I start my adventure to the Sacred Valley with a colectivo ride to Ollantaytambo. The old Inca town provides awesome views of temples and the mountain range. After enjoying a great lunch with Alpaca meat, I head off to the Salineras of Maras. Hiking up from Media Luna to the Salineras and then to Maras cost a lot of energy. Arriving finally in Maras, I am lucky to find a beautiful refugio. Having the refugio all for myself, I gaze at the sunset views of the mountain range. Later I walk in the town to find dinner and use the beautiful nightsky for some star photography. The beautiful refugio provides the perfect spot for a quiet night with the starsRead more

    • Day 208

      Quad tour

      February 13, 2020 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      Little quad tour which was actually pretty nice because it had rain a lot and so there where a lot of potholes on the way 😏😉 (videos)
      And we are getting a little bit international by learning special poses in french 😂👌
      It was very dirty but a loooot of fun!! :D
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    • Maras, Peru

      November 15, 2019 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Sacred Valley. Casa Killaunu (House), Moray Archeological Site, Museo Inkariy

      We woke to the sounds of drizzling rain but more comforting, to the sounds of the chef and helper starting to cook breakfast. What a feast – hot chocolate quinoa porridge, scrambled eggs cooked with herbs, fried potatoes of course, (did we mention there are 3000 varieties of potatoes in Peru), and fried plantain. After we stuffed ourselves, we were picked up about 10:00 am in a sparkling white van by our driver, Gabriel, to take us to Moray a 30 km trip from the house and 7 km west of Maras.

      We drove to Urubamba and then turned off to climb uphill for about half an hour. We came to the town of Maras a typical Peruvian village where we saw the normal Peruvian dress worn by both men and women. We continued on uphill through beautiful agricultural fields. We saw many tourist buses and also ATVs ridden by tourists over very muddy terrain. When we stepped out of the lovely white van the sides were coated in red mud.

      Moray is an archaeological site in Peru approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Cuzco on a high plateau at about 3,500 metres and just west of the village of Maras. This area was discovered in 1932 and contains unusual Inca ruins, mostly consisting of several terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is approximately 30 m deep. As with many other Inca sites, it also has an irrigation system. During the rainy season, we would expect the site to turn into a giant pond but because of the terraces, how they were built, and the materials within them, the terraces never get flooded.

      The purpose of these depressions is uncertain, but their depth, design, and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and the bottom. This landmark site was likely used for farming and soil samples have shown that soils were brought in from different regions to be used in helping grow crops at the different levels of the terraces. The circular shape enabled a lot of testing for crop culture as well: if the crops were facing north, south, east or west, the amount of sunshine they received varied considerably. Therefore, the Incas could experiment and study what crops grew better in what conditions and get fundamental knowledge that they could apply to their large-scale crop cultivations elsewhere. It is said that with a structure such as Moray, the Incas were able to reproduce the various climates found across their empire, from sea level to high altitude.

      We spent about an hour and a half touring the site. The terraces wound around and in the walls were embedded steps reaching about 8 feet high to allow the Incas to move from one terrace to another. We definitely could feel the changes of temperature as we went down into the center. We don’t know, but maybe thousands of years ago the crater may have been formed by a meteorite, all speculation on our part as even Archeologists have not figured out much about the site.

      There were many tourist buses that had come from Ollantaytambo and Cusco and the people were spending very little time there as they were trying to fit 3 or 4 Inca sites into a one day excursion, We are glad we have taken a few days to take our time exploring this fascinating area. We drove back down into the Sacred Valley to Urubamba, stopped at the Scotiabank ATM to stock up with Soles and then continued on to see a museum.

      Museo Inkariy is a giant of a project that took thirteen years from first planning its creation to finally opening its doors in 2015. It’s unique in that it is the first private-run Peruvian museum in the Cusco region and is more like a cinematic experience than a traditional museum visit. The museum is divided into nine different pavilions each showcasing one of the most important pre-Hispanic Peruvian cultures, over 5000 years of civilizations including Caral, Chavín, Paracas, Moche, Nazca, Wari, Lambayeque, Chimu and Inca. The descriptions and artifacts and lifelike displays were amazing and as we went through the rooms it brought together much of what we have learned throughout our trip.

      Each culture is showcased in two parts. First, elements of each culture including dress, customs, beliefs and art are explained in an ‘ante-room’. You then move to the second part of each pavilion, where an iconic scene is recreated from each culture. The Paracas room recreates a typical burial scene, while the Wari Pavilion showcases a warrior making weapons. Statues and sculptures are very realistic with extreme attention to detail including wrinkles, tattoos and perfectly styled hair! Even the body types of each character were meticulously researched to represent for example the body type and facial structure of a Wari warrior or an Inca ruler. This museum surpasses all expectations and is well worth a 2-hour visit.

      We returned to our house to have a late lunch sitting on the patio. Don went for a "lie down" and Lee spent time writing our Blog.

      Tonight, we are using up the leftovers from the 2 sensational dinners that our chef cooked for us. I hear very animated conversation downstairs, so this is the end of my typing.
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    • Day 11

      Maras

      July 5, 2015 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Die nächste Sehenswürdigkeit waren die Salzbecken in Maras. Um dort hinzukommen, mussten wir uns erst einer Inka-Massage unterziehen, d.h. dank der durchlöcherten Schotterpiste ruckelten wir in unseren Sitzen wie bei einer Massage umher. Oben an den Salzbecken spuckte uns das Auto aus. Wir lernten den Salzgewinnungsprozess kennen und balancierten auf schmalen Beckenrändern bergabwärts durch die Anlage. Am Ende wanderten wir einen wunderschönen Teil des Inka-Trails bis nach Urubamba, immer oberhalb des Flusses Urubamba entlang und kehrten in einem Buffet-Restaurant ein. Das Essen war vielseitig und super lecker. Neben Alpaka-Carpaccio, Schweinebraten in Holundersosse aus Anden-Holunder, Alpaka-Stew gab es auch Hühnchen in Erdnuss-Sosse oder Hühnchen in Gorgonzola-Sosse. Das Kosten von Meerschweinchen musste wieder vertagt werden, es wurde leider nicht angeboten.Read more

    • Day 31

      Sāls raktuves

      April 3, 2018 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Mana pēdējā pilnā diena Peru. Aizdevāmies palūkoties mazu daļiņu no Inku Svētās ielejas, kur klimats bija tik labvēlīgs, ka tur auga visvisādi labumi. Apmeklējām arī sālsraktuves, kur sāli iegūst no sālsavota, kas tiek novadīts pa baseiniem un pēc tam ūdens tiek iztvaicēts karstajā saulē un sāls ievākts. Katrs baseiniņš pieder vienai ģimenei, bet baseiniņus īpašumā iegūt var tikai ļaudis, kuri dzīvo vietējā ciematā. Tāda lūk privilēģija un aizsardzība no rietumu kapitālisma.Read more

    • Day 41

      Back to Cusco

      November 9, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      After spending some more time walking around the terraced salt fields, we started our way back to Cusco. We reached back at about 2:30 pm.
      The 1st thing we did was to move the Sacred Valley tour from the 11th Nov to 10th. We had bought a partial tourist ticket today for /S 70 per person and it was valid for only 2 days and it included the sights in the Sacred Valley. Our initial plan had been to do the Morales tour, then the Rainbow mountain tour and then the Sacred Valley tour. To avoid having to buy this tourist ticket again, we moved the Sacred Valley tour one day earlier and postponed the Rainbow mountain tour by a day.
      The evening was spent looking for a good price for the Rainbow mountain tour.
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    • Day 41

      Maras stopover

      November 9, 2017 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      After Moray, we made a brief stopover at the town of Maras. This is the nearest village to the Inca Salt fields.
      Here,we learnt that there are 3 types of salts that are extracted from the salt fields in the Salineras. The lowest is brownish and has earth mixed in it. This is for medicinal usage and is added to the bath for better blood circulation and also aids in other cures.
      The pink salt is the next one and is a bit less course. This one is used for cooking and is good for meats and vegetables.
      The top layer is the finest and is called white salt or flour of salt. This is used for salads.
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    Maras

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