We decided to move to Urumbamba after a week-long stay in Cusco during our trip to Valle Sagrado in August 2022. We thought that this was a good base to explore some of the sights between Cusco and Ollantaytambo, such as the archaeological ruins of Chinchero, the Moray terraces, and the focus of this review--the Salt Mines of Maras. We planned to visit Moray and Maras on a half-day trip, but circumstances changed and we ended up focusing on Maras.

The site

The site is located south and across the river of Urubamba. Using public transportation to get to the salt mines could be quite confusing, thus, we decided to hire a car and a driver. Before reaching the town of Maras we turned right to a well-paved road that leads to the site. Upon arrival, we noticed that there were fewer cars than expected, but the number of closed shops and eateries indicates that this place could get really crowded. Past the entrance, a path leads down to the viewing "platforms" that provide a great view of the salt mines, the gorge, and the mountains in the background. It's a beautiful sight despite the dark grey clouds that loomed over the mountains. The salt mines are basically terraces of white rectangular pools that slope down until they reach what seemed to be the bottom of the gorge (though it's not after checking Google Maps). 

We saw a bunch of locals doing different things: (1) one was cleaning a couple of pools; (2) a man was shoveling salt grains and putting them into sacks; (3) a woman with a manta bag on her back was collecting salt using a wooden basket; and (4) another lady was doing visual checks. What's amazing about this was that the people working there were said to be the descendants of workers and owners of the salt mines since the pre-colonial times. We then joined a group of tourists who were checking out what seemed to be the spring and the source of the saltwater, which flowed into a catchment that eventually branched into several channels and down to the pools. I could only appreciate how the water was distributed throughout this large area, and how workers tirelessly manage and protect their respective pools. After half an hour observing the workers, we then traced our way back to the parking lot, encountering shops that were selling white and pink salts, snacks, drinks, local textiles and some other knick-knacks. In retrospect, seeing the salt mines reminded me of the Salinas Las Grandes that is part of the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan WHS in Mexico.

On its OUV

I see the potential for the Salt Mines of Maras to be inscribed as a World Heritage Site. As a living heritage there is a high degree of authenticity, and I think it would fill the gap in salt mining heritage in South America. 

However, is it "strong" enough to represent the OUV it claims? In other inscribed sites (e.g., Tehuacan-Cuicatlan) salt mines were just a small part of a more diverse cultural landscape. Arc-et-Senans and Wieliczka, attributing to their industrial development, have other things going on such as the buildings and associated built environment. But this is also what makes Maras unique, as it did not have the same level of exploitation seen in Wieliczka and Arc-et-Senans that necessitated industrialisation. Locals maintained much of the traditional methods of salt extraction in Maras. In the end, I can only speculate, but I feel like there is a case of it as a living heritage and I would love to see this site inscribed in the future.