Salt Pools of Maras, Peru

After recovering from our altitude/intestinal disagreement with the local food from the first few days in Cusco, we finally were ready to do a day trip. About an hour outside of Cusco, near a town called Urubumba, there are salt rivers that flow out underground salt springs. The people have a system of terracing and directing the water flow to catch it in pools, let it evaporate, and harvest the salt. With only a handful of workers, they manage 3800 pools, directing the water and harvesting them. We talked to a guy who told us that each pool averages 25 kg of salt a month (works out to 3100 kg per day).