Maras, Moray, and Chinchero Cooking Class Full-Day Tour from Cusco
4.8
11 Ratings
Cusco
Immerse yourself in the magic of Maras, Moray, and Chinchero on this full-day tour from Cusco. Learn traditional Inca weaving techniques, enjoy a cooking lesson, explore the impressive Inca amphitheater, and witness the ancient salt harvesting process.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Valentin’s Pachamama Journeys - You will be picked up at 8:30am by private driver at your hotel. From Cusco or the Sacred Valley, there is a 45-minute drive through beautiful mountains and farmlands to the town of Chinchero.
- Chinchero - Our visit to Chinchero will consist of 3 parts. First we will visit the temple of the rainbow, one of the biggest Inca temples, in order to learn why they worshiped the rainbow. Next we will visit a church with murals depicting the Cusqueñan style of painting. This style of art combines traditional Inca imagery with Christian motifs. We will then walk through the beautiful village in Chinchero, ending in the women’s weaving cooperative where we will watch a demonstration of local weavers who are still using traditional Inca patterns and techniques for dyeing fabric.Here you will have time to browse the shop which sells Inca style purses, tablecloths, wall hangings, and many other colorful and exquisitely patterned artisan goods. Finally, we will have a cooking lesson where the ladies will teach us how to make quinoa soup, a staple of their diet. After sharing lunch with them, we can dress up in the traditional clothing and hat of Chinchero and take some photos with the local women.
- Moray - We will then drive for about 40-minute through the beautiful Sacred Valley to Moray where we will look down below to contemplate the concentric circles that made up an Incan agricultural laboratory. Hike down into the archaeological site with a private guided tour of the ruins that served as one of the main amphitheaters for the Incas where they performed rituals and ceremonies.
- Salinas de Maras - We will then continue 25-minute on to Maras stopping on the way to take photos and watch people harvesting potatoes or corn, before arriving to see an incredible collection of salt mines that have been used since pre-Inca times to evaporate salt from an underground. It is truly a breathtaking site. We can see people harvesting salt which is still used today in local restaurants and you can purchase some salt to bring home.
Return to Cusco or your hotel in the Sacred Valley.
What's Included
- Local guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Quinoa soup for lunch
- Transport by private vehicle
What's Not Included
- Alcoholic drinks
- Entrance fees to Salt Mines $3.00
- Entrance fee to Moray requires a Boleto Turistico: 130Soles ($37.00). This Boleto covers entrance to Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Moray, multiple museums in Cusco and Sacsayhuaman or 70 Soles ($23.00) which covers only some of these sites
- Lunch other than quinoa soap
Additional Information
Embark on a journey to three enchanting locations, along with a culinary learning experience. Initially, we visit Chinchero, where you witness local weavers demonstrate age-old Inca yarn dyeing methods and patterns. Following that, partake in a cooking class centered around preparing quinoa soup, a common local dish, and join the locals for lunch. Our journey then proceeds to Moray, a spectacular Inca amphitheater and archaeological site. We conclude our excursion at Maras’s salt mines, where locals continue the age-old Inca tradition of salt extraction.
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
Location
Valentin's Pachamama Journeys
Urubamaba
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(11 Ratings)
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Thealexdvazquez
Aug 5, 2022
Valentin + Kenny + Peru = Magical times. - Visiting Peru and the sacred lands has been the trip of a lifetime. Spending time with Valentin and his son Kenny, made it that much better. They are both so knowledgeable about the country and it's roots. Valentin grew up in the area and still lives there on a mountain farm, getting know the details of real-life Peru and how it's like to live in this area was amazing. The tours are super flexible, which is soooo great when visiting another country. There are times you may want to spend more or less time at a destination, it was always ok to move around at our own pace. I highly recommend to visit the country side and the school that is being built, it truly was amazing to share human experiences with all the children and their families. Valentin and Kenny are amazing humans, so thankful to have met them both and spend all this time with them and learning about the local cultures. Peru is amazing, spent 10 days... I'll be back - soooo much to see and do. Magical lands for sure.
Peace and Love,
Alex V.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sazimm
Mar 25, 2022
Unforgettable Day in the Valle Sagrado! - After looking into the various companies that provide tours of the Sacred Valley, my family selected Valentin's primarily for his commitment to preserving the cultures and traditions of the region while serving the current population (especially the children) who make their region their home. Our guide, Deybe, made my family's visit to Chinchero, Maras, Morau, and Ollantaytambo truly memorable, and we especially enjoyed our visit to the local village school that Valentin supports. We were even able to bring a few school supplies for school which had just recently begun in-person instruction after having been closed owing to COVID restrictions. We especially enjoyed our Panchamanca meal cooked using a traditional ground oven. It was one of the best meals we had in Peru! As Peru re-embraces tourism after the challenges of the past two years, PLEASE consider booking with Valentin. You will be very happy that you did!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Petra
Jun 13, 2020
Fun day! 5 stars! - Had a very fun day with Valentins pachamama team. They were very good at explaining everything about all the places we visited and the cooking class was the best, something unique to do on our holiday. We are planning to do more trips to visit Valentin and his team again as he was very attentive and helped us plan the rest of our trip too. Very helpful. 5 stars experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Margaret
Dec 8, 2019
Wonderful opportunity to meet a local family up close and personal - Carlos and his excellent driver Cesar met us on time at our hotel lobby. This tour took us to the salt mines which was far more interesting than I had imagined. Then on to Moray with its perfectly round terraces. We did not do the full hike as my friend was having some difficulty with the altitude. Because it was a private tour we did not have to wait around for other people who might have wanted to do the full hike. Carlos, again, imparted new information regarding all the terraces and the information learned as scientists studied the soil in the terraces. The cooking lesson was sheer fun although not that much of a cooking lesson. They had us dress up in chef's clothes and take pictures. We did participate in peeling potatoes and shelling fava beans for the soup. It was fun to be with a local family in their actual kitchen complete with guinea pigs. When lunch was served we had wonderful delicious soup as well as many other dishes. The yarn cleaning, dyeing and spinning was interesting and fun. They have many nice items for sale so be sure to bring lots of soles as you will want to buy some of the knits or weavings and they do not take dollars or credit cards.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alexlk2
Jul 8, 2019
This tour was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip! - I am a big researcher, so I spent many many hours looking for the right tour for our one day in the Sacred Valley. Having just returned from Peru yesterday, both my boyfriend and I agreed our tour with Hernan (and the amazing driver) was one of our FAVORITE DAYS of our trip!
Our guide Hernan and driver (I forget his name but he was wonderful!) picked us up in a large air conditioned Mercedes van from our hotel in the Sacred Valley. Hernan and driver were so friendly, knowledgeable and energetic! We felt safe and confident in the fact we were being shown around by true experts! The end of the tour was the best part- two adorable abuelas graciously brought us into their home and weaving co op and had us help them cook a delicious quinoa soap and showed us how to weave from alpaca fur! Truly a memorable and authentic experience.
Overall, the day was amazing- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Valentin Pachamama Journeys tour and tour guide Hernan!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ljoshi
Jun 30, 2019
Awesome tour experience with Valentin’s pachamama - We booked a private tour with this tour group and it turned out to be a really great experience. Our guide was Wilson and he was really accommodating - he was very knowledgeable as well as engaging- his experience showed.
Highlights of the tour included the cooking class and lunch at a traditional Andean home, followed by a demonstration of weaving. The moray ruins were fascinating -Wilson made the theories quite interesting. The maras salt mines are gorgeous - don’t miss them.
The guide went out of his way to accommodate our request to find a SIM card place for us and we appreciated the flexibility!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
443jeremis
Nov 20, 2018
Real Peru - I cannot express in words how amazing this tour was. First it was a private tour with a guide, driver, my wife, and I which was perfect. Second Valentine (our guide) was amazing in explaining everything that was happening in Peru currently and in the past. Third, we really got to experience the real Peru! Valentine took us to a local woman's house for our cooking and weaving session. We got to see how they lived their day to day lives. The food was amazing! The weaving session was very informative and interesting. Moray was fascinating and again only having the four of us made it very special. Maras salt mines were gorgeous! The chicha was fantastic. Again I cannot say enough good things about this experience. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to experience Peru.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Melinoel
Apr 19, 2018
Best guide service ever - Valentin and his team offer a top-notch travel experience. I led two retreats (one retreat for introverts and one for women) in Peru this last month and enlisted Valentin's expertise for both. He went above and beyond in sharing information and stories about his culture, family, Peruvian history, politics, policy issues, and so forth. We loved every place we visited and felt he and his team helped us connect to Peru in a meaningful way. Nilton was a pleasure to get to know and Wilbur was an excellent, safe driver. I look forward to working closely with Valentin's Pachamama Journey's in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Chazman42
May 8, 2018
A beautiful visit to the Sacred Valley Countryside - Valentin and Wilbur picked us up at our hotel in Cusco and we were off for a drive to the Sacred Valley. After a quick stop at a scenic overlook with bathrooms, our second stop was Moray, where we learned about the Incan agricultural experiments to determine if crops grew better at different elevations and water levels. This involved a short hike, and was a beautiful spot.
Second stop was a visit to possibly the last Peruvian village hat maker, a very unique experience.
Next we visited the Maras Salt Mines, which is probably something you will never see again. This is how salt is extracted from the Earth, pretty cool. We bought 2 kinds of salt.
Our last stop was to a local woman's house to help her make a couple Peruvian dishes. We diced potatoes and peeled fava beans, tossing the fava bean shells to the floor so her kitchen guinea pigs could eat them. We ate lunch there and then learned about the process of turning alpaca, llama and sheep wool into garments and blankets. This involves dyeing the spun wool with natural substances, and then weaving the patterns. It looks like a very difficult, time-consuming effort. There were items for sale but she doesn't take credit cards or ripped American dollars, and we had minimal soles. An alpaca is also there for photo ops.
Overall, Valentin was a great, knowledgeable guide, having grown up in the Sacred Valley. I would highly recommend this tour. There is a lot of driving around, as these places are spread out a bit. Also, bring some soles if you want to purchase anything, like a hand-made alpaca blanket or sweater.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John
May 22, 2017
We opted to skip the Moray part of... - <p>We opted to skip the Moray part of the tour, as my wife has climbing difficulties. The rest of the tour was great. Valentine was extremely good and courteous. The cooking part with a local was fun and the soup was excellent. We had seen other weaving demos so were not surprised by the info. The salt processing was very interesting and unusual. Overall, we enjoyed everything and had a good time.</p>
Review provided by Viator
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