 Our last stop today is the Maras salt mines, where we first enjoy a boxed lunch Edwin has prepared for us, with sandwiches, nuts, passionfruit (a common snack here) and other treats. The salt 'mines' are actually evaporation pools, in use since the Inca (and before), where the valuable salt is still harvested in the same way today. Spring water passing through the mountains becomes infused with salt and minerals, and is diverted to square evaporation pools where the salt is collected and sold.
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