Water bubbles up from the Qoripujia spring today, just as it has for centuries, and is channelled into a series of over 3,000 main-made separate salt pans, carved in terraces into the hills above the Urubamba River. Salt has been produced here since pre-Inca times, in the same way and visitors today can see the workers carry on this practice. The salty water rests in the mini pans and the water gradually evaporates in the sun, leaving the salty residue, which is dredged by hand, and left to dry out fully. Each of the pools is owned by a separate family, who collect and sell the salt.
A visit to the salt pans can be combined with Moray, an Inca site thought to be an agricultural testing station, which is nearby.
