Moray, the Inca's Experimental Agricultral Station
2012-07-03
Crossing the Urubamba River, and heading up onto a plateau a few kilometers east of Urubamba brings you to Moray. What a sight: concentric rings of terraces going down into a bowl in the earth. Each terrace is a microclimate of its own, according to how deep into the bowl it is. The deepest bowl has 14 terraces. There are three bowls in total, and we will climb down into two of them. Each terrace is about 6 feet high, and there are stone steps which stick out of the terrace walls so the you can climb up or down a level or two. The steps zig-zag down the levels. At the bottom you have the amazing sensation of all the terraces going up above you, and the feeling of all the people who built this place.
The Incas used Moray to experiment with which varieties of corn, potatoes and other crops would yield and thrive. The old stone watercourses for irrigation are of course present here. Moray is surrounded by the Apus, which shine down on us.
