It wasn’t too hard to get up and be ready by 5am. The driver was at the house around 5:15am. We drove to a small village to have breakfast about halfway. They had a great breakfast buffet with many options for vegetarians. We arrived at Rainbow Mountain at 8am. We started hiking about 8:15am. It was an easy trail but steep at places and we went to over 16,000 feet! It took us until 10am. Roundtrip, the hike was 5.2 miles. We felt very successful. Winner Winner! I haven't taken any altitude meds for a few days. I think I’m adjusted to the elevation now. No more headaches and I can breathe better. We returned to the small restaurant for our lunch. The restaurant was called Puka Punku. Another very good meal. Instead of taking us to the main plaza, the driver let us out 5 blocks from the house. It was a good walk back. We had a great day. Enjoy the photos. We saw some wild Vicunas (type of llama) on the rainbow mountain.
Montaña de Siete Colores, Montaña de Colores or Rainbow Mountain, is a mountain in the Andes of Peru with an altitude of 5,200 metres (17,100 ft) above sea level.[1][2] It is located on the road to the Ausangate mountain, in the Cusco region, between the districts of Cusipata, province of Quispicanchi, Pitumarca, and the province of Canchis.[3]
Tourist access requires a two-hour drive from Cusco and a walk of about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi), or a three-and-a-half-hour drive through Pitumarca and a one-half-kilometre (0.31 mi) steep walk (1–1.5 hours) to the hill. As of 2019, no robust methods of transportation to Vinicunca have been developed to accommodate travelers, as it requires passage through a valley.[4]
In the middle of the 2010s, mass tourism came, attracted by the mountain's series of stripes of various colors[5] due to its mineralogical composition on the slopes and summits.[6] The mountain used to be covered by glacier caps, but these have melted due to global warming. (Wikipedia)
