The Rainbow Mountain of Cusco, located over 5000 meters (16,732) above the sea level, became a must-see for all tourists traveling around and the second most visited place in Peru, only behind Machu Picchu. The magic of this tour starts on the road. While traveling from Cusco to the entrance of the mountain, you’ll enjoy the beautiful landscapes from the south valley of Cusco, having the Ausangate Mountain – the highest in this area – as the highlight. From the bus window you will also be able to appreciate the habits and customs of the locals, as well as see small farms of llamas and alpacas along the way until we reach our destination and have a stop for a breakfast.
Once we reach the entrance of Vinicunca, how the locals call the Rainbow Mountain, we’ll start our 2h hike until reach the sightseeing to take the classic picture with the colorful mountain on the background and enjoy the nature around. If you are lucky enough you can even see wild vicuñas around! After this amazing experience we’ll hike back to the entrance point to have our delicious lunch before drive back to Cusco.
Rainbow Mountain Trek
Rainbow Mountain is the new must site to visit while you are in Cusco! This incredible hike is organized for travelers who are well acclimated to the altitude and can trek for 4 hours. Climbing up the mountain takes about 2 hours and is a fairly steep climb ending at an altitude of over 5000 meters.
Distance: 6 km approx. ( we are going by Cusipata which is a shorter route)
We will pick you up from your hotel between 4:15 and 5:00 am to start our 3 hour ride towards the foothills of the Mount Ausangate. Once we arrive at our destination, we will have a boxed-breakfast and after a brief chat with the group, we will begin our trek. It will take about 2 hours to reach the most beautiful point where we will have time to take photos of this enigmatic place! During our trek up and down the mountain, we will have the opportunity to see the varieties of South American camelids and the impressive Andean Mountains highlighted by the snowcapped Ausangate. We will have a brief meeting at the top to hear about the Rainbow Mountain and surrounding area and then you will have time to take in the beautiful landscape that makes up this sacred land in Cusco, Peru. We will then start our descent from the mountain, which should take around 2 hours. There will be options to take horses up or down from the mountain, if the climb becomes too challenging.
We will regroup at the bottom and then head to a small city to have a delicious Peruvian inspired buffet lunch! After this fantastic meal we will drive back to Cusco and have a much needed siesta!
