Peru is so extraordinary that a new attraction is put into value each year. Best of all, these are so different that you can find cultural, natural, and even experiential attractions. Of course, its geographic diversity helps this purpose. And the Rainbow Mountain attraction is a proof of that.
Before 2015, there was no news of this attraction. Global warming caused the snow on the Ausangate mountain range to recede gradually. Thus, the snow unveiled a beautiful spectacle: Rainbow Mountain.
Visiting this wonder offers a colorful view of the Andes. It also reminds us of global warming and what we do to reduce our carbon footprint. Is it worth a visit? Well, yes, it is worth every second we spend there.
But we want to tell you more. So, the experts of the Machu Travel Peru team bring you a complete guide to visit this new Cusco and Peru marvel. Paint this experience with colors following these tips!
Everything you need to know to reach the colorful skies below
- The Rainbows Mountains
- Vinicunca rainbow mountain
- Palcoyo rainbow mountain
- What to wear
- The best time to visit
- Last tips
The Rainbow Mountains
Yes, as you can see, Peru has two colored mountains, not just one! If the United States has its own Rainbow Mountain in Utah, China has one in Gansu, and Argentina has one in Jujuy, Peru has two rainbow mountains! Vinicunca and Palcoyo are the names of these mountains. And all of them are in the Cusco region, the land of the Incas and Machu Picchu.
The mountains are south of Cusco, on the route heading to Puno. The soils in that area have many minerals. They change the color of the mountain’s surface where they are.
These colors come from the sedimentation of materials like sandstone, halite, gravel, and limestone. The chemical change from sulfation altered the minerals’ pigmentation. This geological formation comes from the movements that created the Andes Mountains. Now, It displays seven bright colors:
- Yellow: Calcareous sandstones.
- Green: Phyllites, clay.
- Pink: Red clay, mudstones, arillites.
- Red: Clayey stone, clay.
- Brown: Fanglomerate.
- White: Quartz, sandstone, marl.
Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain
Vinicunca is the most popular of the three. It is 139 km southeast of Cusco, on the route heading to Puno. This was the first mountain to be discovered in 2015. The breathtaking colors at the top of the mountain, at 16,522 ft, will be your reward after you get there.
Vinicunca’s name comes from Quechua, where “Wini” means stone. This phrase describes the region’s profusion of tiny, spherical, hard, and hefty black stones. In contrast, the word “Kunka” refers to the valley’s narrow mountain pass and signifies “neck.” Vinicunca could be interpreted as “hill of the narrow neck” in Spanish.
A. How to get there
You can hire transportation from a travel agency that will pick you up from your hotel and provide you with a guide. Or, you can take a public van from Huayrurupata Street, next to the Coliseo Cerrado del Cusco; the cost is 10 $ USD. Either way, you will leave Cusco very early, around 04:30 am to 5:00 pm. The car trip lasts 02 hours up to get to Cusipata town.
In Cusipata, the transportation will make a little stop to have breakfast in one of the local restaurants. This is a semi-buffet meal included in the service of a travel agency. If you are going on your own, you can have breakfast in these local restaurants too, with a previous payment. The cost is 15 $ USD.
Following that, you’ll take your transportation to continue the trip to Chillihuani for one hour more. This town is 3887 meters above sea level. If you are traveling alone, you will need to take a taxi or a shared van; the cost is 18 $ USD. You can catch these from Cusipata main square to reach Chillihuani.
From Chillihuani, our adventures in the Peruvian Andes is about to begin! After using the clean toilets in the village, we will get important information from our guide. Then, after doing some warm-up exercises, the trek will begin.
If you are alone, you can use the clean toilets in the village. Get ready physically and follow the marked path by yourself.
You will even find a small stable here to ride a horse up the mountain! You can rent one for 70 Soles, one way. 50 Soles if you need it only for the return from the mountain. And 100 Soles, if you need it for your round trip.
Of course, the horses will not take you to the mountain itself but only to a point 1 kilometer from it. This service is not included in the travel agencies’ packages.
B. The Tour
This trekking experience lasts around two hours from Chillihuani to the same Vinicunca top mountain. You will pass through beautiful high Andean landscapes such as valleys, ravines and high plains. The road is perfectly marked and has a slight incline, which you must climb. However, the trail gets steeper, and the last 30 minutes of trekking will be a real challenge for you.
Keep in mind that you will be hiking at over 4000 meters. The oxygen may be less, so go at your own pace and take it easy. If you go with a travel agency, your guide will look out for you.
When you reach the mountain, the spectacle will be completely at your disposal. At 16,522 feet, the wind will be strong, and you will have to wear sunglasses and a hat because of the strong rays of the sun. You will have time to take the best pictures with the colorful mountain in the background. Your effort will be crowned by a colorful peak!
C. The return
After approximately one hour at the top of the mountain, you will start the return trip by the same trail you climbed. The return is a steep descent for the first 30 minutes, the remaining time the trail has a slight incline. You arrive at the village of Chillihuani, where you can use the restrooms and board your transport to Cusipata.
The trip by car is one hour to the village. Here, in the same restaurant where you had breakfast, you will have a semi-buffet lunch waiting for you. This is included in your tour package.
If you are traveling alone, you can hire a Van from Chillihuani to Cusipata. However, you will need to wait for the vehicle to fill up. The cost of public transportation is 18 $ USD. In the same way, you can have lunch in any local Cusipata restaurant with a previous payment of 15 $ USD.
Finally, you will take your transportation, returning to Cusco in two hours. You will get to the Imperial city at 15:30 pm approx. In the case of solo travelers, they´ll have to take public transportation to the bus stop station on the Cusipata- Cusco highway. The cost is 10 $ USD.
Usually, the shuttles drop you off at Plaza Regocijo. Next to the main square of the city.
Palcoyo Rainbow Mountain
Palcoyo is 1525 km southeast of Cusco, at 16,076 feet of altitude. It is even further south of Cusipata and the rainbow mountain of Vinicunca. However, it has three important advantages over Vinicunca.
The first is that its climbing does not require much effort. The second is that the town of Checacupe offers an optional visit to its Inca bridge, beautiful! The third is that once at the colorful summit of the mountain, we can also visit its stone forest. Let’s see.
A. How to get there
In the same case of Vinicunca, the experience will begin at dawn. From 4:30 am to 5:00 pm, transportation will leave for Checacupe. You can choose a travel agency or public transport.
Checacupe is a colonial town 98 km southeast of Cusco. The trip by car takes 02:30 hrs. You can take the same public transportation from Huayrurupata Street, next to the Coliseo Cerrado del Cusco. The cost of the bus ticket is 10 $ USD.
Upon arrival at Checacupe, you can have a semi-buffet breakfast at one of the local restaurants. Included in your tour package or on your own at a cost of 15 $ USD.
Then, you can visit the famous Inca bridge that crosses the Pitumarca River. Its strong abutments are made of solid rock. The bridge was built by the Inca Wiracocha in 1445. The bridge itself is made of straw and is renewed every year.
Next to it, there is also a colonial bridge, this time built with lime and stone by order of King Carlos III in 1760.
You will then board your transport again for a one-hour drive to the village of Hanchipacha at 13,681 feet of altitude. The car will follow the Pitumarca River. This river has a beautiful red color from the clay in its base and slopes.
If you are traveling alone, take public transportation from Checacupe’s main square to Palcoyo or Hanchipacha. Then, walk up the mountain.
It is recommended that you hire transportation to wait for you and return you to Checacupe. The cost is $25 USD. But be careful; the road to Palcoyo is not well signposted.
B. The Tour
In Hanchipacha, you can use the village bathrooms, stock up on some snacks from the community store, and begin the trek. A direct payment of 7 $ USD must be made to the community that manages the mountain. You will walk through beautiful high Andean landscapes at more than 4,500 m.a.s.l.
The route has a gentle slope and is not very demanding. The journey time is 01:15 hrs and there are no horses to rent due to the ease of the route. However, the path is not very well signed, so a tour guide and a travel agency will never be out of place.
On the mountain, you will enjoy a unique landscape of colors. The best part is that there won’t be many people around. So, you can take as many photos as you want. The colorful mountain will be your perfect background, and you can capture it from different angles.
Next, you can climb another 500 meters to the stunning stone forest. This natural rock formation looks like the buildings of an alien city!
C. The return
The return journey follows a different path. It has a gentle slope and takes less than an hour. This leads back to the transport location, which is Hanchipacha. Again, the past is poorly signed, so a travel agency and a guide will be helpful.
Next, we will travel back to Checacupe to have a semi-buffet lunch at the same restaurant where we had breakfast. The car trip will take about one hour. If you travel alone, you can lunch here with a previous payment of 15 $ USD. After that, the transportation will get us back to Cusco.
After a car trip of 3 hours, we’ll arrive Cusco around 16:00 pm. In the case of solo travel, you must take public transportation from Checacupe main square to Cusco. The cost of this service is 10 $ USD. The final stop for both transportation is Regocio Square.
What to wear
As you already know, both rainbow mountains are over the 4,800 m.a.s.l. (15,748 feet). Both are inside the mountain range of Ausangate, part of the Andes.
So, pay attention to preparing your packing list for your adventure in Peru and the Rainbow Mountains.
- Trekking shoes with rugged soles
- Thermal trekking pants
- Cotton polo shirt
- Polar sweatshirt
- Dors thermal warmer
- Water-repellent thermal jacket
- Windbreaker
- Gloves
- Cap
- Sunglasses
- Trekking poles
- A daypack
The best time to visit
The Rainbow Mountains are inside the Peruvian Andes. It has two different seasons during the year. The dry season goes from April to October. And, It has clear days, with no rain, blue skies and strong sunlight. With a range of temperature from 56°F to 76°F.
On the other side, the rainy season goes from November to March. This presents cloudy days, heavy rains with thunderstorms, and muddy trails. The range temperature goes from 56°F to 26°F. Visiting the Rainbow Mountains during this season is dangerous due to landslides and lightning striking the mountaintops.
Therefore, we recommend visiting them during the dry season. So you will have excellent photos of the mountains without any danger.
Last tips
Other important facts that you should know before enjoying this experience are:
- Prevent the altitude sickness and prepare yourself physically and mentally. You will walk through beautiful high Andean landscapes at more than 4,800 m.a.s.l. At that altitude, oxygen decreases a little, so you must be in perfect health.
- It is recommended that you do this experience starting on the third day of your stay in Cusco, when your body is acclimatized to the altitude, not before.
- Keep in mind that at the mountain tops themselves, there is no medical post. Therefore, if something happens to you, they will have to take you to the nearest village and that means 1 hour delay.
- Sunscreen. On sunny days, the sun’s rays are intense, so having extra protection in addition to a hat will be crucial.
- If you drank, or did strong physical activity the day before, we do not recommend doing this visit.
“EVERY MOUNTAIN TOP IS WITHIN REACH IF YOU JUST KEEP CLIMBING”
We hope that this comprehensive article on how to visit Rainbow Mountain has been of real help to you. One of the best things to do in Cusco is to visit the Rainbow Mountains, which is mandatory! Remember that the experts at Machu Travel Peru will be ready to assist you at any time with your plan for a dream vacation in Peru. We encourage you to contact us!
