Peru. Rainbow Mountains

 Venturing a bit off the classic circular Ausangate trek route, we spent a day in the realm of the Rainbow Mountains. On a radial day hike, we ascended Mount Vinicunca (5036 m), which offered the best views of the Rainbow Mountain, and visited the Red Valley...
  Route Map...
  Waking up early and packing our backpacks, we left our campsite... Today, we had a radial hike planned, meaning we would return to the same spot for the next night. We didn't want to leave our backpacks with locals or hide them; it's reassuring to have everything 'yours' with you...
  The weather was splendid in the morning... It was already dawn at five, so we set out with the sunrise... 


 At the summit of Mount Vinicunca (5035 m), we arrived at 7:40, a crucial moment because after eight, crowds of tourists began to gather, coming on separate tours solely to this location...


  Alpacas were already waiting at the top - the main photo models. Today, hundreds of people would take photos with them...
  


  Nevertheless, the place is very beautiful...

  From the top of Vinicunca, views also open to the Red Valley, which we headed to after...


  To visit the Rainbow Mountain and Red Valley, tickets cost 20 soles (5 euros) for each location... But these places are worth the attention... We liked the Red Valley even more than the Rainbow Mountain...









  Leaving the Red Valley, we essentially retraced our steps back to the snowy peaks where the main Ausangate trek route passed...  

  Passing by the viewpoint of the Rainbow Mountain, we already saw entire buffets set up on the mountain, precisely during the tourist peak time... 
  But walking past the crowd, we returned to the mountains where we could be alone... More precisely, with the charming inhabitants of these mountains - the alpacas...










  Returning to our last campsite, we saw our familiar shepherd woman, who had spread yarn and was weaving not far from the lake... We told her how much we liked this place and that we would stay for another night...  

  The next day, we continued our trek on the Ausangate route...

Comments