Day 19: Rainbow Mountain and More Cusco

July 28 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

Today I woke up at 3:30 am to get ready for my pickup at 4:30am. John (driver) met me at my hotel and we picked up Carmen (guide) along the way. I napped until we got to Colca, a small town with a buffet restaurant of the same name. It was freezing there. I had a filling breakfast and we continued another two hours to Rainbow Mountain or Vinicunca, which is the Quechua name.

On our way to the mountain, we saw some llamas and alpacas on the road. We saw people at the school raising the Peruvian flag for the fiestas patrimoniales.

Upon arrival to Rainbow Mountain, Carmen and I traveled 1 hour and 40 minutes to the base of Rainbow Mountain. It was a difficult trek because of the altitude. I was so proud of not having to rely on a horse or a motorcycle to get to the top (plus, it costs extra soles)! Carmen took tons of photos of me with the gorgeous views. There was a view of the glaciers on top of the mountains in the distance.

On the way down, we saw geese and ducks hanging out at a small lake at the base of the mountain. The locals were drinking chica, a corn-based drink, to give them energy to keep bringing the horses up and down the mountain for folks who need assistance. These folks were running back and forth, up and down the mountain to get the next tourist and make their coin. Running in sandals back and forth was pretty impressive, meanwhile I was huffing and puffing in my hiking boots. 😅

After another car nap, we arrived back at Colca for lunch. We were super early since I had a private tour and we did the hike pretty fast. On the way back to the city, we left Carmen in her neighborhood while John took me to my hotel.

After freshening up, I headed to the Monumento de Pachacuteq, a famous leader appointed by the people of Cusco. There was tons of history about the Incan people and pre-Incan cultures. The views from up at the tower were spectacular. In the green space below, there were plantings in the shape of a condor and serpent, two of the symbols of the Inca religion.

I ended my day by having a pisco sour and cuy pequines, a Peruvian-Asian fusion dish.Read more