The Curse of Rainbow Mountain

Ever since I started planning our recent trip to Peru, there has been one question that I have had a hard time deciding: Should we visit Rainbow Mountain? Officially named Vinicunca, Rain Mountain is known worldwide because of its distinctive strips of colors. According to some sources, it is currently Peru’s third most visited tourist destination, after Machu Picchu and Cusco. Even if you haven’t heard of it, every tour agency in Cusco has pictures of Rainbow Mountain plasters all over the city. They are very hard to ignore.

Initially, I was hell-bent on visiting the Rainbow Mountain on our own. I read online some tourists self-drove there to avoid the crush of the tour groups that arrived in mid-morning. But after laying out all the places we wanted to visit by car, it became clear that Rainbow Mountain was kind of out of the way from everything else. Even worse, there are very few quality accommodations within an hour’s drive from there. It seemed like too much of a hassle on an already stressful trip. Maybe we should take a group tour instead and deal with all the pitfalls that come with it.

But because of the timing of our Inca Trail trek, we had only three full days in Cusco. I wasn’t sure whether we would have enough time to explore this fabulous city. The idea of spending one whole day out of Cusco did not seem all that enticing. On top of that, most tours to Rainbow Mountain departed from Cusco before five o’clock in the morning. It was destined to be an exhausting day, and did I mention it would be just a day before we were due to start our Inca Trail? These were precisely why we did not book our tours until the last minute. As we were overlooking Cusco from Sacsayhuaman at sunset, I finally popped the question: “Do you think we should visit Rainbow Mountain? Because it is now or never!”

We decided to go for it since we probably won’t be back in this part of Peru soon. The inner blogger within me was also curious about group tours. It has been a few years since we have been on a group tour. With so little time left, I jumped on TripAdvisor to browse all the tour options. The dazzling array of options was overwhelming; it is tough to discern the differences between tour operators without extensive research. Given our already low expectations, we booked the cheapest tour available. At just $39 a person, the tour we booked with Mega Expedition was only half the price of other competitors. Just how bad could it be?

The Statue of Pachacuti at the center of Plaza de Armas.

Since we booked the tour less than 12 hours before departure, I got nervous about not hearing back from them right away about the logistics of the schedule and pickup. Luckily, their office was just a couple blocks from Plaza de Armas, so we could drop by and get the necessary information about tomorrow. The staff member, Alex, was helpful, and we talked quite a bit about Peru’s tourism and how tour companies like his dealt with the recent political upheavals. Most importantly, we confirmed the pickup time of 4:15 a.m. at our hotel. It was earlier than we expected.

After an early dinner, we headed to bed early and only prayed we could wake up early in time for the pickup. We set our alarm for 3:30 a.m. but found a message telling us the pickup time had been changed to 5 a.m. due to people signing up last minute. While I was happy with the extra time, it was frustrating that we could have an extra hour of sleep. That said, the driver showed up at the hotel right on time. The hotel was nice enough to pack us a breakfast bag for the long bus ride. Given the cost of the tour, I wasn’t expecting a luxury experience. Sure enough, they managed to pack our tour van to the brim. Luckily, Brian and I were among the first to be picked up and had our own seats with decent leg rooms.

Getting breakfast at the village of Cusipata.

At this hour, the streets of Cusco were largely empty except for white mini-busses carrying tourists. Our guide was an energetic young lady. It appeared that most tourists in our group were Spanish speakers. Besides us, there was a middle-aged Korean couple and a young lady from Austria. We were happy that our guide also spoke in English, albeit often abridged. From Cusco, it was a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Rainbow Mountain. Since it was so early in the morning, everyone was happy to catch up on some sleep. The van was quiet for much of the ride. When I woke up, the car windows were already frosted because of the frigid temperature; we were still waiting for the direct sunlight to climb over the mountain peak.

After about two hours, we arrived at the village of Cusipata for breakfast. We were shepherded into a nondescript building by the bridge. The biting cold jolted us as soon as we exited the van. For the first since our arrival in Peru, I wanted to reach for a winter coat. Inside the building was a basic continental buffet with sliced fruit, cold cuts, and an egg dish. Any beverage other than tea and water costs extra. This place is catered entirely to budget group tours like ours. I wonder what the per-head cost of this breakfast is; it can’t be more than one American dollar. Given our tour’s bargain basement price, this breakfast was perfectly serviceable. Besides the toilets and beverage sale, they had plenty of warm gear for sale, such as beanies and gloves. We reluctantly bought a pair of gloves to keep me warm.

Even we picked up a pair of gloves here.

After breakfast, we climbed back in the van. We immediately took a sharp turn onto a small dirt road uphill. I quickly realized that it was good I did not attempt to self-drive here. These roads were unpaved and steep. This drive may not be technical, but it would be psychologically stressful. Perhaps a 4x4 vehicle is best for those doing self-drive. For the next ninety minutes, we continued to gain elevation. We were gaining a lot of altitude; the scenery quickly changed from small family farms on the valley floor to dry mountain ranges. It always amazes me how people settle in such a forbidding place.

Based on these flags, you might have thought this was gay-friendly Canadian Rockies.

The last twenty minutes of the drive was quite a thrill as we passed through small waterfalls and high mountain passes. This particular stretch of road is relatively new. Rainbow Mountian may be one of Peru’s most popular attractions, but the place was only “discovered” by the outside world about ten years ago. Because of climate change, the receding ice pack in this part of Peru revealed the brightly colored stripes of the mountain. At the time, Instagram was beginning to take off, and Rainbow Mountain was one of the early viral hits in the Instagram travel sphere.

Since the admission fee is included in the cost of our tour, I had no idea how much it costs. According to our guide, the local community enthusiastically embraces the newfound fame of Rainbow Mountain. Its immense popularity provides a much-needed jolt to the local economy. As a travel blogger, I am always keen to observe the effect of the tourism economy in a small community like this. As many as 1,500 people visited Rainbow Mountain a day just before the pandemic. That figure was about 2,000 nowadays, according to the latest estimate.

Rainbow Mountain was definitely busy in mid-morning.

Soon enough, we pulled into the parking lot. Everyone was ready for the journey after a long bus ride. Fortunately, the sun was out; it was not nearly as cold as it was down in the valley. But we did not anticipate just how high the altitude was at this spot and how thin the air was. The summit of Rainbow Mountain is 17,100 feet above sea level. It is significantly higher than Cusco and would be the highest elevation we have ever had. To help with altitude sickness, the guide offered everyone a whiff from a bottle of Agua de Florida, citrus-based cologne water that woke us up from the lack of oxygen.

It seemed like everyone was riding the horse up the mountain.

To help us cope with the altitude and the hike ahead, courtesy walking sticks were provided to everyone. While this is officially a guided tour, everyone could go at their own pace. We had about three and a half hours. According to our guide, it took most people about an hour to an hour and a half to hike up to the top. Most visitors stayed at the viewpoint on top for about thirty minutes. I thought this would be decent training before we embarked on the Inca Trail the next day. It seemed like most people in our group opted for the horse.

After passing through a series of shops, we came to an area where many locals offer horse rides to tourists. Because Brian and I wanted to use this hike to condition ourselves for the high altitude, we opted to walk the trail ourselves. For the first thirty minutes, it was a gentle incline. The views of the surrounding valley were breathtaking, but we could not quite see the iconic color strips just yet. Since every group tour departed Cusco around the same time, the trail was quite busy this time of the day. A competitive spirit on the trail was almost unavoidable.

It took us a lot longer to reach the first restroom stop than anticipated… not good.

Despite the beautiful scenery and excellent weather, it was a tough slog. When we left the parking lot, the guide told us the next restroom would be fifteen minutes away. So I started panicking when we realized it took us over twenty minutes to get there. I wondered whether we could make it to the summit in time before we had to head back. Minutes by minute, our pace slowed as many people breezed past us on horseback. At one point, we looked at each other and asked why we insisted on hiking the whole way. After all, the point was that iconic view, not this hike.

After another twenty minutes, we relented and decided to flag down two horses. At 30 PEN each, it was well worth the price. I have read many travel bloggers calling horseriding a form of animal exploitation. While I am no expert on this subject, people have been riding horses for millennia. I could think of other things worse than two or three hours ferrying tourists. Call me a sadist, but we were glad we took the horse. It made the whole experience much more enjoyable.

To most of us, it was remarkable how the locals were running up and down these hills.

In almost a blink of an eye, we were dropped off at the mid-section of the mountain. This was as far as the horses were allowed to go. This final section is also the steepest as well. The lack of oxygen began to get to us. Each step was harder than the previous one. But what made this experience a lot better was that everyone commiserated our misery together. We met a couple from Guatemala and Puerto Rico. They had only just gotten to Cusco the day before and had little time to acclimate to the high altitude. I could only imagine their struggle.

Thanks to our Guatemalan friend, we had a rare photo of Brian and me together.

While this hike was challenging, we were rewarded with a glimpse of the rainbow colors. No matter how many pictures we have seen online, the beauty of the place still puts us in awe. Our first reaction was that the colors were not as vibrant as we imagined. In this age of social media, photo filters are a fact of life; most tour operators are keen to use manipulated photos to drum up their business. The colors may be more muted than imagined, but that did not diminish the beauty of the whole place. What struck us was how perfect the strips were. We could see why this place is such a draw.

Like it or not, sunglass-toting llamas are now the mascot of Rainbow Mountain.

Visitor access is restricted to a pass along the ridge. Much to my surprise, they allow locals to set up stands here. Most sell snacks, but the costs are steep because of the location. The most attention-grabbing vendors here are llamas dressed in Andean headdresses and sunglasses. It was a little out of control and touristy. It was remarkable how many tourists would pay to have their pictures with these llamas. I suppose this is the type of unapologetically tourist activity people love.

To get the best views of the mountain, it is a must to hike up to the highest spot along the ridge. Because of how physically exhausting it is at this altitude, many people did not bother. It took a bit of convincing from me to persuade Brian to finish this final section. It was substantially less crowded at the top. That said, a line of people was waiting to have their pictures taken with the official elevational marker. The lines were twenty people deep! It was funny how people could be obsessed with “silly things” while traveling. But in retrospect, there isn't much else to do on Rainbow Mountain anyway.

For whatever reason, the signpost for Vinkunka attracts a long line of visitors.

The colorful strips of Vinicunca result from a geological coincidence and a result of mineral deposits over millions of years. While other notable “rainbow mountains” exist worldwide, the stripping patterns across this mountain ridge seemed almost too perfect. Even though it is called Rainbow Mountain or the Mountain of Seven Colors, its color palette is more limited. It is generally agreed there are six major colors:

Pink: red clay, fangolitas, arilitas
White: quartzose, sandstone, marls
Red: claystone, clay
Green: phyllites, clay
Brown: fanglomerate
Yellow: calcareous sandstones

I suppose if you add in the color of the blue sky, it would complete the seven colors of rainbows. We were extremely lucky with the weather that day. I could only imagine people’s disappointment if there were heavy fog, snow, or thunderstorms. It must be disheartening to come all the way and miss out on seeing the color strips after a three-and-half-hours drive and a grueling hike. With no other place of interest to see around here, that would have a full day wasted.

The handsome snow-capped peak is unfairly upstaged by Rainbow Mountain.

From the top, we also enjoyed the snow-capped mountains in the other direction. It provides a great contrast with the colorful Vinicunca. At the base of the mountain slope is a row of all-terrain vehicles. Given the physicality of the trek, an ATV tour seemed perfect, particularly for animal lovers. I later learned that Chris, our Inca Trail friend, took an ATV tour the same day of our visit. We might have walked past him without knowing it. Chris said the ATV tour was terrific. It added some adrenaline to the day and allowed his group more time to explore other parts of the valley.

The hike up to the Red Valley seemed easy from a distance but very daunting in reality.

In speaking with a gentleman on tour with G Adventure, I learned that some tours to Rainbow Mountain include a hike to an adjacent valley just over the ridge. Named the “Red Valley,” it may not have those distinctive stripes but is a vast expanse of ochre-colored landscape. This worthwhile detour supposedly adds two and a half hours to the excursion. The guy told me that he found this little hike to Rainbow Mountain physically more challenging than the Inca Trail, which he just completed a few days ago. That gave me enough confidence that we could handle the Inca Trail.

With not much else to do other than the magnificent views, I found myself staring at the mountain and people-watching. It did not take long until our tour guide tracked us down. Eventually, she kept track of everyone the whole morning; she kept tap of our exact movements, including where we got on the horse and how long we had been up at the summit. However, she did lose track of Haley, the Austrian girl. We were gently reminded that it was about time to head back. Overall, we spent about half an hour up on the ridge. It ended up being just the right amount of time for me. Brian, on the other hand, was ready to go. The lack of oxygen started to mess with his high blood pressure.

The locals took a rest after ferrying tourists on horseback.

The way back to the parking lot was a lot easier. At this point, I could see Brain was struggling due to altitude sickness. We did contemplate getting a horse again. It is a lot cheaper to take the horse back down. By this time, there were already very few tourists hiking up. Because of the nature of day tours from Cusco, the locals have limited hours to make all the money. This was precisely why they ran back and forth earlier to get as much business as possible.

But for whatever reason, Brian was resistant and insisted on walking. I became increasingly concerned about him. He struggled for the last half hour. We both felt the time pressure to get back on the bus on time. We didn’t want to be the ones that kept everyone waiting. Sure enough, we were still among the last to be back in the van. It just happened that all the Spanish-speaking members were all ready to go. I guessed that they all took the horses all the way. I must say they did the right way, given our limited time.

It honestly felt good to be back in the van. The trek turned out to be more challenging than we both anticipated. We were both thoroughly exhausted but grateful we had the best weather possible. While everyone was very content with the visit, we were ready for a quick nap. Before long, we were back at that same building for our included lunch. Like our breakfast, lunch was a basic buffet with tea and water. Over lunch, Brian and I had the opportunity to sit down with the Austrian woman. She had only just completed the 6-day Salkantay Trek and offered moral support for our upcoming Inca Trail. Funny enough, we learned that she, like many Austrians, has never seen The Sound of Music!

Surprisingly, we returned to Cusco around half past four, well ahead of the original schedule. As I was stressing out about the tipping etiquette for day tours in Peru, our guide bid everyone goodbye and hopped out of the van on the city's outskirts. I felt bad for not tipping her beforehand. Instead, I opted to give a very generous tip to the driver. Ultimately, we did not regret taking the cheapest tour to Rainbow Mountian. I wish we had extra to hike to the Red Valley, but we were mentally exhausted then.

While I did not regret visiting Rainbow Mountain, Brian experienced extreme discomfort after the visit. Instead of being a training opportunity for the Inca Trail, the lack of oxygen messed up Brian’s blood pressure. He barely slept that night and became increasingly anxious about our five-day trek. As mentioned in my previous posts, Brian gave up on the Inca Trail after a few hours due to his health conditions. Had we not visited Rainbow Mountain, he might have been okay and completed the Inca Trail. Needless to say, Brian did not have the best memory of Rainbow Mountian. He referred to it as the curse of Rainbow Mountain.

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