Now that I look at that title, it sounds like it could be the title of some song from the '70s with a trippy video with a kaleidoscope of colors and lots of people dancing in bell-bottom jeans....
But I digress. Our trip was nothing like that picture (although I suppose the reduced atmosphere could make things appear more trippy!)
I have been wanting to go to the Rainbow Mountain ever since I had seen the pictures posted on Facebook. Especially since no one that I had asked about it had ever been there. Thus, when Vince & Terry said they wanted to visit Cusco, I jumped at the chance and proposed this adventure to them.
Upon reflection, this seems like a crazy proposition because we all know that I hate hiking and all the research I found online described this trek as "challenging" or "difficult." It is a 3 1/2 hour trek each way and you are ascending from a height of 4,300 m (about 14,000 ft) to 5,000 m (about 16,000 ft). Maybe Vince and Terry are crazy too, because they agreed to accompany me on this adventure.
We started our trip at 3 AM (Yes, 3 AM. On vacation.) and drove three hours to reach our drop off point. There we had a light breakfast and headed out. After just a short walk, Terry and I realized that we would need some help. Luckily, the locals were happy to oblige.
At first the view from horseback was quite enjoyable. The hills were beautiful and we could already see different colors in the rocks.
However, as we continue to ascend up the mountain, things turned much colder.
But we persevered and reached our destination....only to have the colors muted by the cold, foggy weather. We did get some nice pictures anyway.
As it got colder and colder, we were ready to start our 3 1/2 hour return trip down the mountain. We jumped on our horses and headed down to the relative warmth of the lower elevation. We even caught some more colors in the hills that we had missed on the way up.
After lunch and a 3 hour ride back to Cusco, we were all ready for hot showers and our beds!
But I digress. Our trip was nothing like that picture (although I suppose the reduced atmosphere could make things appear more trippy!)
I have been wanting to go to the Rainbow Mountain ever since I had seen the pictures posted on Facebook. Especially since no one that I had asked about it had ever been there. Thus, when Vince & Terry said they wanted to visit Cusco, I jumped at the chance and proposed this adventure to them.
Upon reflection, this seems like a crazy proposition because we all know that I hate hiking and all the research I found online described this trek as "challenging" or "difficult." It is a 3 1/2 hour trek each way and you are ascending from a height of 4,300 m (about 14,000 ft) to 5,000 m (about 16,000 ft). Maybe Vince and Terry are crazy too, because they agreed to accompany me on this adventure.
We started our trip at 3 AM (Yes, 3 AM. On vacation.) and drove three hours to reach our drop off point. There we had a light breakfast and headed out. After just a short walk, Terry and I realized that we would need some help. Luckily, the locals were happy to oblige.
At first the view from horseback was quite enjoyable. The hills were beautiful and we could already see different colors in the rocks.
However, as we continue to ascend up the mountain, things turned much colder.
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| Yes, that is snow in my horse's mane! |
But we persevered and reached our destination....only to have the colors muted by the cold, foggy weather. We did get some nice pictures anyway.
As it got colder and colder, we were ready to start our 3 1/2 hour return trip down the mountain. We jumped on our horses and headed down to the relative warmth of the lower elevation. We even caught some more colors in the hills that we had missed on the way up.
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