Up early again for the day tour to Rainbow Moutnain! Wooohoo! Julia also reserved a spot for today with MPR, but as luck would have it, we were placed into 2 separate groups. Oh, well. It seemed strange we couldnāt switch around, but the guide didnāt seem to want us to. No worries, weāll catch up with each other on top of the mountainā¦right? Haha. My group is apparently a Spanish-speaking group, and everyone is from Latin America, and then there is me. Haha. Iām excited to use my Spanish, as I havenāt been using it much the last several days. The guide keeps checking in with me, āAmelia, did you understand,ā hehe, and I always say yes, but I think he doubts my abilities.
We had a 2 hour drive to our breakfast spot, and then another 2 hour drive, this half, quite bumpy and raucous. I tried my best to sleep, but it is so hard on these types of roads, lol. Our guide explains that we wonāt have a ton of time up on the mountain, so he explains some of the history to us on the bus ride. The mountain was first ādiscoveredā in 2014/2015 and had previously been covered by snow. But with the changing climate, the colors began to reveal themselves to those lucky enough to be in the vicinity. Since its discovery, it has quickly become the second most visited place in Peru, after Machu Picchu, of course.
As we get closer to the entrance, the mountains on either side of us begin to show some color, deep burgundy redā¦.
And soon, we are unpacking from the van and getting ready to climb the approximately 2km walk up to the viewpoint. Now, here I am, post-Salkantay, feeling pretty sturdy in my body and my lung capacity at altitude. But, this IS signicantly taller than where I was, so I wonder how Iāll do.
I intended to add on a separate trail to the Red Valley to see more impressive colors, but Iād have to be quick to fit both in. I begin before the group and take off with a swift trot. Iām doing fine until I encounter the first good-size incline. Uffffff, this is tough, lol. But even on the walk up, we were greeted by wildly vibrant blue color along the trail, and we could begin to see the infamous colors of THE Rainbow Mountain.
My pace slowed significantly, and with each passing horse and extraordinarily fit local asking if Iād like a horse, I began to consider it. Haha. But I refused. I came here to hike and challenge myself, and I would be caving in if I were to pay for the horse. So I carry on, dragging my feet, step by step, and after what felt like an eternity, but only 5 steps in reality, Iād need a break.
I eventually am passed by someone on the tour, and he was struggling a bit as well. We end up encouraging each other to reach the top.
When we finally make it, we get in line to take a picture at the first viewpoint area. The line is quite long, but I think we both werenāt ready for the final hike up to the highest point, lol. Our guide hurries us along, though, saying that we should go up first, and on the way down, there will be fewer people at the bottom viewpoint. Okkkaayyā¦ā¦here we go, lol.
Much to my surprise, I rocked this ascent. There were steps, and as much as I could say I hate steps, I now realize my body prefers them to a gradual inclined path. My quads must be built for this, whereas my poor calves can barely withstand the inclines, lol. I cruise up, barely affected by the altitude, or maybe it was my adrenaline pushing me forward, as I could see a giant wall of clouds moving in.
Once we reach the top and look back at what shouldāve been the beautiful Rainbow Mountain, we see it’s absolutely covered in clouds. Dang it! Haha. We were fortunate enough to see it at the bottom and to take photos, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be disappointed if we didnāt get to see it again.
We get in line to take a picture with the summit sign, and I can see some alpaca all dressed up and with sunglasses on, hehe. My friend Julia, who I havenāt been able to find, has been talking about getting a picture with the sun glass wearing alpaca, so I think to myself, āIf I canāt get a photo of Rainbow Mountain, then Iāll do the cheesy photo with the alpaca.ā My turn comes to take my summit photo, and weāre still signicantly socked in, lol. So, I head immediately to the fun alpaca. So worth it! Haha
Our guide instructs us to wait at the top, as the weather can change at any minuteā¦kind of sounds like New England, haha. So we wait. Freezing cold, with a fierce wind blowing. Maybe this wind will blow the clouds away!
After about half an hour or so, the excited cheers and yelps of people surrounding us alert us to the slowly revealing moutnain! Its happening! Weāre going to get a great view! Hehe. We all watch in anticipation and start snapping a ridiculous number of photos, just in case the clouds decide to cover this beauty again. But it keeps getting clearer and clearer! Omg YES! Haha.
Our guide turns into a photographer and helps us all get great shots with the Rainbow Mountain. I am so happy and grateful she revealed herself to us. Because I waited, however, I no longer had time to do the Red Valley part. I was disappointed, but I think I wouldāve been more so if I had attempted Red Valley and missed Rainbow Mountain. I also heard from Julia afterwards that some guys on her tour did it and said it was really difficult. Hehe. Britt and Kim: I donāt know how you did it all! You are hiking beasts! Hehe.
On the way back down, we were granted many more photo ops as the sun shining on the colors made them even more spectacular. I think by the time we were back at the van, I had taken roughly 300 photos, lol.
On the way back, we stop at the same spot for lunch, and continue the second half of our drive to Cusco. It stated raining pretty heavily, and again, I tried to get comfy and sleepy, but I am no good at sleeping in vans, lol. So I began going through my photos and deleting the unnecessary ones. I still have some work to do, but I managed to get though a lot.
As soon as they drop us off, I head straight to my hostelā¦Iām so cold! Hehe. But all my warm layers are buried in my daypack, so I just try to get back fast. I rest for a bit on the bedā¦bad choiceā¦.haha, and wait for Julia to return so we can grab dinner.Ā
I was so comfy and tired, I almost opted out of dinner, but I was hungry, and when Julia texted me, we decided on an Indian place not far from where we were staying. Okay, I can rally for that. The food was AMAZING! Maybe because weāve been eating a lot of typical Peruvian food, especially on the hike, now, having something different was such a nice change of pace.
We shared stories from our day trip that we meant to do together, but never found each other, lol. It was fun to hear a different perspective from the same exact tour. Overall, we both felt like it was a rather rushed day, not enough information as to the history of the mountain and surrounding area, but for $22, not a bad time.
Back to the hostel I go, and watch a tiny bit of Netflix before passing out. Hehe
Taking Off With Amelia 