
La Montaña de Siete Colores stands at 5200m above the sea level, which makes it almost as high as South Everest Base Camp. Of course the main difference is that Rainbow Mountain trek starts at around 4500m so the actual elevation is 700m that spans across 5 km (3 miles).
The only downside? You HAVE TO wake up ar 03:30, because it takes about 2.5h to get to the start of the trek. At around 6:30 we arrived at a small secluded restaurant in Pitumarca, had breakfast, and emarked on the last hour of the drive.

We started hiking about 08:15 and the weather could not be better..

With such beautiful sky you could not help but be amazed by the picturesquesness of the land of Incas. Every time I walk through a city, park, or any street, I imagine what it looked like a hundred, five hundred, or five thousand years ago. The best thing about this trek was that you don't have to imagine, because you're looking at exactly the same valley, same mountains, and same sky. While talking to my friends I also found out that the whole trek and site does not belong to the government and everything is taken care of by the local community. Security, little shops with drinks and snacks, and even ability to ride a horse on the way to the mountain are all provided by the people of the valley.


- Llamas have longer banana-shaped ears, alpacas have shorter pointy ears
- Alpacas faces are also shorter, which gives them a bit squashy look, llamas have longer faces
- Llamas haven't got as much fur as alpacas, which fur is much finer
- Alpacas are herd animals and like to keep with the company, whereas llamas are way more independent

At one point I had a moment of weakness, thinking my body wasn't ready for such exertion but then I realised that it was just my brain trying to make an excuse and the pain in my thighs is as normal as it used to be. The last time I climbed anything was the mountain in Canada with Lua & Faran, and then a hike in Kamloops with Geri & Joe - two memories I cherish for many reasons. After 60-second break I pushed and pushed until I reached the top at 10:30, where I took few photos and then just sat on the side of the mountain and look at Ausengate, the valley and the path filled with people looking like little ants.
I have to say seeing Rainbow Mountain from close up is worth the 5km of burning feeling in your legs and the combination of heat and cold along the way. We were lucky as half an hour after I reached the top the clouds came, temperature dropped sudenly, and we even got a bit of hail! You can look at lots of pictures but it's always a different feeling to see it "live" with your own eyes.. .

Not only at the top of the mountain but in main plazas in Cusco and different cities there are always indigenous people walking around with an alpaca or llama and offer taking pictures with them. Normally I wouldn't do it but I kind of broke my rules just this once and decided to hug a llama. Honestly? I thought it would spit at me within seconds but it seemed quite unmoved. Can you recognise which one is alpaca and which one is llama?

It was also a perfect place to take some panoramics to capture the snow, the green, the red rocks. This is the west side of the valley taken from the top of the mountain..