High Altitude at Palccoyo Mountain in Peru

There is a so called “rainbow mountain” that is all the rage near Cusco. People hike for hours to get there, then take pictures (that are later enhanced to increase the brightness, I promise you!) in front of this colorful striped mountain. Well, it turns out there is another mountain, nay, an entire colorful valley, nearby that doesn’t require a very tough, very long high-altitude hike to get there. Yes, you are walking around at high altitude (5,000m), but it is short and fairly easy to shuffle through, while gasping for breath and wondering why you feel so darn out of shape!

Seeking something outside of the Incan Ruins to visit near Cusco, I came upon this day trip in the Andes that would involve a bit of extra elevation (but we had already spent a few weeks at 2,500m+), a bit of driving and a bit of hiking. But the reward would be some beautiful and unique scenery. So, we booked a group day tour (after eventually tracking down the tour company, which didn’t actually have a storefront in either place they said they were) and prepared for our 6am pickup (not totally certain this company that maybe wasn’t really a company would actually show up…)

At the appointed hour, our guide did in fact arrive to pick us up. It seemed we were the only people on the tour that day (as we suspected we might be, when we opted for a (cheaper) group tour instead of a private tour). Not only the guide, but the minibus was full with our driver, our own chef and the chef’s assistant (probably his son?). Now it makes a bit more sense why the tour was so expensive ($70 per person), and why they don’t waste money on an actual storefront for potential customers to find them (hmm?)

We snoozed our way through most of the drive towards Palccoyo Mountain located south of Cusco. After about 2.5 hours of driving, we swung off onto a small dirt road for the final hour drive to the mountain. On this small road, we passed through a few small communities living in this remote, mountainous area. The scenery at this point was pretty amazing, with lots of alpacas (and a few llamas) around to add to the ambiance.

We eventually reached a small valley about 20 minutes from the entrance to Palccoyo Mountains where we would set up for our day’s meals. While the team worked to set up a tent and prepare breakfast for us, we wandered around this little valley, which was at about 4,000m in elevation. We all felt a little tired at this elevation, but still had another 1,000 meters to climb at the peak today!

Soon our breakfast was ready, and we hopped in the tent for a luxury camping breakfast.

After breakfast, it was finally time to tackle Palccoyo Mountain! The driver, our guide and the 5 of us hopped back into the minibus and we took off up a short but steep and very windy road to the parking lot. When we arrived, there were only one or two other shuttles there, but I am going to bet in a few years this will change, as I am sure this place is going to explode in popularity soon!

The hike starts out with a short but fairly steep walk, which, at normal elevation probably wouldn’t have been much to think about, but at this elevation, we were huffing and puffing in no time!

Soon, we crested the ridge and had our first glimpse of this amazing colorful valley.

At the first lookout point a man with a llama appeared from nowhere. So we took our photo with him and he asked for a donation, which we were happy to do.

To our left, we could see the Rock Forest jutting out into the sky above us. Our guide let us know that we could climb up there on our way back. “Sure”, I said, committing my future self to that somewhat arduous walk at that elevation.

At the top the views were amazing and we were the only people there.

As promised we walked along a little further to go through the rock forest before heading back down.

While we were hiking the chef and his assistant (probably son) were busy making our lunch.

After eating, we settled in for the long drive home. This time, the drive was broken up by a visit to an Incan bridge. There is only one original Incan bridge remaining and, by tradition, it is rebuilt every year (so, is that really an original Incan bridge?). This bridge was not even that bridge so we’re not really sure what it was or how it could be less authentic, but it was a nice stop on a long drive!

And thus ended our excellent day trip at our peak of elevation for our entire trip. It was a first rate experience, from the meals to the sights!