Vinicunca or The Rainbow Mountain is located in the Andes at 5200 m.a.s.l. It is characterized by its multiple colours which are due to a variety of mineral compositions. Once, I was told that this place is recently known because some time ago it was covered in snow and due to global warming this one melted and hardly ever comes back. There are two different ways to get there. The classic one is through Pitumarca and the other through Cusipata, the shorter one.
We left early in the morning, as we knew that most of the tours leave at four or five in the morning. We decided to go on our own and by doing so we would have more time to enjoy this marvellous place. We took a bus of those who go to Sicuani, stopped in Cusipata and then took a minibus that would take us to the starting point to begin our trek the way up.
The landscape is breathtaking as one is surrounded by high and marvellous peaks. At this altitude is difficult to breathe, but not for us, because most of us were born and live in Cusco which is at a similar altitude. I was amazed by the Ausangate mountain once more. This time I was seeing it from the opposite side because the first time I had seen it was in Pacchanta.
After spending time watching the Ausangate, which personally I would say I liked the most, we wanted to go to the Red Valley. On the way, we met a girl from another community who asked us to pay to access this place. We were taken aback by her request because we had run out of money and didn’t expect to pay anything else from what we had already paid at that moment.
This was uncomfortable because we lost the opportunity to see the Great Red Valley. Actually, there were some other things that really bothered us. On the way from Cusipata to Vinicunca, we stopped at a point where a community asked to pay to pass through because tourists cars contaminate with dust in the community. We had to pay another fee to access Vinicunca and then another community wanted us to pay to access the Red Valley. We felt like we had to pay to every community we arrived in as they were disputing their rights to income. In addition, as I’m against animal abuse I also didn’t like the way horses are used to provide services to tourists. I don’t know if those animals are treated well or just as economic compensation.
I promised to come back, this time to know the Red Valley
