Palcoyo: the “other” Rainbow Mountain
The Rainbow Mountains of Peru are quite rightly famous and popular sights.
Vibrant and surreal mineral deposits that occur naturally in the rocks create a stunning palette of colour across the mountain's slopes. These colours range from deep reds and purples to blues, yellows and greens, forming vivid stripes that resemble a rainbow.
We knew we wanted to see this natural phenomenon, but hearing from other travellers about their experience of the classic Rainbow Mountain tour to Vinicunca Mountain made us hesitate. Hoards of tour buses, a short but steep high altitude hike to a peak full of hundreds of people and no room to move freely? We were having flashbacks to our Laguna Paron excursion in Huaraz, which had unfortunately left us feeling underwhelmed despite its stunning natural beauty. We didn’t want a repeat of this experience!
After a little research we came across information on Palcoyo - the “other” Rainbow Mountain. A chance to be hipster? We were all ears!
Rainbow Mountain’s Little Brother
Palcoyo Mountain, often referred to as the "Rainbow Mountain's Little Brother," is a hidden gem within the breath-taking landscapes of the Andes in Peru. While not as famous as Vinicunca, Palcoyo offers a stunning hiking experience that takes in several colourful mountains, with the added bonus of allowing you to enjoy the beauty of nature with hardly anyone else in sight. We were sold!
There are over 2,000 tour operators in Cusco - it’s overwhelming to say the least. If you’re looking for a popular trip the issue is finding a good, safe operator. But because Palcoyo isn’t a popular excursion, we first needed to find any operator offering the tour, then judge their safety. It didn’t take much walking around the streets and looking at Google reviews before we found a trip for a very reasonable price and booked, however, when the morning pick up came it was led by a different tour company to the one we booked with.
This is quite common in South America, especially with less popular trips. If there aren’t many people booked on, companies will pool the passengers for cost efficiency. But our experience that morning was a little stranger than usual… firstly, they had text to say there were running late due to delays in pick ups, but when they arrived we found we were the first pick up. Even stranger, we weren’t getting picked up by a bus, but by a car, driven by a guide who looked like he was dressed for an office job. We hesitated and asked a few questions, unsure if we were about to be robbed! But he knew my name and where we were going, so we got in.
About half an hour later it made a bit more sense. We were in a car because only six people had booked on to the tour that day. How our guide was dressed is still a mystery to me - it was not appropriate for the weather or hiking at all! - but he knew the trail well and was bouncing over the rocks in his dress shoes as well as us in hiking boots.
It was a three hour drive (with a short breakfast stop) out to the Palcoyo trailhead. Palcoyo stands at an elevation of approximately 4,950 meters above sea level. Despite it being a beautifully sunny day, on arrival we thought we were going to be foiled by the weather - the rainbow mountains were right in front of us, covered in a dusting of snow!
Luckily, the morning sun was taking care of that. We walked slowly uphill to our first viewpoint, by which time the snow had melted and revealed the colourful valley. Ahead of us we could see two Rainbow Mountains, as well as scores of red peaks as far as the eye could see. It was truly beautiful!
At the second viewpoint we could walk over a ridge onto rainbow coloured rock and, after a steep uphill climb to the third viewpoint, we could see the magnificent snow capped peaks of the Andes ahead of us. In the centre was Ausangate, the highest peak in the region.
The trail then led us through a natural rock formation known as ‘The Stone Forest,’ due to the tall, jagged rocks that emerged from the ground like trees. We had never seen anything like this before! The unusual shapes are created by wind erosion over hundreds of years.
From there, the trail descended slowly back in a loop to where we began, ready for the journey back to Cusco.
One of the attractions of Palcoyo is its accessibility. Unlike some other high-altitude hikes in the region, the walk to Palcoyo is relatively moderate, making it suitable for a broader range of hikers, including those who might not be acclimated to extreme altitudes. Although that’s not to say it is easy; two of our group of six only made it a third of the way on the trail due to the altitude.
Whilst this was a great bonus for us after the hard Inca Trail only days before, it wasn’t the reason we chose it. We had chosen it for the solitude, the chance to enjoy the natural beauty of the Andes with stillness and silence all around… and that’s exactly what we got. The six - and then four - of our group, along with a few locals and their llamas, were the only people we saw during our time on the mountain. We got to walk at a slow pace and enjoy uninterrupted, breathtaking views in all directions. It was bliss.
We absolutely loved our day at Palcoyo Mountain. Vinicunca is probably cheaper to visit, it is a bigger mountain and perhaps this means you see more colours, but we don’t regret our choice to skip it. Whilst it is still an emerging destination, Palcoyo allows travelers to explore the natural beauty and vibrant colors of the Andes in a less crowded and less physically demanding way. It is easy way to get off the beaten path and enjoy a memorable experience in nature, and one we would recommend to anyone visiting Cusco.
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