Rainbow Mountain
Vinicunca, or Winikunka, Montaña Arcoíris (Rainbow Mountain), is a mountain in the Andes of Peru with an altitude of approx. 5,200 metres (16,522 ft) above sea level. It is located on the road to the Ausangate mountain, in the Cusco region.
In mid-2010, mass tourism came, attracted by the mountain's series of stripes of various colours due to its mineralogical composition on the slopes and summits. The mountain used to be covered by glacier caps, but these melted in 2013.
Tourist access requires a two-three-hour drive from Cusco and a walk of about 6 kilometres.
I opted horse riding for the first 4km and then hiking for the 2km to the top of the mountain.
On the way back, I was walking for 6km to the parking area.
On Rainbow Mountain, there have been several deaths of tourists who have overestimated their capabilities.
By the way, chewing the leaves of the coca plant, coca leaf tea as well as candies from the same help for the altitude. In addition to chewing leaves, I also used to take some capsules. Unfortunately, when climbing Rainbow Mountain, I didn't take any of mentioned above, which was a mistake. I could barely make it to the top. Maybe the reason was fatigue, not recovering from a long flight from Australia and my age – 75).
Rainbow Mountain
Vinicunca, ili Vinikunka, Montana Arcoíris (Rainbov Mountain), je planina u Andima Perua sa nadmorskom visinom od cca. 5.200 metara (16.522 ft) nadmorske visine. Nalazi se na putu ka planini Ausangate, u regionu Cusco.
Sredinom 2010. godine došao je masovni turizam, privučen planinskim nizom pruga različitih boja zbog svog mineraloškog sastava na padinama i vrhovima. Planina je nekada bila prekrivena kapama glečera, ali su se istopile 2013. godine.
Turistički pristup zahteva dva-tri sata vožnje od Kuska i šetnju od oko 6 kilometara.
Odlučio sam se jahanje za prvih 4km, a zatim planinarenje oko 2km do vrha planine.
Na povratku sam hodao 6km do parkinga. Sve ovo nije bilo ni malo lako na ovoj nadmosrskoj visini.
U zadnjih nekoliko godina bilo je nekoliko smrtnih slučajeva turista na Rainbow Mountain koji su precenili svoje sposobnosti. Zvakanje lišća biljke koke, čaj od listova koke, kao i bombone iz iste, pomazu kod planinarenja na ovoj nadmorskoj visinu. Pored žvakanja lišća, uzimao sam i neke kapsule. Nažalost, kada sam se penjao na Rainbov Mountain, nisam uzeo ništa od gore navedenog, što je bila greška. Jedva sam mogao da stignem do vrha. Možda je razlog bio umor, nedovoljan oporavak od dugog leta iz Australije i moje godine – 75).
