Cusco & The Rainbow Mountain: Life At Over 11,000 Feet

So now we enter the first part of this journey – there’s plenty more coming – where altitude sickness is a looming enemy, so as a result we have developed a strategy long before the day we arrive in Cusco. Flying in from Puerto Maldonado adds to the risk, coming straight from low lying wetlands to a city at 3,400 metres in less than an hour gives no opportunity for graduation, just a steep learning curve in which a large dose of being sensible is called for. We’re not always good at being sensible.

Consequently we hatch a plan. There’s a certain regime to follow for the first 48 hours at a level like this – we are, by the way, at more than double the level where altitude sickness can kick in – so arrival on a Friday afternoon gives us the weekend to apply that regime. To our way of thinking, there’s no better way to guarantee self discipline than to have a target, so we set ourselves probably the hardest target we can by committing to complete a challenging hike to the summit of the famous Rainbow Mountain on Monday, starting roughly 12 hours past the 48 watershed. In other words, we absolutely HAVE to do all the right things.

Those right things include: walking slowly and NEVER running, conserving energy, avoiding increasing the heart rate, following a diet which avoids red or fatty meat, instead getting protein from fish, chicken and nuts while whacking up the carbohydrate intake, absolutely no alcohol, and regular resting. And as metaphorical icing on the non existent cake, swallowing sorojchi pills and consuming the leaves of the coca plant in as many ways as possible (coca tea, coca candies, coca leaves to chew and even coca chocolate bars). 

Of course, the Sensible Regime definitely does not mean doing nothing, that would be of no help whatsoever, so, apart from wandering Cusco’s gorgeous streets at half our normal pace, we have to come up with at least a couple of options which will occupy our time without hitting any walls.

Firstly, once I’d realised there was a Peruvian Primera Liga match in Cusco on the Saturday, all I had to do was convince Michaela that sitting in a cold windy football stadium for two hours or more was a good way to both conserve energy and follow the Regime and I’d be ticking off another country on my world football list. Of course, my ploy succeeds, and we spend a happy Saturday evening watching the local club Cienciano despatch their hapless opposition in a 6-1 drubbing. Michaela nearly enjoys it.

Secondly, another way of conserving energy is to sit on a bus. Back in Huacachina some fellow travellers had advised that the Cusco tourist buses are a good ploy during acclimatisation, so we take their advice and snaffle our seats on the open deck. Its route winds around the narrow streets, then leaves the centro historico to head up the mountain road for viewings of the ancient Inca sites way up above the city.

The sites look fascinating and we vow to make a more complete visit later in the week, more to follow on that. For now, the bus tour suddenly descends into utter farce as, during a visit to a Quechua village community high up in the Andes, a mountain storm with icy winds and horizontal rain sweeps across the peaks, sending everyone scurrying for cover and leaving the llamas wishing their coat was even thicker than it already is. With the open deck of the bus now a storm battered no-go area the entire entourage of previously engaged tourists now becomes a soggy mass of grumpy humanity squeezed into a downstairs section which is designed to take only half of them. Fun this is not. 

Still, our large collection of humidity soaked clothing has been laundered back to normality so a handful of rain soaked stuff is obviously going to be no great problem. Not only that but Michaela’s nasty bee sting from the jungle is losing its ferocious scarlet tones and the Regime seems to be working. And – oh heaven – hot showers every day. All is good.

Before we know it the first 48 are done. Apart from a couple of heart-pounding-in-the-rib-cage moments on Cusco’s steep sidewalks we’ve got through it and the Regime has made a good start – but a good start is all it is for now, the real challenge is still to come.

Cusco is undeniably on the tourist map and with seriously good reason. More than once on our journey through Peru, travellers have described the city as magical….”there’s just something very special about it”, six-foot-four Mario from Split had said. Boy, every one of them was right, it’s such a lovely city. More than a nod to tourism maybe, but the extensive centro historico, all tight cobbled streets, steep hills and grand plazas, make Cusco a fabulously attractive city. Add amazing history and towering scenery and you have a rather wonderful destination.

Traditional skills

So, our next post will concentrate on Cusco, its character and its history, and those archeological sites up in the majestic surrounding mountains. But it’s Sunday night, and the testing hike to Rainbow Mountain is calling.

3am Monday. Even earlier than all of our jungle adventures, Christian, mountain guide, walks us to Plaza de Armas where the minibus awaits, loading slowly with our party of twelve for today’s challenge. Rainbow Mountain – traditional name Vinicunca – is a near 3-hour drive away, but even with a planned breakfast stop our very early start gets us there before the majority of today’s gallant hikers.

SIDENOTE: The notes on the booking website for this hike say ¨This activity is not suitable for persons aged over 65”. Well, red rag to a bull! Nobody – NOBODY – tells me I’m too old to do something. I and only I am going to make decisions like that. Eat your words, people..

There is, we admit, some trepidation as we exit the minibus at the first base camp and look up at the daunting heights of the Andes Mountains – we’ve never hiked at anything like this altitude before and have heard many stories of fit young hikers being struck down by the dreaded sickness without reaching the top. Mentally, we’re determined to get there. We receive our briefing: not too fast, regular pauses, and are given points at which we must regroup in order for the guides to check on everyone’s wellbeing. Christian will be with those in front, Carlos will be at the back armed with oxygen tank in case anyone is in need.

Some facts. Cusco the city sits at approximately 3,400 metres above sea level; the base camp where our hike starts is at 4,700, the summit of Vinicunca is 5,036, which is the equivalent of more than half way up Mount Everest. At these altitudes there is 30% less oxygen in the air than at sea level. An elevation gain of 336m may not seem much, but at this altitude it’s not without danger and is going to be testing.

Our route will take us up through the climbing valley side, then steeply up to the viewpoints and the summit, then round to the edge of the Red Valley. It is, indeed, hard. Not being able to inhale enough oxygen is a weird sensation, as if the body is continuously trying to breathe in without pausing to breathe out. The chest heaves, the heart pumps like it’s never pumped before. Pauses for recovery are a must.

Christian and Carlos are superb, providing the perfect mix of motivation and reassurance. We are told to move and make regular stops in whatever way our body tells us: consequently I am ahead of Michaela but never by far, and I can see that she’s doing OK. When we finally make it, the reward is absolutely beyond breathtaking.

Vinicunca, the Rainbow Mountain, is as beautiful and strikingly unusual as all the photographs we’ve seen, the striped layers of different minerals presenting a surreal multi coloured pattern of chevrons which simply astound. It isn’t actually unique, other mountains in the Andes have a similar look brought about by layers of iron oxide (red), copper carbonate (green), sulphurous sandstone (yellow), calcium (white) and manganese oxide (purple), but this one is the most famous.

As if we’re not blown away enough by this, the extra hike to the Red Valley leaves us even more spellbound. This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful natural vistas we’ve ever been lucky enough to look out on. Other than saying that I’ll let Michaela’s photographs do the talking.

We did it. We acclimatised sensibly enough to explore Cusco without the dreaded altitude sickness striking – then, to cap that, coped with climbing to 5,036 metres, and were rewarded with the most spectacular of sights. The sense of satisfaction and achievement is huge.

Later, there’s a few nasty headaches, and during the night I awake struggling to breathe and need ten minutes inhaling mountain air on the balcony. But that’s the extent of it. We haven’t been struck down, and we rose to our own challenge.

Oh, and by the way, suckers, I’m over 65.