Peru Rainbow Mountain to Puno Tour - Vinicunca with Puno Drop-off

Stop to admire the great mountains of the andes

Formed by weathering, environmental conditions and sedimentary deposits over time, the mountain's unique minerology created a marbling effect, with layered hues of gold, lavender, red and turquoise towering into the sky. The Rainbow Mountain or Vinicunca is a mountain near Cusco in Peru.

Surrounded by crop-planted fields, this rural village of around 300 inhabitants borders Incan ruins. I walk the meal off exploring them. According to legend, the Inca felt threatened after the nearby Kinsacha Volcano erupted. It prompted them to build a temple to honor Wiracocha, the creator of heaven and earth. Covering an area of hundreds of hectares, the temple was built during the 15th Century, about the same time the Inca were adding territory in Ecuador. The edifice was almost completely destroyed by Spanish colonists in the 16th Century.