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Two people hiking on a rocky mountain trail with a lake in the background. 1
A large rock formation with striations and a dirt path leading up to it. 2
A mountain landscape with a person standing on a ridge. 3
A person standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking a mountainous landscape with a lake in the distance. 4
A rugged mountain peak with a steep, rocky surface and a dramatic sky. 5
By Planet Odysseys
Free cancellation available
Price is £40 per adult
See tickets

Features

  • Free cancellation available
  • 17h
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation
  • Selective hotel pickup
  • Multiple languages

Overview

  • Most rainbow mountain day trips from Cusco visit one
    mountain. This one visits three places.

    The first is Pallay Punchu, a ridge of sharp striped rock
    fins above the village of Layo, at 4,770 metres. The walk to
    the top takes about 45 minutes from the parking area. The
    better known Vinicunca stands 266 metres higher and takes
    around an hour and a half on foot.

    The second is Raqchi. The Temple of Wiracocha held the
    largest roofed building the Inca are known to have built. A
    central adobe wall still stands around twelve metres high,
    with more than a hundred round stone storehouses behind it.

    The third is Checacupe, where three bridges cross the same
    river within a few metres of one another. A modern road
    bridge, a colonial stone arch, and a rebuilt Inca rope
    bridge woven from grass.

    Visitor numbers at Pallay Punchu are still low. On most days
    only a few dozen people reach the ridge.

Activity location

  • Cusipata
    • Cusipata, Peru

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • Cusipata
    • Cusipata, Peru

Check availability

Cusco Pallay Punchu Full Day Rainbow Mountain Tour

  • Activity duration is 17 hours17h
    17h
  • English

Pickup included

Starting time: 04:30
Price details
£37.74 x 1 Adult£37.74
Paid at activity£2.20
Total
Price is £39.94

What's included, what's not

  • Inclusions
    Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Inclusions
    Professional guide
  • Inclusions
    Guided visit to the Raqchi archaeological complex
  • Inclusions
    Panoramic stop at the three bridges of Checacupe
  • Inclusions
    Private transport
  • Inclusions
    Buffet breakfast and buffet lunch
  • Exclusions
    Entrance ticket at Pallay Punchu, paid in cash on site in local currency

Know before you book

    • Not recommended for pregnant travellers
    • Not recommended for travellers with poor cardiovascular health
    • Travellers should have a high level of physical fitness
    • In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.
    • This activity is provided by a professional trader (a party acting within their trade, business or profession).

Activity itinerary

Cusipata

  • 45m
A farming village in the Vilcanota valley, about two hours south of Cusco. The tour stops here for a buffet breakfast while it is still dark. Eat well at this stop. It is several hours until lunch, and food taken at a comfortable altitude helps more than anything you can do higher up. Toilets are available here.

Layo

  • 30m
Layo is a community at 3,978 metres on the shore of Langui Layo, the largest lake in the Cusco region. Your guide gives an introduction here to the community, the lake and the mountain above it. There is free time for photographs before the tour continues to the trailhead.

Pallay Poncho

  • 2h 30m
  • Admission ticket not included
Pallay Punchu is a ridge of sharp stone fins striped in ochre, red, blue and green. The colour runs vertically up the blades rather than in bands across a rounded hill. The name describes the shape. In Quechua a pallay punchu is the woven pattern of a ceremonial poncho, still made by hand in this part of Canas. From the parking area the walk to the top takes about 45 minutes. It is uphill throughout on uneven ground, but there is no scrambling and nothing exposed. The high point of the route is 4,770 metres. There is a guided explanation at the summit and free time for photographs. The altiplano runs flat to the horizon on one side and Langui Layo lies far below on the other. An entrance ticket is collected at the trailhead and must be paid in cash in local currency.

Cusipata

  • 1h
A buffet lunch is served after the descent, at an altitude where eating is more comfortable than on the ridge.

Parque Arqueologico De Raqchi

  • 1h 30m
  • Admission ticket not included
Raqchi held the largest roofed building the Inca are known to have constructed. What survives is its spine. A central adobe wall runs the length of the temple, still standing at around twelve metres, with the stone bases of the columns that once carried the roof ranged on either side. Behind the temple stand the colcas, more than a hundred round stone storehouses used to hold grain and dried food for the Inca state. Together they form one of the clearest surviving pictures of how the empire fed and organised itself. Your guide walks you through the site.

Checacupe

  • 20m
A short panoramic stop where three bridges cross the same river within a few metres of each other. One is a modern road bridge. One is a colonial stone arch. One is a rebuilt Inca rope bridge, woven from grass and replaced by hand in the traditional way. Five hundred years of engineering in a single view.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIES
    Cusipata
    • Cusipata, Peru

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLE
    Cusipata
    • Cusipata, Peru

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