Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain Trek and Red Valley
Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain
Trek and Red Valley
The breathtaking landscape of Vinicunca Mountains in Cusco Peru in the southern Andes region of Cusco the heart of the ancient Inca Empire and the source of the Amazon River is home to two of Peru's newest tourist attractions the Rainbow Mountains and the Red Valley. These hiking trails offer stunning almost Martian-like scenery featuring vibrant red mountains and striated rock formations. The landscape reaches heights exceeding 5,000 meters.
Most Incas worshipped permanent deities. The Inca Empire was divided into four regions centered around Cusco with its Vinicunca Mountains naturally formed colorful mountains created by various minerals featuring both flat areas and gently sloping terrain. The Incas believed the sun created their people and also worshipped the moon stars and even mountains.
The colors come from various minerals such as red from iron green from mafic and white from calcium carbonate. The Vinicunca Mountains an altiplano with thin air offer stunning snow capped mountains and lakes The dominant vegetation is the puna grass ideal for raising llamas and alpacas. The Incas invented no writing system instead they recorded information using a system of tying colorful knots in various patterns called quipu. They were the largest ancient empire in South America during the pre-Columbian era.
