The Rainbow Mountain Trek team from Alpaca Expeditions will pick you up at 4 a.m. Then you’ll have a three hour drive to the trailhead at Pukutuni School. Here you’ll enjoy some breakfast and meet your Alpaca Expeditions team including the local chef, porters and horsemen.

Then you’ll have a three-hour hike to your lunch spot at Upis village in the skirt of Ausangate Mountain. After you’ve enjoyed your freshly prepared lunch, you’ll hike for 1.5 hours uphill to the first pass called Vicuña Pass (4850 meters above sea level). We’ll break there for a bit to allow you to enjoy the views.

Then you’ll continue the last leg of Day 1 on the Rainbow Mountain trek with a 3-hour walk to your evening campsite at Pucaccocha. You’ll be able to enjoy breathtaking views along the way. You’ll see stunning views of the valleys, waterfalls and glacier peaks.

Your Alpaca Expeditions chef and porters will be waiting for you at your evening campsite. They’ll prepare food and get your tent set up so you can just relax and enjoy your surroundings.

After an early nutritious breakfast cooked by your Alpaca Expeditions chef, you’ll continue the Rainbow Mountain Trek with a 2-hour climb to Condor pass (4900 meters above sea level). On the way, you’ll have magical views of Ausangate mountain, lagoons and perhaps even see some llamas and alpacas. It is then a gradual downhill hike for 2 hours to your lunch spot. After lunch, you’ll have a small climb to Alpaca pass (4950 m) where you can see a small part of Rainbow Mountain. After one more hour of downhill hiking, you’ll get to this evening’s campsite. Here your Alpaca Expeditions team will take care of all the details while relax you and experience one of the most beautiful spots to take in the Andean sky.

Spending the night in the mountains means you’ll be one of the first to arrive at the stunning Rainbow Mountain. You’ll enjoy a pleasant breakfast with hot drinks served by your Alpaca Expeditions team to start your morning. You’ll hike 2 hours gradually uphill to get to this famous mountain.

On the way, you’ll have the chance to see some wildlife of vicuñas. Upon your arrival the views will be stunning and because it’ll be so early you should be able to get some spectacular photographs without worrying about crowds. Your Alpaca Expeditions guide will explain all the mountains’ different colors and minerals. Once you are ready to leave it’ll be 1 hour to the end of the trail. You’ll then say goodbye to your Alpaca Expeditions trekking team and continue from this point with your Rainbow Mountain Trek guide.

It’ll be a 4-hour drive to Ollantaytambo where you’ll have some dinner before catching your 7 p.m. train to Aguas Calientes. Then you’ll have the opportunity to take a nice hot shower and sleep in a comfortable bed in a local hotel.

Today is the day on the Rainbow Mountain tour that you’ll get to visit Machu Picchu. To get the most out of the day Alpaca Expeditions encourages every one of our groups to start the day early. You can grab some breakfast before catching one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu (starting at 5:30 a.m.).

The hotel will hold your bags for you, allowing you to only have to bring your day pack with you. It’s a 30-minute bus ride from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. Once you arrive at Machu Picchu your tour guide will introduce you to the world-famous Machu Picchu ruins.

The very first thing your guide will do is bring you the best place to watch the sunrise and get pictures. Once the sun rises, your tour guide will walk you around the main areas and explain the history for a 2.5 hour long walking tour. You’ll learn more about the history and culture of the Inca Empire. At the end of the guided tour participants in the Rainbow Mountain Trek will have some time to yourselfs to walk the ruins without interruption or if you arranged to hike Huayna Picchu* (must be booked in advance as it sells out and costs $75 per person). Then your guide will show you where to begin this hike which will take no more than 2 hours round-trip.

For your return trip from Machu Picchu we recommend beginning heading back to Aguas Calientes town by no later than 2 hours before your train departure. Your guide will inform you of your train times before your return. It’s a 2 hour return train trip from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo. In Ollantaytambo the Alpaca Expeditions staff will be waiting for you at the train station’s exit door to bring you back to Cusco by car. It’s about a 2 hour car ride to Cusco. You do have the choice to hike the Machu Picchu Mountain instead of Huayna Picchu Mountain. However, this hike is more challenging and takes three hours minimum, round-trip (at an extra cost of $75 per person).