Cusco: Rainbow Mountain & Red Valley Premium Day Trip with Meals

The pickup went smoothly, breakfast and lunch were really good, and the mountain was absolutely beautiful. It's definitely worth it to get there before the crowds. There was barely anyone else there when we arrived and it was absolutely packed when we left. However, I did end up getting quite severe altitude sickness. I have been around the Andes for a while at this point, and I consider myself a decently experienced hiker, but I had never been to this high altitude before. I knew about the signs to watch out for but, as far as I can remember, the guide didn't ever really walk us through altitude sickness or talk about what to do if we start feeling sick, other than saying to drink coca tea. I felt totally fine, just very winded going up the mountain, ended up taking a horse about half way, and then made it over to the Red Valley. On the last incline before going back down the mountain, I got very dizzy and nauseous. I was being very slow and I think the guide was worried about just getting back to the bus, but he didn't really let me take a break and kept insisting that I get on a horse. I told him no, because I was feeling really dizzy I didn't think it would be a good idea to go on a horse. On the way down, he would walk way far in front of me, then stop and wait for me to just barely catch up, and then go way ahead of me again. Then, he just walked ahead and left me on the mountain to go down alone. I was getting progressively more and more sick, and had to get down the mountain totally alone when I was extremely dizzy, disoriented, nauseous, and out of breath. It was legitimately terrifying. All of my energy was going towards not fainting. I could have very well passed out and I don't know what would have happened to me because, again, I was totally alone for the last 20 minutes of the hike. When I finally made it down, I could barely stand and collapsed on the bench near the parking lot. Some other hikers came over to check on me, and the other guide told them that I was just tired from the hike. I told him that I was extremely dizzy, but I couldn't really speak because of how out of breath and disoriented I was. As we were walking back down to the bus, he asked "You don't have a headache or anything do you?" and did not seem to be taking me seriously at all. I had to ask to get the supplemental oxygen, which was in the bus. I recovered after getting the oxygen and getting down to lower elevation, but I was extremely nauseous and tired with a nasty headache for the rest of the day. I had been under the impression that the guides would have oxygen with them, but neither of them mentioned it on the hike and I think it was just in the bus the whole time. I really believe that if I had taken a break, eaten something, and gotten oxygen when I first started to feel dizzy, I wouldn't have gotten that sick. The guides seemed much more concerned about getting back to the bus in a timely manner (we were quite late) than making sure I was okay. And I still just cannot believe that they left me alone on the mountain after I had told them I was dizzy and sick. I'm young, decently fit, and have hiked strenuously at ~9,000ft with no problem, so I was not expecting this to happen, but it was really disappointing and scary to be treated that way. I'm lucky that I didn't pass out, throw up, or get any serious damage, but I very well could have and I was not at all confident that the guides would have been equipped to handle that. Altitude sickness generally hits after 4-6 hours. It also can affect anyone regardless of their cardio fitness level. That information would have been great to know, but I was made to feel like getting sick was just a result of me pushing myself too hard or not being fit enough, even though I was doing just fine until about 5 hours in. From reading other reviews, it seems that this company generally is pretty good about safety, which is exactly why I booked with them, but unfortunately this was my experience.

It has been a very good experience, the guides were very nice.

Rainbow Mountain is a wonderful place! A special thanks goes to the guide Kristien, who always supported me during the trek and assisted me with oxygen during the descent. Top-notch professionalism and customer care. I highly recommend Rainbow Mountain Travels!

The hike and the views at the top were amazing, especially the Red Valley. Nevertheless, the schedule was too tight. We felt constantly pressured by the guide to go faster, and we couldn't properly enjoy this amazing experience. Adding 30 minutes to the hike would go a long way in improving the experience.

We were picked up at 3 am, so we were the first to go before the crowds on Rainbow Mountain were. The breakfast and lunch was well catered for. Our guide Carlos was top, he told a lot. And the Red Valley was fantastic too!

This is a brilliant trip. The views are spectacular and it’s well worth the early start to avoid the crowds. Our guides (Krystien and Doris) were superb. They regularly checked in on us, made sure we were feeling ok, very clear directions, and generally looked after us so well.

It’s definitely not an easy activity to do but thankfully with the support from the professional guides along the way, I made it ! It’s a lifetime experience:)

A very good experience, the guides were attentive to us the whole time, they gave us directions and advice at all times 100/100 recommended

I really liked the experience, the guides are very friendly and speak Spanish/English. I highly recommend it

This tour was great. We had the perfect weather and the mountain was amazing! The colours and views were breathtaking. We continued to red valley and it was worth it. A little challenging but so rewarding. If it’s a cloudy day maybe the colours on Rainbow Mountain don’t stand out as much but we had full sun and no clouds and I found the colours stood out more than I expected. Very satisfied. Definitely recommend.