The Andes - one of the highest mountain systems on Earth - occupy 28% of the territory of Peru. They are home to 36% of the country's population, or about 12 million people.
Cusco (Cusco) at an altitude of 3400 m above sea level - the center of a large highland region and the capital of the ancient Inca empire. One witty tourist called this city the capital of mountain sickness, as 70% of those who come here for the first time have severe headaches, nausea and shortness of breath. There is very little relief from mountain sickness in pills or coca leaf tea, which is served for breakfast in every hotel. The surest way is to go down, for example, visit Machu Picchu (2430 m). Or just endure a couple of days to acclimatize. And only after that you can safely rise higher.
Pacchanta is a typical Peruvian village in the Andes at an altitude of 4300 m above sea level. The locals speak Quechua, the second official language of Peru. Despite the harsh climate of the highlands, people here have been growing potatoes and breeding llamas and alpacas for centuries. Alpaca wool is much softer and warmer than sheep's wool, has no fat, is practically waterproof and does not cause allergies.
The rainbow mountains of Palccoyo at an altitude of 4900 m. Unlike the exactly the same rainbow mountain Vinicunca (5200 m), advertised on Instagram, Palkkoyo is a little lower, it takes only 40 minutes to go to the observation deck (and not more than 2 hours) and they are visited by far fewer tourists.
Huaraz is the center of the highest part of the Peruvian Andes. On the one hand, the snow caps of the White Cordillera (Cordillera Blanca) mountain range rise above the city with the highest peak of Peru, Huascarán (Huascarán, 6768 m). And on the other hand, there is a chain of the Black Cordillera (Cordillera Negra) up to 5000 m high. Huaraz is very popular with lovers of mountain tourism and mountaineering, as there are many one-day and multi-day trekking routes with beautiful mountain panoramas in its vicinity. I climbed to two amazingly blue alpine lakes - Laguna 69 and Laguna 513, and also visited two places where the rarest alpine plant Puya Raimondi grows. Once every hundred years, Puya throws out a huge inflorescence 8 meters high, which, after flowering, dries up and turns black, and the plant dies. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the Peruvian winter (June), not a single puya bloomed, but still these plants are very unusual and make a great impression.
Music:
Kushi Taquirari Cover by David Morales Sk, • KUSHI TAQUIRARI Cover...
Transcendence by Herrin Music, www.herrin.com.au/
Сircle of Friendship by Alexandro Querevalú, www.alexandroquerevalu.eu/