La Rinconada is a small city in Altiplano, Peru. It is known for being the highest permanent city of the world at a height of 5,100m. La Rinconada has about 30 000 inhabitants, an increase of over 200% since 2000. It is located near a gold mine and most of the locals work at the mine.

Get in

From Puno it's a six-hour bus ride on unpaved roads to La Rinconada.

Stay safe

The town suffers from mercury poisoning due to the mining activities.