Old Video Showing Peru's Red River Amazes Internet

Have you ever thought of a river being colourful? No? Well, a video gaining traction on social media will open your eyes towards a new reality. The now-viral clip shows a red-coloured river flowing in Peru and has surprised many social media users. The video is old, and keeps surfacing from time to time.

This time, the video has been shared by Twitter user Fascinating and shows the river flowing through a valley in the south American continent. This river in Cusco has cherry or brick red-coloured water, as seen in the video. It is locally known as Pukamayu. In Quechua language, "puka" means red, and "mayu" means river. 

The Red River in Peru.pic.twitter.com/jMhXj3JUKC

— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) October 31, 2022

According to local outlets, the water of the river turns red due to the mineral deposits present in the different layers of clay formed due to soil erosion. The colour specifically due to the presence of iron oxide coming off the red region of the mountains. Since the final outcome is due to rainwater run-off, the so-called red river can be seen only during the monsoon months. During the rest of the year, the flow of waters remains slow and the colour of the 'river' also remains kind of muddy brown.

The source of the river is Palcoyo Rainbow Mountain, whereby the natural erosion from wind and water has exposed the various layers of sediment, thereby showing off different colours. 

The video was shared on Monday morning and since then it has amassed over 2.7 million views and 51,000 likes. "The Red River in Peru," reads the caption of the post. Many social media users could not believe their eyes when they saw the video. One user commented, "Whoa that's freaky. Just goes to show our earth is wonderfully and intricately designed and created by God."

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"I'd like to see this in person," said another person. 

"Movie directors are missing a real trick to use this place as a scene where a major bloodbath battle takes place," added a third. 

A fourth user commented, "Unlike the people who named the Yellow River, the Blue Nile, and the Red Sea, these guys weren't lying."