A Real Surprise Journey

Monday 22 January

We had to take all of our luggage with us today – the first time for a week or so. As we weren’t going on a plane, we tended to put as much as possible in our cases – they must have been loads overweight, but it was easier than sorting it again. We made breakfast at 06.00, but weren’t tempted to each very much – disaster – no cornflakes on the buffet table – so we stuck to fruit and tea.

We made our way to reception early, about 06.45, to wait for our courier to take us to the station. Our paperwork said 07.00 – but just in case the car arrived early, and we were not sure what time the train left Cusco. The appointed hour came and went, and Colin got the receptionist to phone for us and enquire what was happening. They told her the time they had was 07.30 – we could have had another half an hour in bed! But a breathless lady arrived about fifteen minutes later, full of apologies, showing us her paperwork, and getting us settled in the car quickly. When she handed over the tickets – the first thing we noticed was that they were first class (a nice surprise) and that the train left at 08.00. We had thought we had to go to the station where we were dropped by the Hiram Bingham train from Machu Picchu, about half an hour outside the city. Instead we pulled into a small station only five minutes from the hotel, so we arrived in plenty of time.

The train was run by Perurail, in bright blue livery. The carriage by the entrance to the station looked similar to the Hiram Bingham, dining tables, with table lamps and large plush comfy armchairs. We were directed to this carriage and shown to our seats, while our cases and bags were whisked away by the porter to store in the luggage compartment. Apparently there was a second-class carriage too, but we were very happy with our seats. We were sitting opposite two Australian lades, one in her late 50’s and the other probably nearer 70, who had been touring South America for the last few weeks. The younger lady had first visited Antarctica over Christmas, and her reports of the cruise sounded wonderful – she had been on a small cruise, run by Aurora I think, with only about 50 people in a small boat, which managed to explore bays and coves that the larger cruise liners couldn’t reach. We must bear that in mind if we ever get to visit the bottom of the world. The couple on the other side of the train came from Richmond in Yorkshire, but we didn’t get to speak very much with them.

The train left on time, and announced that lunch would be included as part of our ticket, but breakfast menus would be passed around very soon, which would be at extra cost. Colin chose a burger (he was getting withdrawal symptoms for fast food), and I had a tuna and mayo sarnie. It was then time to watch the scenery pass by, as the train continued its steady journey up through the mountains of the Andes. We saw many snow capped peaks in the distance but in fact the height of the first part of the journey fell a hundred or so metres, before gently climbing up to 4,313 metres at the highest point.

At mid morning they announced ‘pisco sours” were being served in the bar, whilst at the same time, a fashion show would take place in the observation car – the other half of the bar car. We made our way to the very end rail of the train, where the sun was shining in warmly, and watched both the scenery trundle by – we seemed to be following one long valley through the mountains, becoming flatter and wider as the journey progressed – and the two girls and one young man parade through the carriage in Peruvian woolen goods, some of which were beautiful, but very expensive. They also showed a range of silver jewellery. Next a lady danced in Peruvian style to loud bubbling music, followed by a group of Peruvian musicians, playing pan-pipes with maracas of brazil nuts strung together, a guitar and ukulele. We had heard lots of this music in the restaurants, cafes and bars around Cusco and Arequippa, so we returned to our seats and read and watched the scenery for a while. We arrived at the highest point where the train stopped for five minutes so passengers could visit the market there, but unfortunately it had started to rain quite hard, and the temperature had dropped several degrees to become quite cold, so most people stayed on board. The scenery had changed to a huge wide green plateau as the mountains receded to the horizon on both sides. There were many farms along the plateau, firstly with alpacas, llamas and vicunas, later with cows and sheep and arable land as the altitude lessened. We traveled through many small towns and villages, where lots of people came out to wave to the train. There were the markets, although the one at Juliaca went on for a couple of miles, first selling spare parts for cars, bikes, and engines, laid out on stalls or on the ground in front of small workshops. The goods changed to shoes, with men repairing soles and heels with hand tools, beside their range of new footwear, and then there were household goods and food stalls before becoming to the usual souvenir displays. Masses of people were milling everywhere (the population of Juliaca is about 250,000), and when we passed the residential area later, it appeared almost like a ghost town. This is one of the major settlements in this area, and boasts a small airport, with planes from Lima, Cusco and Arequippa landing a couple of times a day.

Lunch was served promptly at 13.00. Colin chose carrot soup and chicken in a creamy sauce with rice, while I had a chicken and green bean salad, followed by tilapia fillet (fish) sitting on a bed of grains in a tomatoey sauce. The dessert was coffee mousse with a chocolate covered shortcake biscuit, and the meal ended with tea – or coffee. During the afternoon we were further entertained by the musicians before “afternoon tea” was served at 16.30, consisting of a cheese and ham sandwich, a small coconut fairy cake and a small round shortbread biscuit, with tea that tasted of cloves. We had not been expecting a journey like this – we had thought we would be sitting in an ordinary second class compartment, and lunch would be a box lunch. So it was a lovely surprise to travel in style for a second time this week. The journey to Puno was ten hours in total and as we neared Puno we started traveling around the edgewaters of Lake Titicaca – shallow waters looking like flood waters at the start increasing to deeper channels and eventually the lake itself. We saw a myriad of birds and ducks on the watery landscape, even where the water became stagnant and covered in a sage green scum, indicating the stillness of the area.

We arrived right on time and after collecting our luggage from the carriage at the front of the train (our carriage had been at the back, so that we, as first class passengers, could use the observation car) we found our courier waiting for us by the exit. She took us by car for the five minute trip to our hotel – another Casa Andina Plaza - where we booked in and were given another room on the first floor! On inspecting it, there were large windows letting in daylight, the room was quite large, although cold, and the bathroom looked newly refurbished. As we are going to be here for less than twelve hours, we settled ourselves in. As we had had lots to eat throughout the day, we were not feeling at all hungry, so got ourselves some tea from the lobby and watched television, and caught up on the blog, etc. Tomorrow we are leaving before 06.30 to go across the lake and on to La Paz, so another early morning is in store.

Tomorrow we leave Peru – another section of our adventure over. We have been very surprised at all locations we have visited in this country. It is much more modern and forward thinking than we had thought to find, and the scenery and landscape have been magnificent. There is such a variety here from coast, to high mountains, to valleys, and of course the jungle. Each offered very different sights and lifestyles, but all the people were so friendly and helpful, and made you feel they were really pleased to see you. We have been so lucky to see the condors and otters, Machu Picchu, the Colca Canyon and the top of the world on the snowy peaks. This is definitely one country we would like to return to, as there is still lots more to explore. You just cannot get enough of the mixture of the old Spanish style buildings and the ancient traditions, mixing with the newer cultures. It’s a shame I couldn’t walk the Inca Trail, but that would definitely have been a step too far, and taking the train wasn’t exactly a poor substitute. I hope the rest of South America lives up to this start.