After our return from Machu Picchu, we spent another night in Cusco and then boarded a train, the Andean Explorer for a 10 hour trip to Puno, located on Lake Titicaca.
Ten hours may seem like a long time to be on a train, but I can’t ever recall a more enjoyable trip, via train or otherwise. We traveled in an elegant club car, complete with white linen tablecloths. The food was excellent, the service impeccable and the scenery fantastic. The car directly behind us was a “bar car” but served many purposes in the course of our journey. There was a fashion show, two live bands and a dancer to entertain us in the course of our voyage. This car was the last on the train and it had an open rear deck for observing the scenery or taking pictures. No more “through the glass” photographs. A “must do” if you ever visit Peru! Peru Rail certainly knows how to do it right!
I took this shot from beside the train during a half-way stop at a place called La Raya, the highest point on the line at 4,313 m (14, 150 ft). We disembarked at a “middle of nowhere” stop to shop at a trackside, native market. A very unique experience and I believe quite lucrative for the local vendors.
The picture above is one of may I took at this stop, a view of the market. The vendors are quite persistent and love to negotiate. The woman approaching me was trying for the umpteenth time to sell me any number of items. Couldn’t convince her that Rolande was the one with the money!
Two of our fellow travellers, Bob and Helen found an alpaca, but couldn’t take it home. They managed to pose with the alpaca and its owner for this beautiful photo before we moved on.
One of my favourite scenes on the entire trip was taken at this stop. If you realize that I was standing at an altitude of over 14,000 ft when I took the picture, imagine the height of the peaks in the background!
The distance between Cusco and Puno was only 380 km but our train was no in a great hurry. We traveled at a very leisurely pace, not more than 40 km per hour, giving us the opportunity to take in all the scenery. Overall we climbed about 400 m (1,315 ft) between Cusco and Puno.
Here’s our train, “the little engine that could” rounding a bend on the upward climb.
We knew we were approaching our destination when we caught our first glimpse of Lake Titicaca. It is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia and sits 3,811 m (12,500 ft) above sea level, making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water, it is also the largest lake in South America. (Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela has a larger surface area, but it is often disregarded as it is directly connected to the sea). Enough about Lake Titicaca; more to follow in my next post.
