Ok. This is really the railway to Cusco. From Puno and Lake Titicaca. This is the engine of our Peru Rail train.
The middle part of the train
The caboose and glass topped observation coach.
This was our home base. You get a comfortable, plush chair and a dining table.
It’s not just basic transportation. They turn it into an experience in itself. And you pay extra for that.
You can’t stretch out like that on the bus!
All these pictures are from inside the train. We watched as the terrain slowly changed from high plateau to river valley.
We went through many small towns
In a larger town there were vendor stalls right up against the train. You could almost reach out and grab stuff.
In some cases, as soon as the train passed, vendors actually moved their wares to right on top of the tracks.
In one town these stalls along the tracks went on for I think a couple miles!
Can you tell if these are alpacas or llamas?
I don’t think this is now. Sand?
I think we are about to join the river along side the tracks.
At the summit between Puno and Cusco there is a small town with some hot springs.
A short stop and the vendors are there to take your money.
More vendors
As we start the slow descent to Cusco, the crops slowly get more healthy. Partly from more water, I think.
There’s that river.
Rich, volcanic soil ( I think).
Now that’s snow.
A dancer entertaining.
Enjoying the journey
The coolest place on the train. On the floor. At the end of the caboose.
More dancing.
I liked the message on this jacket.
Farmers would tether their animals along the tracks as there was some pretty sweet grass growing there usually.
As we get closer to Cusco the tracks get a bit more confusing.
Where are all our Cusco pictures??? Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire that ruled virtually all of South America before the Spanish arrived. So when the Spaniards wiped out the Incas in Cusco, they smashed all their buildings and built their churches and what not right on top of the rubble. We didn’t spend as much time as we would have liked in Cusco. We headed out to find Machu Picchu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-8VI-3Pv8&feature=youtu.be

Charlotte getting down to Guantanamera on the train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp1n8FjiuoU&feature=youtu.be

The band goes for a more traditional look.