Train to Aguas Calientes--Machu Pichu!

If you haven't learned by now, When traveling I prefer to not use an alarm. I can get on board with not exactly sleeping in, but I don't want to set an alarm for every day, either. Truth be told, I'm usually too excited to sleep in. With the Frazier party, I'm always the first one awake (complete opposite at home, when I would be happy to sleep until 9 or 10 every day.) But, for this Peru trip, we set an alarm for every day except one. And as excited as I may have been, by this point, I was also pretty exhausted!

Our group at Poroy Station

Our train departed from Cusco at 8:25 am. The train was outside of the city of Cusco in Poroy. It is about a 30 minute taxi ride and we were told to be at the station an hour early. So, our alarms were set for 6 am, yet again! We were allowed to leave our luggage at the Cusco Hostel and again take only what we would need for a night in Aguas Calientes and at Machu Pichu. We packed homework and clothes, cameras and bug spray and headed for the train station.

I was getting very weary. I am sure Mackenzie and Abbi were very tired, too. But, they didn't show it. They were up and going every day. Good attitudes and willing spirits. I know I keep saying it, but my goodness! They make me so proud! We tested our own limits as adults and here were our daughters, holding their own. If anyone is reading this and considering a special bonding trip with their child, I really loved taking the girls at this age. Teenage girls--they are developing their own ideas and sense of self, which makes it fun to see the experience through their eyes. And, they were mature enough to be physically and emotionally uncomfortable without loosing it.


We boarded the train and found that our seats weren't quite together. Thankfully some of our group switched around with us so we could all sit together at a four place table (rare--most of the seats were two by two, only at the ends of the car were there four place tables.) The train was very bright and comfortable. You could recline your seat and take a nap, although there was way too  much excitement for that. Maybe on the way back?

There are a few options for train rides to Aguas Calientes. There is a low budget option (Expedition,) which would be a basic seat in a basic train. We were on the upgraded train with panoramic windows for drinking in the landscape for the three plus hour ride. The upgraded train also included lunch and wine! There is a third, even fancier, award winning, train option, called the Hiram Bingham. If I was going to vacation there again with my family, I might spring for that, but our Vistadome train was very nice and comfortable. I'm not sure that either Mackenzie or Abbi had ever been on a train ride, but especially not like this one! The views were incredible!

Here is a short, dorky video I made. It is an excerpt from two videos on Peru trains on Youtube, 1.) Three Miles High:Peru Rail Journey by fjordland, and 2.) Train Ride from Cusco to Machu Pichu, Peru by Barbara Weibel.  I feel like it's hard to understand the zig zag unless you see it. Consider it a mini Educational post. :)

I tried finding a picture of the switchbacks from the outside of the train, but the best I could come up with was from construction era.

The next two pictures aren't of the Perurail, but you can maybe better understand the concept of a switchback.

There were workers on either end of the train that would jump off and switch the direction of the tracks so we could continue to descend into the heart of the Urubamba Valley, or the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is strange to be plowing forward in one direction and then slow to a stop and reverse. The Perurail has five full switchbacks in one steep decline, descending 400 meters (1300 ft.)  in less than 5 kilometers(16 feet.)

So Many Breath Taking Views!

Turns out, not only am I an aviation junkie, I'm also a train junkie! I'm a 3 year old boy trapped inside a woman's body! Abbi couldn't believe I could do an entire post on the train ride, but I feel like I could have done two! 

Arrived in AG--To the Hostel!