Andean Explorer (Cusco to Puno)

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We arrived at the train station around 7:15am and checked in our luggage. Outside of the station, there is a small steam locomotive. Then we entered the waiting room with other tourists. At around 7:30am, the attendant began the boarding by checking our tickets against passports or other identification. We soon boarded the Andean Explorer for the 10 hour trip to Puno on Lake Titicaca. This is really a luxury train with great service. The seats are comfortable with a table for each set of seats and there is a good view from the windows. The top part can be opened to let in fresh air. The adjacent car, and last one on the train, is the bar car. This also has tables and chairs and the end of it is open so that fresh air can enter. It is also an excellent place from which to take photos. PeruRail provides entertainment with Andean music. The entertainers parade through the car dressed in colorful costumes and do the entertaining in the bar car, however they could be heard from our car. Breakfast is available for a price, but lunch is included in the price of the ticket. There's a snack in the afternoon which is also included. Beverages and wine are served during lunch.

The train begins its gradual ascend after leaving Cusco. One can view the suburbs of the city as the train heads out toward the countryside. The Andean Mountains surround the area during the first part of the journey. Following that, the train makes its way up to the Andean Plains. The Huatanay River can be seen part of the way along the train's journey to Puno. Several hours after leaving Cusco, it makes a stop at La Raya. This place looks like a scene out of one of Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti westerns. There are colorful vendors selling blankets, shawls, water, and all other sorts of items. Dominating the scene is an old Catholic church which is simple in structure and not anywhere near as ornate as the ones in the cities. In fact, it actually looks like one out of the old western movies.

Following this, as the train enters the Altiplano, one can gaze out the windows at the fields and the small houses built near them. The local people, in their colorful clothing, can be seen tending their small herds of cattle, sheep, and other animals. The scenery is interrupted by small villages of which the homes seem to be made of mud, straw, and stones. The small towns tend to have larger structures with colorful writing on the sides of their stores and other businesses.

About an hour from Puno, the train makes its way through the large industrial city of Juliaca. If one flies from Cusco, the plane lands here because there is no airport in Puno. The train slows down and meanders past scores of sellers who have their stalls very close to the tracks. There is everything here from automobile parts to fruit and produce from the surrounding fields. Passengers on the train and people on the ground wave at each other. Next to the train station there is another steam locomotive, however it is larger than the one in Cusco. After the train leaves the center of the city, it enters the southern outskirts which is a huge industrial area with factory after factory dotting the landscape. This is neither a pretty nor interesting area. It appears bleak and ugly.

After departing Juliaca, we enter a somewhat barren area which appears brown and flat. As the train approaches Puno on Lake Titicaca, this changes and the area becomes greener and more hospitable. The train stops to let passengers off at a hotel and then proceeds to the station in downtown Puno. We have arrived.

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