South American Rail Journeys - Pt 2

The Machu Picchu Train - We had originally planned to take the train back after taking the 3-day inca trail hike to get to the ruined city. However being peak season, plus an overflow from the closed months, this was not possible.

No matter. There were plenty of side treks for us to have. It was all aboard for Machu Picchu on Perurail's famous train which has been part of the Venice Simplon Orient Express company since 1999. The train runs 107 km from Cusco to Machu Picchu - but The local area is still recovering from the brutal mudslides that isolated villages and Machu Picchu itself from the world earlier this year.

We now had to get to a small station farther along the line, missing out on some of the spectacular views zig-zagging out of Cusco. And so we reluctantly rode the first half in the replacement service shuttle busses. That's not to say this ride through the sacred valley was not entertaining. We actually ended up driving on top of the train tracks that were partly sunken by the mudslides along with the devestated the local villages for months. As we continued along the drive it seemwd that all the villagers were ebgaged in huge manpower efforts to rebuild everything all around us.

Our busses were then held up by some of the reconstruction work - stubborn truck drivers not wanting to give way. Finally we rejoined the train journey from a small station after having to run to jump on the train which was almost full and about to leave.

It was a little shocking to see the lines of countless porters carrying the inca trail trekker's backpacks. Apparently these locals never actually get to see Machu Picchu but just do all the heavy lifting for 90 percent of the journey in between.

We were booked on the "New Backpacker". Let me tell you this is anything but your scruffy, smelly backpacker train. The cars seemed brand new, complete with panoramic skylight windows and even an integrated iPod dock that played music and politely pointed out noteworthy sights. These views combined with our card table seats meant it was the perfect time for our picnic packed lunch. The hour long journey flew by and we only just finished our ham and cheese on baker's bread before pulling in to Agues Caliente.

Agues Caliente's main street and train thoroughfare.

Many a traveller write this town off for being a touristy soul-less hopping off point. They should venture to the other side of the tracks (we were directed there when asking for a local bar to watch the world cup game). We found local barbeques beside childrens' football matches and all in all a great local community.

Besides, the tourist part served us perfectly. Plenty of decent restos and hotels - well almost. Our hostal was not exactly perfect. Things went wrong with our room. Nothing major, but I tell you what - you would think you could at least have hot water in Agues Caliente and good water pressure in Iguazu Falls' hotels... A small insight to South American showers.

The receptionist was never there. She probably was forced to do a lot of the cleaning too. The scumbag owner forgot our gringo existence, twice daily asking us to eat in his restaurant before slapping his forehead as we walked through his hotel door. When we found the receptionist, she was shouted at for sympathizing with our issues. Luckily the third employee, Pedro, was a true amigo who redeemed this first unfriendly Peruvian we met in his country - clearly a product of thousands of tourists. He even let me cook in their restaurant alongside the kitchen crew! Unfortunately the staff shouting persisted through the night. With the 5am alarm set, we were restlessly anticipating tomorrows adventure.