Day Three: The Train

After breakfast at the hotel, we were picked up for the last time by our intrepid leader, Willy. Another stop along the way for snacks and drinks, and we were off to the train station. We passed the Puno university, where several hundred prospective students were lined up to write entrance exams. According to Willy, Puno has one of the best public universities around, and people come from all over to study there. However, the competition for entrance is stiff. The worst part is that the results of the exams are announced over public radio, so that one´s disappointment or exaltation is shared by, well, everyone. As Willy said, Puno´s bars would be full that night with young people celebrating - and drowning their sorrows.

At the train station, we checked our backpacks and boarded the train, settling into our wingbacked armchairs and appreciating the art deco interiors. The train is operated by Orient Express and is quite the luxury affair. Check it out by clicking here. (Scroll down to the Andean Explorer). The train took us past the north end of the lake, across some remarkably desolate altiplano, and through the depressing Juliaca, where we went through and even over the Monday market (see the photos in my Yahoo album). The last car of the train is a bar car with an open-air observation platform, where we were to spend many pleasant moments during the ten-hour trip. Mercifully, we were not the only people with children on the train, so I felt a little less crazy for taking the boys on the journey. We were served a fabulous three course lunch by efficient and expert waiters, and Joffre pronounced both the stewards and the decor to be highly reminicient of The Polar Express (well, I think he said, "it like that Santa train movie!").

At some point during the trip, the train was toured by a band playing traditional Andean music, and later in the afternoon, there was a fashion show to promote fine wool garments and jewelry. There was also a happy hour in the bar, with pisco sours galore, and afternoon tea with finger sandwiches and cakes. We left the flatlands around lunchtime, and entered the mountains, through which we wove our path until dusk. We only stopped once, in a mountain pass between two government districts, to stretch our legs and check out more handicrafts. Joffre and Alec had a great time playing with the Quebecois children who shared the trip with us, and we pulled into Cusco, the Inca Capital, at dusk.

A lovely lady whose name escapes me at the moment picked us up and escorted us to the hotel, facilitating our check-in. We then went for a brief peek at the Plaza de Armas, with the legendary Cusco Cathedral at its head, before picking up some delicious wood-fired pizza and retiring in the cavernous hotel for the night.

I could probably write even more about this day in the train, but I think you get the idea!

Taking a break for now, from the internet café, but I hope to pick up and continue(finish?) the story soon.