Train Ride from Cusco to Puno, Peru

Train Ride from Cusco to Puno

After visiting Macho Picchu and Sacred Valley, we were back in Cuzco.We were leaving for Puno next morning.  Puno is the gateway to Lake Titicaca, highest navigable lake in the world. There were options of traveling by plane, coach bus, or train,  but we decided to do it  by train. I always love to travel by train because it has so much more to offer by the way of comfort and natural beauty even when the train travels with incredibly high speed. We traveled by Perurail’s luxury Pullman train.

Train to puno from Cusco, Peru

It was one of the most romantic train ride we have ever been on. Train itself offered an amazing amount of fun. It had topclass dinning cars where they served great meals. There was also a bar car, and an observation car which was the last carriage, with large wide windows spanning along the back and the sides  with lot of seating for those who wanted to enjoy the spectacular scenery along the ride. I didn’t  want to move an inch lest I missed something, although we were free to roam along the train all the time.

When the train was going through Urubamba valley, I swear it had to be the prettiest scenic ride ever, and  it was nostalgic for me because it reminded me of my train travels in  India where I saw locals working  and enjoying life right along the tracks, so it was  déjá vu in a way. There is one other thing which is engraved in my memory is the time when our train was passing through a huge area  which was covered with what seemed like gray structures behind the trees. We didn’t know what they were.

Petrified forest seen from the train to Puno, Peru

I then found out that we were passing a petrified forest. It made a phenomenal impact on me, I could only think of how God performs his wonders in mysterious ways. But science explains the phenomenon as:

” a natural process that occurs when all the organic matter in a tree dies and is replaced by a combination of quartz, copper, iron, and other minerals. This process takes millions of years. Apparently, volcanic ash is a key step in the process of petrification. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon for petrified forest to have been covered by mud made out partially by volcanic ash at some point. Volcanic ash produces a chemical reaction in the wood, which in turn accelerates the process of petrification”.

As the train continued to crescendo, we saw huge mountain peaks shrouded in mist and clouds and yet the sun was out there behind creating a beautiful golden line around their edges as if it was deliberately done by an artist,  making the scene definitely picture perfect, and even gave credibility to the proverbial every cloud has a silver lining. 

Disembarking the train in puno

We arrived in Puno later that evening. Stepping off the train in Puno I felt dizzy because we were at a dizzying altitude of over 12,566 ft.  We were to stay in Puno overnight and head out for our trip  to Uros floating Islands on Lake Titicaca. I remember we brought some food to the room (but don’t remember the detail of from where or how) which we both couldn’t eat because were nauseous. Jaffer, of course, did not complain because he has a very high threshold for  pain, whereas I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. Anyway after some food and Diamox we were able to sleep. we got up bright and early to catch the sunrise and get ready for our floating island tour. Our tour bus picked us up from our hotel in Puno to catch the ferry to Uros Floating Islands.

Street scene in Puno

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