I have been dither-dathering about buying our train tickets from Cuzco to Aguascalientes. There are so many variables! Railway: Peru Rail or Inca Rail. Departure point: Cuscso, Ollantaytambo, Urubamba. Class: Expedition, Vistadome, Voyager, Hiram Bingham. Departure times: super early, moderately early, kind of early, afternoon, later afternoon, too late, you get the drift.
Ahh, I couldn't decide. I kept looking at options and then getting distracted by work or homework or social life or The White Queen TV show marathon. Val was no help. She just said she trusted me and to buy whatever I thought best. Hrmmph.
I even used my research as homework but creating a Machu Picchu Pecha Kutcha video. You can watch it if you have 6:41 minutes to kill. Don't judge, I got an A on it.
I kept not buying the tickets and not buying the tickets. And then today, Black Friday deal day, I thought 'hey, I wonder if Peru railroads have sales on Black Friday'? Guess what, they do!
So, I just bit the bullet, picked Peru Rail and hedged my bets on stations and classes. We leave Cuzco in the not-too late morning (7:50am which is way better than 5:20am). The train from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo doesn't run in rainy season so we bus it to Ollantaytambo. We board the train at 10:30 or so and hit Aguascalientes around noon. For this one, I bought the cheap tickets, Explorer class. $38 US
For our return tickets, we leave Aguascalientes at 10:30am or so. I sprang for the Vistadome, the next class up with bigger windows. $54 US. We get off in Ollantaytambo which seems like a nice little town and then we have to figure out how to get back to Cuzco. I'm sure there are buses. Or not, whatever, I can only do some much deciding in one day.
We saved a bunch of money (around 40%) because I couldn't commit for weeks and then boom, it is time. I had like five minutes before my next appointment so I didn't have time to think about it. This might be why my name is Joanne Cumberland Cumberland on my ticket. Anyway, it is done.
We have assigned seats. I tried to find some info on what side of the train they are on or even if they are window seats (on Expedition) but there doesn't seem to be consensus on seating plans. Apparently, every train has a different configuration so it is a crap shoot. Oh well, I don't mind leaning over a stranger to take a picture/spot a bird/rest my arm on their head. I think Vistadome is all windows. You know you are going to hear all about it eventually.
Next task, plane tickets from Cuzco to Lima. I need another few days recovery time before I tackle that one.
Here's sa pretty picture of Peru Rail
Ahh, I couldn't decide. I kept looking at options and then getting distracted by work or homework or social life or The White Queen TV show marathon. Val was no help. She just said she trusted me and to buy whatever I thought best. Hrmmph.
I even used my research as homework but creating a Machu Picchu Pecha Kutcha video. You can watch it if you have 6:41 minutes to kill. Don't judge, I got an A on it.
I kept not buying the tickets and not buying the tickets. And then today, Black Friday deal day, I thought 'hey, I wonder if Peru railroads have sales on Black Friday'? Guess what, they do!
So, I just bit the bullet, picked Peru Rail and hedged my bets on stations and classes. We leave Cuzco in the not-too late morning (7:50am which is way better than 5:20am). The train from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo doesn't run in rainy season so we bus it to Ollantaytambo. We board the train at 10:30 or so and hit Aguascalientes around noon. For this one, I bought the cheap tickets, Explorer class. $38 US
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| Peru Rail Expedition Class |
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| Peru Rail Vistadome |
We have assigned seats. I tried to find some info on what side of the train they are on or even if they are window seats (on Expedition) but there doesn't seem to be consensus on seating plans. Apparently, every train has a different configuration so it is a crap shoot. Oh well, I don't mind leaning over a stranger to take a picture/spot a bird/rest my arm on their head. I think Vistadome is all windows. You know you are going to hear all about it eventually.
Next task, plane tickets from Cuzco to Lima. I need another few days recovery time before I tackle that one.
Here's sa pretty picture of Peru Rail
