Me Against Trains
Train to Machu Picchu
We had to wake up at 6:40 in the morning to be ready at 7:25, to catch the big blue bus that would take us to the train station.The travel agency is named Peru Rails,for more information enter https://www.perurail.com/ There’s three train stations that will take you to Aguas Calientes, one is located in Cusco, the other in Urubamba and the last in Ollantaytambo. All three stations take from 2 hours to 2 and a half hours to arrive at Aguas Calientes. Tickets range threw 55 to 385 dollars. There is I can remember that it was a cold and gainsboro morning, their was no birds or wildlife in the sky. It was as it was dead,and it felt like we were dead. All of us in the bus were so tired that we were like rotting reanimated corpses, barely moving and hardly talking. But as always in my bus there were people hearing reggaeton, and it was horrible and grotesque to hear at this time of the morning. For people who don’t know what reggaeton is, it is a type of music in which all songs have the same rhythm of thumping and clapping. Now let’s get back on track and talk about my experience in the train to Machu Picchu.
I have always viewed trains as the most dull and awkward way of traveling. Dull because the only thing that trains do is advance in the train tracks, while plains fly in the beautiful neverending sky and boats navigate across the amazing and delightful seas. Why awkward? Well it’s not my first rodeo with trains and to tell you the truth, I have always hated trains, let’s say I’ve had some uncanny and calamitous experiences with them. From ranging from gawky conversations with the people around me to complete udderly silence that slowly, but surely killed me.That is why I was so tense to get on the train, I was so petrified and anxious that my whole experience would be ruined because of the people I get to seat with.
But frankly, I was just being paranoid about my past experiences. So I decided to play a board game to keep my mind zane. But after some ill-fated turn of events, no one was playing games so I decided to go to the poker table. I was stunned to see one of my teachers playing poker, specially if the teacher we were playing with was Mr. Schawberow.It was astonishing to see the most strict and boring teacher throughout the whole trip playing poker with a dozen of students, a sparse moment indeed. I remember that we were playing the last hands when we heard the train coming from a distance, it’s sound was like hundreds of horses galloping at the same time and when it arrived it made it’s famed Chu Chu sound. But the sound that I remember the most is the squeaky and exasperated me the most the sound of the train decelerating before stopping. The train station is located in Ollantaytambo, which is located 60 km away of the city. And our destination was 2 and a half hours away, Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is the city below Machu Picchu, from there you must take a bus that will take you to the belmont resort. Belmont loge, “http://www.belmond.com/sanctuary-lodge-machu-picchu/”
We entered the train and it was marvelous and amazing, I think that my past experiences were clouding my judgment over this train. So I decided to sit down and slacken. So I did just that, me and the people sitting around me past the 2:30 hours playing cards and we didn’t even realise we had arrived thanks to the fun we were having. I must contradict myself, I said are that trains are boring, but one thing that I did put in factor of trains are that they have the best landscapes you will ever see. Landscapes that my made my heart stop for a while. I felt embodied when I saw them, I saw a sea of green, something that I never saw in Lima. Mountains full of green and live, making them look like fresh green apples. It was outstanding, but what amazed me the most was the change of landscape we went through. At the start of the train it was more like rocky mountains in which hikers can climb, but after an hour we arrived to the low jungle where there is vegetation and plant wildlife. How can this be?This is because Aguas Calientes is located in the high jungle, which have hundreds of types of trees. The most common flora are the rubber, oil palm , orchids and bombonaje .
I must admit that my previous experience clouded my jugment.I learned that trains may be the monotonous and thorny way of traveling but it gives you the best and most beautiful landscapes there is to offer.