Peru Rail

Over the summer I was fortunate enough to go to Peru on a dental mission with other dentists. After touching down in Cusco we spent the next two days getting all of the equipment ready. We then went on a 8 hour drive from Cusco into the mountain districts where there are very prevalent glaciers and famous mountains. After driving through countless alpaca and reaching the elevation of 17,500 feet, we descended into a village named Phinaya. Here we unloaded and set up a dental clinic in one of the village centers. The village had electricity from a hydroelectric dam some 10 miles away as well as was surrounded by mountains easily reaching 17k feet. We spent all of the nights outside looking up the stars as there was no light pollution as well as went on a few runs (though these soon became walks as I’m used to only 6000 feet in Durango and the only place you could run was up. None the less we still were able to successfully run 27 miles in the 4 days and had a combined elevation gain of 3000 feet. Spending 4 days in a village at just under 16,500 feet above sea level we then headed back to Cusco and prepared for our reward... Machu Pichu. And here is what you have all been waiting for... how does this story relate to trains you may ask? From Cusco to the town you stay at for Machu Pichu, Aguas Calientes, you must take a Narrow Guage railroad known as Peru Rail. Spanning many miles throughout the country connecting the coast to Lake Titicaca and Aguas Calientes, the railroad has both Narrow Gauge and Standard. (Note: Narrow Guage in Peru is also 3ft). Though you can take the train all the way from Cusco we drove to another smaller town some 2 hours away to be able to see other destinations along the way. And from there we began our journey on Peru Rail. PART 1 Pictures will be included in further parts. Feel free to ask questions or request photos



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2019 08:56PM by evankamp.