Trains to Machu Picchu

Tourists have the option to travel super-deluxe, dining the full menu and enjoying the local wines with Hiram Bingham; middle class Vistadome offering complementary snacks or the less expensive Expedition with snacks for sale. The last option and most economic option is to take the shuttle from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu. All trains and shuttles have perplexed roof windows to heighten the panoramic view.  

Travellers using the shuttles are mainly backpackers with wrinkled clothes, unshaven, happy faces and electronic devices. They check with regular intervals whether the passport and wallet are still in the front pockets, count money, make small talk and share where meals are inexpensive, what markets have the best bargains and which museums are a must see. 

Pisac has spectacular ruins overlooking the Sacred Valley and has the most famous market on Sundays. Thermal baths at Aguas Calientes attract many visitors and offer revitalizing minerals especially for tired, blistered feet. Underlying the trading of new knowledge single backpackers hope for an invite to assimilate and reduce the chances of getting lost. They might have a conversation going by the next stop or ending up with the silent treatment.

Finding the free Wi-Fi spot is without doubt the euphoria of the day and status updates make the backpackers' Twitter and Facebook friends with or without envy, dedicated followers. This is also the time when online banking happens and the tour budget might get a boost from savings. 

On the shuttle, room is limited and the legs from those who didn’t get to put their backpacks in the triangle between the seats are dealing with dead weight. 

In the enclosed space with sleep-deprived bodies that press every Soles value out for the experience of a lifetime, are the readers. The world passes them as they read novels, absorbed by the character’s quest. That is to some extend inexcusable. 

John notices a traveller studying the book on How to make the best out of Traveling Peru. One traveler’s frown is another man’s smile.  He Tweet this and in minutes the astonished John’s Twitter gets a thousand hits. “Some-one is reading about the Sacred Valley, looking at the photos in the book rather than the real thing?” “You’re kidding me.” “Ask whether the reader are willing to use my sofa while I take the seat on the train!” 

How one can read about the tropical mountain while travelling is incomprehensible; missing the scenery where the inspiration for Indiana Jones series originated, unthinkable.   

Whether it happens by luxurious or economic means, the artistry of nature in glorious colours, the grandeur of an ancient Inca civilization, talking broken Spanish to natives and mingling with citizens of the world is a gift of the present time. Resist from falling behind. 

The turquoise Vilcanota River to the left of the train tracks and to the right towering mountains with rocks having the outward appearance of heads, imposing. 

                      Any train to the tropical mountain forest is a good train.
                         Closing the travel guide or novel an excellent option.
                                Don't forget to chew on the Cacao leafs.
                                 The altitude is high and so is the ecstasy.