Andean Explorer

The Andean Explorer to Puno on Lake Titicaca is not just any train, it's run by the same company as the Orient Express and is absolutely wonderful; a slow 9 hour journey (only 5 hours by road), 3 course lunch, bar, afternoon tea and an open observation car. 

Straddling Southern Peru and Bolivia, the Altiplano is the most extensive area of high plateau (12,000+ft) outside of Tibet.  

The train went literally right through the middle of some towns.

Stunning scenery.

This appeared to be a thermal bath complex claiming to cure all sorts of ailments like joint and muscle ache, coughs and colds and, more surprisingly, inflammation of the ovaries (I had to look that one up - a rare condition, usually caused by an STD!).  And I'll bet this little girl got well and truly told off for waving to the Gringa and made to practise her scowl.

At the highest point - 14,100ft - we were allowed to alight for photos.

And invited to purchase some souvenirs from the welcoming locals.

This little one was under a table.

A dollar for a photo - fair exchange. I wonder how much more for a smile.

There were thousands and thousands of Llamas/Alpacas/Vicunas (I can never tell) grazing.

It always amazes me how quickly most people tire of passing scenery - after lunch we were the only ones in the observation carriage.

Adobe buildings with corrugated iron roofs.

Train tracks can have more than one use but I don't think he'll catch us.

One of the towns we went through, close to our destination of Puno, was Juliaca and Derek had warned us that this town had a particularly bad reputation.  The railway track actually ran right through a narrow street which held a (permanent) market and Derek said that under no circumstances were we to open the windows (even the small ones) to take photos as our cameras would be grabbed - so only one snap though glass.

The market went on and on, seemingly for miles and was divided into sections; there would be 5 or 6 stalls selling just one commodity eg. plastic coated rope (as in the picture), then a section for, say, hessian rope, then copper wiring, then alligator clips, after the DIY section was household goods of differing kinds; buckets, mops, etc. but always just one thing per stall.