Pre-Christmas Road Trip, Part Five: Riding the Rails

With the Lake Titicaca adventure behind us, it was time to make our return home to the Sacred Valley to do some laundry. It used to be that the only way to travel between Cusco and Puno was on the famous Andean Rail line, extending all the way from Puno to near the base of Machu Picchu. A road has since been built to connect the two cities, but the train service remains as a tourist option. Mel really wanted to give the girls their first actual train experience but, at a price much higher than the more popular bus option, I was against the idea. Melissa and I had ridden many, many filthy old trains across Europe and Thailand, and I was picturing a long day of rattling down the rail in some uncomfortable second hand Euro-reject trying to keep the girls from strangling each other. Given the cheaper option of the luxury bus ride that had previously proven itself quite comfy and adequate, it took some coaxing to persuade this champion cheapskate to take the train.













But, hats off to Melissa! Little did I know that she had landed us in the lap of luxury for the day! Who cares that our clothes needed washing and we smelled like vagrants? We were hanging with rich tourists in plush antique opulence! It was all I could do to keep my pinkie extended and my thumb out of my nose, but we somehow managed to look high class.

I was expecting the train folks to throw us a cold plastic-wrapped box lunch, but the food service ended up being a fine dining affair, menu and all. Notice from the photo that we were being waited on so frequently that Lola started sleeping through meal times.We even saw the high class folks drinking wine and cocktails! And, having no clue how to parent properly without the Utah-required Zion Curtain to do the job for us, we were forced to explain to our children that evil people drink alcohol and that we, on the other hand, don't drink in front of other Mormons. Ah, where would we be without the Utah Legislature? Bless their hearts. I'll move on.

The train even had a chic lounge car for us to kick back together and...

...Enjoy the show! Another great opportunity to listen to some fantastic traditional Andean music. The musician in front is playing a charango, which is a super cool ten-stringed instrument that evolved from the Spanish-imported viola hundreds of years ago.
(It sounds a little like a mandolin.)

I wish that this video file were smaller, or that I knew how to get it under 100mb, because these guys were really good. On the other hand, if you haven't heard El Condor Pasa by now, let me know and we'll post another clip when the occasion presents itself...in these parts they play it every ten minutes!

As if a great concert wasn't enough, we also got another dose of traditional Peruvian dancing! Well, we were in a moving train, so I don't know that we could consider it an actual dance. More like a shuffle around the train car. But her boot heels were uber-high and her costume was really tall and shiny, so we were totally entertained!





















The girls spend much of the balance of the train ride coloring, listening to music, or in screen-mode. Hopefully they got some school work done, although I have my doubts.

With the girls otherwise distracted by their technology, Melissa and I took advantage of the rare opportunity to have an grown-up discussion. This time away sure has been a great way to reconnect.

Puno sits on the great Altiplano, a huge, high, plain at the base of the even higher Andes range. To get back to Cusco, we had to pass through some really cool mountain valleys, one of which was the trip's one designated whistle stop. It was good to be able to stretch our legs and check it out. I had my fingers crossed that I might see a snowflake, but no such luck. Another day, perhaps.

Riding through the mountains got me scheming about our next backcountry adventure. 

And I can't help thinking that NHP might be contemplating her next river trip.
I absolutely love this photo.

My huge thanks to Melissa for insisting that we spend our last day of this trip riding the rails. It really was a special experience, and it wouldn't have happened without her thoughtfulness and foresight. I married way out of my league.

THE END

Pre-Christmas Road Trip, Part Four: Island Hopping

Our final jaunt around the Puno area took us back onto Lake Titicaca for a little island hopping. Hiring a charter boat seemed pretty affordable, so we negotiated a deal that we could live with and joined the jet set on this luxury liner, powered by a re-purposed Ford V8 engine and drive line. No really, this old truck motor actually didn't quite fit into the engine compartment, so they did without the air intake and filter housing to allow the hatch to close. Then, to change direction, the driver actually had to run to the back of the boat to disengage the gear shifter, although the captain was skilled enough to be able to simply pull into port at just the right angle and kill the engine, then drift smoothly up alongside the docks. It was awesome. 

We needed to keep our energy level up for this high-seas adventure, so we made a little back-deck picnic for the nippers. Ah, there's nothing like burning through the precious and scarce stores of peanut butter with the ones you love....

Breaking bread with the alpha dog on the lido deck.

I can't quite explain what appears to be a force-feeding episode, but we take our nutrition very seriously in this family!

So, although this Love Boat had no Julie MacCoy on the crew, there were tons of activities programmed into our journey to keep us entertained. For starters, you could stretch out on the top deck:

....or return to the back deck lounge for the all-you-can-eat peanut butter buffet:

...then head back to the top deck to contemplate the complex questions facing our human existence:

But, sadly, no amount of pre-programmed cruise line entertainment is ever adequate, and boredom began to creep in on our restless natives. So, to ensure the girls would never forget this day, and to prevent mutiny on this Three Hour Tour, we opted to take a page from the Miami Beach hip-hop scene and throw a dance party on our sleek chartered yacht.

When the boat starts to rockin' sometimes you've got to crawl your way around the dance floor!

Full disclosure: I'm posting video of our Tight Pants dance session only under threat of Mel beating me to it. At least my posting this first will be on my own terms, so I can make sure the world knows that my dance moves would have been much smoother and my physique far more flattering had we not been on such rough water!

Well, anyway, we eventually made it to our first destination, Isla Amantani. The folks living on this beautiful, small island live pretty much on hand-to-mouth subsistence farming, but benefit greatly from the occasional tourist visit from folks like us. There are no hotels on the island, so the village here has implemented a rotational system that allows each family an equal financial opportunity to provide home stay accommodations to visitors. We landed with a great family here in their modest home on a hillside overlooking the lake.

The amazing view from the kitchen window.

After we got settled in a bit, we had a chance to explore the island, including this pretty little town square.

Gateway to the footpath.

The village was really nice, but the real appeal of Amantani is the hike to the highest points on the island, Pachatata (Father Earth) and Pachamama (Mother Earth) to see the ruins there and take in the view. So, off we went!

Leaving the village behind/below us.

The footpath to the top took us past many a sheep corral and countless walled grazing and farming plots.

The hump up the hill was a big undertaking for Harper and Norah, but they were real troopers and only occasionally needed to tether to a parent for the climb. Lola, for her part, was lucky to somehow still fit in the baby pack and got to ride on the back her lumbering father.

Harper was elated to be the first to reach our "truffula tree" milestone (pictured behind).

The rewarding view of the village shrinking in the distance.

Whoever improved the trails on these islands were big into building an occasional archway, which made for great milestones and photo opportunities.

Morale stayed pretty high as we neared the top of the island, although the climb was steep and sustained. I was really proud of the girls for being so tough.








Before long our slog ended at the top of Pachamama, just in time to watch a fantastic sunset.

View of Pachamama from Pachatata.

Top of Pachatata, fantastic view of Chiffron (from our previous blog post).

From the top of it all, we managed a contrived and forced photo of mama and the girls. Notice how understandably exhausted Lola is from the toil of riding up the hill on someone's back.

Reaching the top of the hill at dusk meant that our descent would be in the dark if we didn't hustle. Fortunately, we made it back to the village by nightfall and only had to make it back to our hosts' house by braille. And glow worms! I had never seen any of those before. 

Harper at the trail head.

Back at the ranch, the girls became fast friends with our hosts' daughter, and in no time they were wreaking havoc in the courtyard outside our room!

The next morning brought with it lots of rain and a fond farewell to our hosts.

Then it was back on the boat, next destination: the tiny island of Taquile, about an hour away. By the time we arrived, the storm had passed and we were again in the full sun and heating up swiftly.

Taquile is famous for having it's village near the very top of the island, so it was back on the stair-master once again for the 500+ stone steps leading to the peak. Once again, Harper and Norah did a stellar job of grinding out the climb.

Norah breaking the tape at the top of the hill.

Harper right on her sister's heels.

The view from the top was, once again, spectacular.

For some reason, stone bust sculptures seemed to be the public decoration of choice here, both on the pathway arches and along the stone walls lining the walkways,  This one even wears a hat!

As we approached the village, the streets started to narrow and get really interesting. Another really cool feature of these islands was that there were no cars, only footpaths.

And, finally, we arrived at our destination: a beautiful little plaza with enormous panoramic views of Titicaca. Totally boring.

End Zone Celebration

In the plaza was a mostly-finished concrete building with a giant sign that read: Knitting Men. Apparently the main activity of adult men on this island is to knit into merchandise the wool that the women spin, and they are famous for it. So, we capitalized on the opportunity and made a little shopping trip of our destination.

Harper playing well the roll of super model.

With the yacht captain awaiting us patiently, and with another Three Hour Tour awaiting us back to Puno, we made a hasty return back to our shuttle, but not before taking another great shot of HJP and the scenery beyond her.

On the way back down the million steps.

The trip to the islands was fantastic. Once again, we gratefully witnessed how happily folks can live without all of the trappings of so-called civilized living that we so often consider absolute necessities. Maybe we can find a way to live more simply and take better advantage of time together, rather than obsessing so much over all the distracting clutter.