| Well well well, my gang of 3 (Jeff, Dave B, and little 'ol me) just got back to Cusco from our jungle adventure. Our plans were to enjoy this historic and vibrant city for one last night.  |  |
We checked into our new home away form home and no sooner did Jeff check his email and then alert me that he had been contacted (via email) from Peru Rail.
I checked my email to see if I too had also been sent correspondence, which I quickly confirmed.
However the problem was that these emails were in Spanish & neither Jeff, nor I, nor Dave spoke or read Spanish.
We decided to approach the front desk with our little issue. The agents at the front desk were very helpful in translating the message that had been sent.
It appeared that our train that was due to depart the next morning had been cancelled due to a strike!
I immediately got on my satellite phone with Peru Rail and tried to fix the problem that we were now faced with. I came up with a big fat NOTHING over the phone and told to go to the nearest office.
I checked my email to see if I too had also been sent correspondence, which I quickly confirmed.
However the problem was that these emails were in Spanish & neither Jeff, nor I, nor Dave spoke or read Spanish.
We decided to approach the front desk with our little issue. The agents at the front desk were very helpful in translating the message that had been sent.
It appeared that our train that was due to depart the next morning had been cancelled due to a strike!
I immediately got on my satellite phone with Peru Rail and tried to fix the problem that we were now faced with. I came up with a big fat NOTHING over the phone and told to go to the nearest office.
Oh okay. Um scramble time?
We had an itinerary to keep. Had no place to stay in Cusco after this night, and a flight that left out of Puno in 3 days! Ugh
What to do, what to do...?
This seriously felt like a real life Amazing Race moment.
Knowing that there was a Peru Rail office in the main square, we hurried over there to find out what our options might be. Only to find out that we didn't have any! All trains had been cancelled.
It was suggested that we take a bus!!!
Excuse me...A WHAT???
Hmm, not really an experience that I wanted to have while visiting Peru.
I mean it's not that I'm spoiled - although I must say that I was looking quite forward to this luxury service on the Andean Explorer.
Which according to Bloomberg is one of "The World's Most Luxurious Trains"!
So yes, I was disappointed.
But now I was more concerned with not getting stuck in Cusco, missing our flight, and most importantly...our safety! BECAUSE what is the NUMBER 1 rule???
SAFETY FIRST
I really hadn't read many positive things about the buses in Peru.
And ya know I really didn't feel like getting hijacked, kidnapped, or anything else that might have changed my life forever!
But I had been über relieved to discuss this with the Peru Rail representative and she had explained that it all depends on the CLASS of bus. Apparently there are 3 classes to choose from, all varying in price from cheapest to most expensive (which isn't really very expensive at all).
What we had to do next was get our butts over to the train station and purchase the tickets! So we ran (yes we ran) back to the hotel, gathered our necessary documents, and got a cab to take us over to the bus station. We were picked up in front of our hotel and driven through mass crowds.
We had an itinerary to keep. Had no place to stay in Cusco after this night, and a flight that left out of Puno in 3 days! Ugh
What to do, what to do...?
This seriously felt like a real life Amazing Race moment.
Knowing that there was a Peru Rail office in the main square, we hurried over there to find out what our options might be. Only to find out that we didn't have any! All trains had been cancelled.
It was suggested that we take a bus!!!
Excuse me...A WHAT???
Hmm, not really an experience that I wanted to have while visiting Peru.
I mean it's not that I'm spoiled - although I must say that I was looking quite forward to this luxury service on the Andean Explorer.
Which according to Bloomberg is one of "The World's Most Luxurious Trains"!
So yes, I was disappointed.
But now I was more concerned with not getting stuck in Cusco, missing our flight, and most importantly...our safety! BECAUSE what is the NUMBER 1 rule???
SAFETY FIRST
I really hadn't read many positive things about the buses in Peru.
And ya know I really didn't feel like getting hijacked, kidnapped, or anything else that might have changed my life forever!
But I had been über relieved to discuss this with the Peru Rail representative and she had explained that it all depends on the CLASS of bus. Apparently there are 3 classes to choose from, all varying in price from cheapest to most expensive (which isn't really very expensive at all).
What we had to do next was get our butts over to the train station and purchase the tickets! So we ran (yes we ran) back to the hotel, gathered our necessary documents, and got a cab to take us over to the bus station. We were picked up in front of our hotel and driven through mass crowds.
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This was the last night of the Santo Cristo Festival and there were literally hundreds of people in the streets. The cab was barely inching through the crowd that surrounded us and there were people banging on the cab in celebration. Although it wasn't a riot and it was all in positive celebration, it was still rather unnerving for us and we really just wanted to get to the bus station. We needed to!
 |  |
We eventually and successfully arrived at the bus station, purchased some of the last tickets on the "safe" bus.
And now finally relieved, we were able to enjoy the remainder of our night and continue on with our Peruvian Adventure in the morning!
-Tanya the Wanderlust
And now finally relieved, we were able to enjoy the remainder of our night and continue on with our Peruvian Adventure in the morning!
-Tanya the Wanderlust
Dinner after the craziness
 Dave at breakfast before we left for our bus ride  View from breakfast |  Breakfast at our hotel  View from breakfast |
Our Peruvian friend from SunTours giving us a farewell
 Our bus |  My 2 scruffy travel companions |