4 days - 3 nights

Day one: Cuzco – Puno

Today after an early breakfast & check-out from their Cuzco hotel be picked up at 0800hrs & transferred to the Cuzco train station to board the ´Andean Explorer´ Ist Class train bound for Puno, which is a city dating back to pre-Inca in time & situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigated waterway on our planet.

The train travels the altiplano (high plains) & is now operating with Peru Rail after being taken over & refurbished by the Orient Express Company.

The new carriages have spacious & comfortable seating along with new bathroom facilities & a fully redecorated interior. The seat configuration has been changed to offer groupings of two & four, with the introduction of observation platforms being an entirely new concept for the railways of Peru.

Within each carriage is a bar / relaxation area & small boutique lounge, while the rear half of the car is an open-sided observation platform, enabling passengers to move freely for the best views of the unique high Andean environment through which they are passing.

The food & beverage services have been greatly improved with the introduction of lunch served at the table.

The train journey takes eight hours, arriving to Puno at 1600hrs. During the trip the train makes a gentle climb to higher, cooler, altitudes.

The first half of the trip is dominated by the magnificent Andean mountains which tower over the deep valleys of the meandering Huatanay River.

It then reaches the gentler, rolling Andean Plains, where vicuña & alpaca beasts of burden can often be seen.

The journey is broken by a scenic stop at La Raya, which is also the highest point on the route. Travelling aboard the Andean Explorer, the glass-walled observation car provides the perfect opportunity to view the stunning scenery.

The journey is broken by a scenic stop at La Raya, which is also the highest point on the route. On arrival to Puno guests will be met & transferred to your hotel accommodation which is reserved for the next three (3) nights inclusive of breakfast.

Day Two: Lake Titicaca ´Isla Flotante´ day excursion

This morning departing after breakfast at 0800hrs guests are heading off on a regular boat excursion for the morning to the floating islands of the Uros.

Here on the highest navigatible lake in the world, a community of peoples native to the Lake Titicaca region for millenniums past have built their homes on islands formed out of ´cat-tail´ (lake grass) that gives it a floating, moving sensation when walking there.

At the completion of the days excursion guests will be returned to their hotels at approx 1630hrs this afternoon where the remainder of the day is free of commitments to determine ones own pace & energy level.

Day Three: `Sillustani pre-Inca tombs´ excursion

Departing after breakfast today at 0900hrs guests are once again heading out for a half-day excursion to view a site that is steeped in pre-Inca history.

Some 19 miles from Puno are the pre-Inca tombs at Sillustani – the cemetery of the Hatun Colla Chiefs. The tombs are built above the ground, & with much symbolism.

The inside of the tombs are shaped like a woman’s uterus. The ancient people in Peru believed in a mother earth that created & regulated all life.

When a person died, they were mummified in the fetal position, just like they came into the world. The doors of the tombs face east, because it is believed that this is where the sun is born coming out from mother earth, each & everyday.

Located at 13,500ft above sea level these pre-Inca tombs at Sillustani are one of many sites in the Puno area that have mysterious burial towers, called chullpas.

It overlooks Lake Umayo & unlike Puno which is plagued by blowing sand & dust in the air, here it is beautifully clear; guides often pass comment that people come here on weekend nights simply to witness the clarity of stars & to experience the pure rarified air.

Most of the towers were 'recently finished' in the middle 1500's though most were not completed for some reason. They were built by the Colla people, Aymara speakers who were conquered by the Incas in the 1400's, & the towers were most likely used as burial chambers for the nobles of that culture.

The architecture of these people is more complicated than that of the Incas. There are no uneven edges, to which other stones have to be cut, unevenly, to fit.

The burial towers are approx 40' high. Each tower has a small hole facing east, just large enough for a person to crawl through, the entrance closed after burials. These towers were made with crude chipping tools.

Shortly before 1300hrs guests will be returned to their hotels & the remainder of the day & the pace determined, is a choice entirely left to individuals own judgment.

Day Four: Puno & Juliaca - Lima

Quite purposely this morning has been deemed free of activities to give guests a chance to make some personal choices as to what level of energy they wish to expend.

To date, it has been a fairly steady nonstop pace – certainly covering a lot of stunning destinations – but all the same, especially at altitude that tends to catch-up & a morning doing nothing may be welcomed.

A transfer to Juliaca Airport for guests´ outbound flight to Lima concludes this short Lake Titicaca excursion.