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The Belmond Hiram Bingham is a luxury train operating day return trips from Poroy station outside Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the station for Machu Picchu in Peru.. The train, named after Hiram Bingham, who publicized the existence of the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, [a] travels from the high Andes down the Sacred Valley, and for much of the journey it runs alongside the Urubamba River.
Settled by a few farm families in 1901, the settlement was transformed into a busy railway worker's camp called Maquinachayoq (from Quechua makina (a borrowing from Spanish máquina, machine/locomotive/train, [5]-plus the diminutive -cha suffix and -yuq possession suffix, i.e. "(place) with a little train", Makinachayuq) [6] during the construction of the railroad through there in the late 1920s.
PeruRail's routes are divided into two sections. The line between Cusco and Machu Picchu - Ferrocarril Santa Ana - is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line, which boasts a series of five switchbacks called locally 'El Zig-Zag', which enable the train to climb up the steep incline out of Cusco, before it can begin its descent to the Sacred Valley of the Incas and then continue down to Machu Picchu.
The railway also operated steamers (including the Yavari) and train ferries on Lake Titicaca connecting with Guaqui in Bolivia. Although work on the Juliaca–Cuzco section was begun in 1872 it was not completed through until 1908. The summit of this section is reached at La Raya (4,313 m (14,150 ft) above sea level).
The most popular option is the train journey from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. Operated by PeruRail and Inca Rail , this scenic route takes visitors to the town of Aguas Calientes , from where they can take a bus ride of 8.6 kilometres (5.3 mi) or walk to the Machu Picchu entrance.
Cusco was long an important center of indigenous people. It was the capital of the Inca Empire (13th century – 1532). Many believe that the city was planned as an effigy in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal. [21] How Cusco was specifically built, or how its large stones were quarried and transported to the site remain undetermined.
The Wánchaq Station is a train station located in the city of Cusco, Peru.It serves as the terminus of the Southern Branch of the Southern Railway, from where services depart towards the cities of Juliaca, Puno, and Arequipa.
On the outskirts of Cusco they visit the Ccochahuasi animal sanctuary where they see Condors and Andean Geese. After reaching Ollantaytambo the team takes an overnight train to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to Machu Picchu. The site is shrouded in mist, but once the clouds lift, the site makes a lasting impression.