Travel Log: Belmond Andean Explorer Train, Peru

If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen a peek at my recent bucket list Peru trip. This trip was one that I originally started to plan for spring 2020 and was rescheduled a couple of times; I was thrilled to be able to finally make this trip happen the last two weeks of May 2023. Our itinerary included visits to Cusco, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Arequipa, Puno and Lake Titicaca, La Raya, Lima, and the last couple of nights in Mexico City. You can read my posts on Cusco here, Machu Picchu here, The Sacred Valley here, and What I Packed and Wore in Peru here.

We planned our entire Peru trip around a Belmond Andean Explorer overnight train experience, so I am extra excited to share today's post with you all. The month of May not only is when our wedding anniversary falls (5 years this year), it is also my husband's birthday month and the Belmond Andean Explorer train was the number one thing he wanted to do in Peru. We planned and booked our trip more than two months in advance; we originally booked, paid for, and received confirmation for a one day, one night mid-week "Spirit of the Water" route from Cusco to Puno with sunrise breakfast at Lake Titicaca. We then booked a boat tour of Lake Titicaca and the Uros Islands, a hotel for an additional night, and a flight from Puno back to Cusco. The Belmond trains are run by PeruRail, and unfortunately for us PeruRail cancelled our original train booking less than two weeks before our departure stating only "civil unrest" as their reasoning and offering us to either reschedule later in the year or apply for a refund. After going back and forth with their lackluster customer service team for about a week (mind you this was days before we departed for Peru), we eventually agreed to pay an additional $750 USD on top of the $2,400 USD we had already paid for our original route to rebook on the only available train running the week we were in the Cusco area: a two night, three day "Andean Plains and Islands of Discovery" route. While I am still extremely disappointed in Peru Rail's apathetic handling of the situation, the Belmond team once again came through for us with an incredible customer service experience that made this train a wonderful and unforgettable journey I highly recommend if it fits your budget. It definitely worked out for the better, I see that now--we made new friends and countless memories! Please continue on to see lots of photos and details from our Belmond Andean Explorer train once in a lifetime adventure.

The Andean Explorer "Andean Plains and Islands of Discovery" three day, two night route boarded in Arequipa Saturday evening, traveled overnight to Puno with a daytime boat excursion of Lake Titicaca and the floating Uros Islands, then traveled on to the mountain region of La Raya for a second evening, then ended in Cusco on the third day. We had not originally planned to visit Arequipa, but when we revised our entire two week itinerary to fit the new train schedule we booked new flights from Cusco to Arequipa Friday evening to spend Friday night and almost all of Saturday there before boarding the train at 7pm Saturday evening. It is a beautiful city and we definitely would not mind returning to spend more time there! You can check out my Instagram reel of the Santa Catalina Monestary in Arequipa here. We took a taxi from our hotel, the Cirqua Relais & Chateaux, to the Peru Rail Arequipa station Saturday evening and were served tea and small bites while we waited to board the train. When we were officially welcomed with drinks in the bar car by the train manager, Arnoldo, we realized that we were one of only four couples aboard for the journey. There were 28 Belmond staff members and 8 guests, which was almost unbelievable and certainly showed that tourism had not yet fully returned to Peru post-pandemic. Once we were on board, PeruRail's cancellation of our original booking and push to rebook us on a different train made so much more sense. We were so fortunate to have the means to rebook our entire two week itinerary and absorb the additional costs of cancelling and rebooking flights, hotels, transport and excursions to make it happen.

The Belmond train experience is luxurious and reminiscent of the golden age of travel. We felt like we stepped back in time (in a good way) with the beautifully decorated guest cabins, bar and dining cars with live music, and my personal favorite observation car in the very back of the train with an outdoor deck where you could take in the scenery and fresh air. The train was equipped to hold 70 passengers, but as I mentioned before there were only 8 of us, so we felt like kings and queens during our journey. The Belmond team once again came through for us with an upgraded suite, so we had a cabin with a double bed, sitting area, and a full bathroom with shower that felt bigger than my first apartment. The first evening on board consisted of drinks in the bar car and dinner in one of the dining cars as we settled into the journey. The Belmond trains do not require a cocktail dress code (I believe their website says "smart casual"), but we took the opportunity to dress up for dinners because we were on a beautifully designed luxury train in Peru. Why not? We enjoyed Saturday evening on board while the train moved toward Puno and Lake Titicaca, stopping at Lake Titicaca station overnight for us to have breakfast with a view of the lake Sunday morning.

As I mentioned, the first excursion was a boat tour of Lake Titicaca and the floating Uros Islands on day two of the journey. After our breakfast Sunday morning, we met our guide and took a short walk to the dock to board our sightseeing boat. We learned quite a bit of history and data points during this half day excursion, stopping at two different floating islands to meet people in the community and purchase local handcrafts, drinks and snacks before heading back to the train. A few of the most memorable learnings are below:

-Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3,812 meters above sea level (12,507 feet above sea level) and its name means "Rock of the Puma" from a combination of Quechua and Aymara words.

-Uros people were the first indigenous people in this region of Peru, a pre-Incan civilization, and currently about 2,000 people live on the islands.

-Uros island life depends on the local reeds that grow in the lake and they keep a sustainable model where they replant where they harvest. The reeds are dried out and layered to build the floating islands, as well as build homes, other structures, and furniture. The reeds do get matted down over time and new reeds are periodically cut and layered accordingly. These floating islands have the benefit of being able to be moved as needed throughout the year, and they joked that if the family units that live together on an island have a significant disagreement, they can just cut away the section containing the home that they no longer want to be a part of their island and let it float away. Seems harsh, but practical. 

-Uros people have a self-sustaining economy that includes catching local fish in handmade wooden boats and hunting birds with homemade wood and metal shotguns. Women make decorative tapestries from cloth and yarn to sell to tourists, which brings in additional income that they can use to purchase and additional things that they need. We saw solar panels for electricity and rain collection systems for fresh water.

-There are additional islands in the community with restaurants, a coffee shop, and eco lodges for tourism. These floating eco lodges are a rustic, unique experience where guests experience the hospitality of local families who cook for them and a window into life on these islands.

After our Lake Titicaca excursion Sunday afternoon, we returned to the train to relax for a bit (several of the guests booked massages at the spa car, I almost forgot to mention that there was a spa car) before cocktail hour and dinner. The train continued onward and upward Sunday evening to the mountain region of La Raya. La Raya was our overnight stopping point for the second night, and is located even higher than Lake Titicaca at 4,312 meters above sea level (14,147 feet above sea level). That is just a couple hundred feet shy of our local Mt Rainier's summit height of 14,411 feet above sea level in Washington. That is wild to me, since I live in Seattle, admire Mt Rainier every clear day, and think that summit is insanely high. La Raya is the highest elevation I have been at to date, and while I didn't experience any negative effects of the elevation my husband and several other passengers did. I'll repeat my tips from my Cusco post: drink lots of water, keep food and alcohol light because our bodies process differently at elevation. When we arrived in La Raya Sunday evening, we were able to deboard the train after dinner for stargazing. I love stargazing in the southern hemisphere and seeing constellations that I can't normally see at home like the Southern Cross and Scorpius (my star sign). Monday morning, we asked for coffee to be delivered to our cabin at 6:00am and got ready for excursion number two: a morning walk with the Belmond team (and local favorite pup named Chocolate) in the mountains of La Raya where we were able to see the mountains up close, a herd of alpacas and llamas cross the train tracks, and deliver some blankets and extra food to an older woman who lived by herself in a small cabin up the hill from the train station. This woman was taking care of a baby alpaca whose mother had refused to feed her, named her Valentina and even knit her a blanket to wear. We also took the best group photo that morning! On our way back, we had the opportunity to talk to and purchase from local vendors selling alpaca wool blankets, hats, and other pieces of clothing.

After our energizing Monday morning walk, we settled back onto the train for more coffee, breakfast, and the ride to Cusco. After breakfast we packed up our luggage--a little bittersweet I will admit--and then spent the majority of our time in the observation car at the back of the train listening to live music and enjoying the scenery with our new friends from New York, North Caroline, and Spain. The Belmond Andean Explorer train experience was exceptionally well planned and thought out by the GM, Arnoldo, and his right hand, Carolina, and executed flawlessly by the entire Belmond team and our guides for our excursions. We felt safe at all times with security driving ahead of our train on the tracks, along the major roads next to us throughout the three day journey, and with us during our excursions. Our meals and drinks were beautifully presented and delicious--I am still amazed at what the kitchen team and bar team were able to do in such a small space and we never felt like we were eating yesterday's leftover ingredients because every meal was thoughtfully planned and prepared. I highly recommend the Belmond Andean Explorer if it fits your budget, it is not an experience I will soon forget.

Have you taken or would you take a luxury train journey in Peru or in another country? If you have, please do not hesitate to leave me a comment below to share where you had this experience and your thoughts on it. Thank you for visiting my blog today, please don't forget to read my other Peru travel logs, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

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