All my life I have dreamed of taking the Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu. Pulling up to the station in Cusco to board we found the proud historic royal blue train cars waiting for us in pristine fashion. My heart fluttered as I peered in the windows, a foreshadowing of what was to come in glimpses of white linen table tops and sparkling glasses just waiting to be filled with life. Usually when I choose to take a train it’s because I want to be able to work for those few hours of a journey…. but not here. The beauty of the old train cars, the history of luxury travel, the celebration they created demanded all your attention. We sat on red velvet seats and drank pisco sours to the beat of live musicians in the lounge car. We took pictures and smelled the fresh mountain air off the back of the last train car while we wound around and around mountain passes. We dined on classic Peruvian food paired with locally made wines and watched the river flow by in a happy steam leading us right to the heart of Machu Picchi and the next leg of our adventure found only in south america… 
The last romantic train trip I took was on this journey….
See more about Peru HERE & all my South America stories HERE