Legacy of the Incas
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(11 days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Empire of the Sun
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Ancient Civilizations of Peru
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Colca Canyon - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru & Ecuador:
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17 nights)
Grand Tour of the Inca Empire
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu- Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Ancient & Colonial Capitals
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu
(10 days/9 nights)
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu & Galapagos
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru & Ecuador:
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos & Machu Picchus
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador & Peru:
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos
(11 days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos & the Amazon
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Cotopaxi - Antisana - Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2013 Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours & Travel
Hiram Bingham Orient-Express approaching Machu Picchu.
Photo: Genivs Loci. Machu Picchu Luxury Tours & Travel.
Free upgrade from any tour with an overnight in Machu Picchu
All services, including a shared guide, are provided by Orient-Express Hotels.
There was a genteel era when travel combined the indulgence of leisure
with the luxury of grace. That breathtaking time has been reborn...
-- LuxuryLink.com
There was a genteel era when travel combined the indulgence of leisure with the luxury of grace. That breathtaking time has been reborn in Inka's Empire Tours' Hiram Bingham Orient-Express. Transporting you from the Incas' capital of Cuzco to the marvelous ruins of Machu Picchu, this privately guided rail excursion explores not only the treasures of Peru, but also the idea that the journey is as important as the destination. As a valued guest, you will savor a superb brunch on board, afternoon tea just steps from the ancient citadel and a sumptuous dinner on your way back to Cuzco.
A morning departure means a languorous journey through a spectacularly changing landscape of lush fields, colorful villages and the stunning Andes Mountains. Beyond the town of Huarocondo, your train enters a deep gorge carved by the rushing Pomatales River. You will pass through extensive areas dotted with the ruins of Inca fortresses, traverse a region renowned for its giant hummingbirds and explore Machu Picchu. All the while you are accompanied by an experienced guide who will enrich your understanding of this magnificent destination.
The Journey
At around noon, on July 23, 1911, an explorer named Hiram Bingham climbed up a steep hill and stumbled onto Machu Picchu, uncovering what had been up until that moment, the Incas' best kept secret. The world was stunned by his discovery. PeruRail's luxury train service between Cuzco and Machu Picchu is named after the American explorer who discovered the stunning ruins of the ancient citadel.
The distinctive blue-and-gold carriages of the Hiram Bingham are warm and inviting, with elegant interior upholstery. The train, consisting of four luxurious passenger cars, two dining cars, a bar car and a kitchen car, can carry up to 84 passengers. The general style of the carriages is in line with those on PeruRail's "Andean Explorer" train, which operates between Cuzco and Lake Titicaca in Southern Peru, and reflects the luxury of the 1920s' Pullman era.
The Hiram Bingham carries passengers on a spectacular journey through changing landscapes, passing lush fields, colorful villages and wonderful vistas of the beautiful Andes. Departing from the Poroy Station (20 minutes from the center of Cuzco) at 9 am, the Hiram Bingham gives a more leisurely start to the day than traditional departures. Brunch is served on board and your private guide is present to explain points of interest en route as well as in the ruins of Machu Picchu. Afternoon tea is served in the Orient-Express Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, located just steps from the ancient citadel. Once back on board for the 6:30 pm departure on the same day or the next, pre-dinner cocktails are served, accompanied by live entertainment, and a 4-course, a la carte dinner.
Hiram Bingham Orient-Express crossing the Altiplano.
Photo: Genivs Loci. Machu Picchu Luxury Tours & Travel.
The train leaves from Poroy in the morning, taking a spectacular journey through a changing landscape while guests enjoy breakfast. After departing Poroy and going through Cachimayo, the train descends to the Anta Plateau, a patchwork landscape of typical Andean crops, and passes lush fields and colorful villages in the foothills of the Andes.
Far to the left, just below the horizon, the massive agricultural terraces of Jaquijahuana can be seen, close to the village of Zurite. Sadly, these great terraces are all that remain today of what was once a major Inca city, lost forever during the first years after the Spanish conquest.
Beyond the town of Huarocondo, the great plain narrows dramatically as the track enters a deep gorge carved by the rushing Pomatales River, down which the railway, too, is funnelled until it meets the Urubamba River, which runs through the beautiful Sacred Valley.
The train passes through extensive areas of terracing dotted with the ruins of Inca fortresses. Bisecting this are still-visible sections of an ancient, long-abandoned highway adopted by the muleteers of the late 19th century, who used it to travel between Cuzco and the rubber plantations of the Amazon lowlands.
Hiram Bingham Orient-Express open-air observation car.
Photo: Genivs Loci. Machu Picchu Luxury Tours & Travel.
Five kilometres beyond Pachar is the village of Ollantaytambo, where farmers work with the same patience and skill that their ancestors must have employed to shape and then move the huge blocks of stone with which they built both their homes and the temples in which they worshipped.
As the train leaves Ollantaytambo to begin the last part of its journey to Machu Picchu, the temple complex known as The Fortress, dedicated sometime in the 15th century to the many deities of the Inca pantheon, can be seen to the right above the earthwork ramp once used to drag its monolithic blocks up from the valley floor.
The railway follows the river into the Urubamba Gorge. At Coriwaynachina, known simply to the generations of hikers who have begun the Inca Trail there as Km 88, a fine staircase carved into the rock leads to a series of ruined buildings where once, it is said, Inca artisans took advantage of the constant wind that rises from the valley floor to smelt gold.
Emerging from a short tunnel, a series of beautiful agricultural terraces marks the ruins of Qente, which in Quechua means hummingbird. In this fertile microclimate fed by a nearby waterfall, giant hummingbirds are indeed a common sight in the early morning and bright flowers bloom all year round.
Surrounded by tall ceibos and rocky outcrops hung with orchids and bromeliads, the train passes Km 104 at Chachabamba, from where the one-day trek to Machu Picchu via the magnificent ruins of Wiñay Waynabegins.
Hiram Bingham Orient-Express dining car.
Photo: Genivs Loci. Machu Picchu Luxury Tours & Travel.
At just two kilometers from Machu Picchu, the train arrives at Aguas Calientes. Surrounded by the high, green mountains that cradle the famous lost city, as well as myriad other Inca remains, this small town, which is well known for its thermal baths, has blossomed into a popular overnight destination for travellers to Machu Picchu.
Guests disembark at Aguas Calientes and are taken by bus to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, overlooking the ancient citadel, and have lunch. A private guided tour of the sanctuary follows before the return transfer to the station in the early evening on the same day or the next. A sumptuous dinner is served on the three-and-one-half hour journey back to Cuzco.
What's included
On-board meals with wine (brunch on the outward journey and dinner on return), on-board entertainment, guides, bus transfers, entrance to Machu Picchu, afternoon tea in the Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge and pre-dinner cocktails.
© 2013 Inka's Empire Corporation, Machu Picchu Luxury Tours. All rights reserved.
