Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [251]
For Ayacucho (S30, eight to nine hours) the recommended service is Empresa Molina (22-4501; Angaraes 334), with morning and night departures on a mostly rough, unpaved road.
Huancavelica (S10, three to four hours) is served most frequently by Transportes Ticllas (20-1555; Ferrocarril 1590) with six daily buses. Expreso Lobato (Omar Yali 148-158) has comfortable overnight buses via Huancayo to Huancavelica. Others include Turismo Nacional, Expreso Huancavelica and Transportes Yuri, all in close proximity on Ferrocarril, with late-night buses only.
Los Canarios (in Tarma 32-3357; Puno 739) serves Tarma almost hourly (S9, three hours) and will stop at Jauja and Concepción.
For Satipo (S18, eight to nine hours) the best service is Selva Tours (21-8427; Ferrocarril 1587) with four daily buses. They take the back route to Satipo via Comas if the road is safe to pass (at research time it was not). Expreso Lobato stops at La Merced (seven hours) en route to Satipo.
Turismo Central (22-3128; Ayacucho 274) has buses north to Huánuco (S20, seven hours), Tingo María (S30, 10 hours) and Pucallpa (S50, 22 hours).
Buses and combis for Cerro de Pasco (S15, five hours) leave from Mariategui in El Tambo: a taxi here costs S3.
Inexpensive minibuses (S3) and colectivos (S5) for Jauja (about 50 minutes) and Concepción (S2, 30 minutes) leave from Calixto.
TAXI
Colectivo taxis for Huancavelica (S25, 2½ hours) leave when full (four-passenger minimum) from, among other places, from the Mariscal Cáceres terminal.
TRAIN
Huancayo has two unconnected train stations in different parts of town. A special tourist train, the Ferrocarril Central Andino (22-2395), runs up from Lima between mid-April and October for S150/225 one-way/round-trip. The 12-hour trip leaves Lima at 7am Friday and departs Huancayo for the return trip at the rather inconvenient time of 6pm Sunday. For this return night leg bring along warm clothes and perhaps a blanket.
It’s a fabulous run, reaching 4829m and passing La Galera which clocks in as one of the world’s highest railway stations (the Tibetans are the record holders, followed by the Bolivians). It operates on a single-gauge track and is popular with train enthusiasts the world over. The best ways to book are either to visit the Incas del Perú website (www.incasdelperu.org), where there is an online booking form, or the train’s principal booking website, Teleticket (www.teleticket.com.pe).
The Chilca train station (21-7724; www.fhh.com.pe) for Huancavelica is at the southern end of town. Disappointingly, following track improvements, the Huancavelica train was not running at the time of research, due to bureaucratic wrangling over who would operate the line and how. The projected date for reopening changes: it was April 2010 at last report. For the latest updates, contact Lucho Hurtado of Incas del Perú (Click here) who is passionate (and pretty confident) about getting the line working.
Expreso services used to depart for Huancavelica at 6:30am Monday to Sunday (five hours) and ordinario services at 12:30pm Monday to Saturday (five to six hours). Tickets pre-track improvements were about S10/12/15 in 2nd/1st/buffet class. Buffet class on the old train was comfortable, with padded seats and guaranteed seating; 1st class had reserved seats with less padding and 2nd class offered wooden bench-type seats and no seat reservations. The train and its classes are supposed to remain the same.
Once service resumes, it’s likely the ticket office will be open from noon to 6pm. The station is a fair hike from town so take a taxi.
Getting Around
Local buses to nearby villages leave from