Despite the pandemic period, with restrictions that we all have to stick to, we are looking forward to travelling and creating new memories. Here, Railcare’s own employee Sofie Dåversjö talking about some of her most interesting and fantastic train trips.
Kuranda Scenic Railway
When we were in Northern Australia to visit the Great Barrier Reef and had taken the plane from Sydney to Cairns, we were told it was an absolute must to experience the world’s oldest rainforest, the Daintree Rainforest. We chose to do so in several ways, one of which was to take the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda. Kuranda was established in 1885 and the construction of the railway from Cairns finally reached Kuranda six years later. The current railway station was completed in 1915.
During the train trip from Kuranda, we experienced fantastic and incredible natural sights, which we had previously only been able to see via Skyrail, but now from a different perspective where waterfalls and rainforest could be seen up close. The world’s oldest rainforest made no mistake of impressing us on our trip down from Kuranda.”
Machu Picchu – Cusco
During a trip to South America at the end of 2015 to hike the Inca Trail, we had a chance to experience an incredibly beautiful train trip. It takes you either round trip to Cusco to experience Machu Picchu, or you can take the train back after a few days’ hiking on the Inca Trail, which ends with a beautiful view at the “sun gate” to then experience the Inca city Machu Picchu.
After a guided tour through Machu Picchu, we took a bus down to Aguas Calientes (Machupicchu Pueblo) to await our train that was to take us back to Cusco. This trip is a bit of a nightmare for us who work on railways as the tracks are incredibly narrow and not very well maintained. However, it was wonderful to experience the nature and the train, which we had previously seen from a distance when we were hiking the Inca Trail.”
Nairobi – Mombasa
A safari through Kenya in 2013 was wrapped up by taking the night train from Nairobi to Mombasa for several days’ holiday in the sun. The trip began at Nairobi Railway Station, an antiquated building from 1899, and ended in Mombasa. With all of the delays, stops and switching, which are done manually, the trip took up to 20 hours. The train set we travelled with had probably never been renovated and was surely brought into use in the early 1900s.
Along the way, we were able to experience many fantastic views of Kenya’s plains and its fantastic animal and natural life. Something that was interesting was that there were many residents in Nairobi who made this trip every weekend to enjoy the sun and swimming. Despite the long journey, they felt that it was worth the time and that that they were able to enjoy Kenya’s beautiful, untouched nature time and again.”
This is an article from the 2021 Railcarenews.
To read the magazine in its entirety, click here >>
