Activity
Country that roads never opened up, seen from the window: river gorges, high desert and cloud forest, with the day's distance covered before dinner.
What it actually involves
Some of the best country on the continent is still easiest to reach by rail, and the going is the point rather than the price of arriving.
Watch a gorge narrow around the line on the way into Machu Picchu, or cross the altiplano toward Lake Titicaca with the plateau running flat to the horizon. Days begin and end somewhere worth stopping, and the distance in between passes at the window rather than under a seatbelt sign.
