The Memory Quest

Field Notes · Travel

The Side Quest Nobody Tells You About

By Brie

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7 min read

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Published today

Some of the best moments of any journey happen when the plan changes and follow the road that has no name.

The itinerary said we would travel back by train in just 15 minutes. We ran through crowded streets and bustling markets, dodging what felt like a hundred dogs along the way. We finally stumbled into the train station, only to discover that all the trains were delayed.

Our amazing guides worked their magic and managed to get us comfortable seats in the “fancy” train lounge.

Almost an hour passed as we itched to go shopping but knew we needed to stay put for the train. Finally, following blindly behind our guides, we boarded. After finding our seats, they told us to get up and move to a different train car.

So we loaded into the bar car, completely unprepared for the amazing side quest our delay had in store for us.

A live band started playing.

Suddenly, we were all singing along, dancing with strangers, and laughing entirely too hard. There we were, completely carefree, doing the Macarena on a train winding down from a beautiful trip to Machu Picchu. Talk about a core memory.

And somehow, it was all because our original train had been delayed.

When the band stopped, we headed back to our train car, only to be entertained by a fashion show. Our rowdy group hooted and hollered like a bachelorette party at every zipper and twirl. The “models”—who were actually an innocent group of train attendants—quickly broke out of their shells and started teasing us right back for our rambunctious cheers.

Before long, the entire train car had joined in our shenanigans.

What was supposed to be a simple two-hour train ride turned into one of the most unexpected and memorable experiences of the entire trip. Sometimes, the best parts of a journey are the ones you never planned for.

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