Precautions taking the Tren a las Nubes

Question

I would really like to once ride with the tren a las Nubes. Wikipedia says the tour takes 15 hours, but I can't find any information on where to buy tickets and if reservation is necessary. And how much does it cost?

The highest point on the route is over 4200 meters. Do I need to take any special precautions because of this height? Normally if I go climbing in the Alps it is necessary to prepare when going above 4000 meters. But in this case, it is only a passive activity and most important only for a short period. I think you can only get really altitude sick after approximately 6 hours. So it shouldn't be a problem in this case?

Answer 1

You can buy your tickets here. The price is about 185 USD.

It's not necessary to do any special preparation, as the train will take you back to "normal" altitudes after a couple of hours at 4200m. When I was in Argentina, the train didn't work, so we had to rent a car to do more or less the same path the train makes. We stayed about 2 or 3 hours at 4000 meters and started feeling a bit bad, nothing important, but I believe if we had stayed some more time we could have had some problems. We had headache for the rest of the day and the night, so I recommend not to plan any hard activity for the next day when you go.

Answer 2

Please, do be careful with the altitude; I've had some horror stories.

Generally it's considered that above 2400m things start getting interesting. It's definitely worth acclimatising for a couple of days if you're doing anything physical at that altitude.

However, as you point out, it's a passive activity for a short period of time. Perhaps take some anti-altitude sickness pills or cocoa leaves beforehand, to help with any symptoms.

But as long as you're not over-stressing your body, and don't have anything too physical planned for the preceding or following day, you should be ok.