Nasca just keeps getting better and better and today has been no exception. Last night when we ate at the Los Angeles, the owner told us about a Sunday market that happens every weekend in Nasca and suggested we go down. This sounded like an excellent idea so we got up reasonably early and made our way to Calle Maria Reiche by 9am. It was absolutely heaving but the atmosphere was just electric. There were local people everywhere and not a single tourist in sight as we made our way deeper into the labyrythine collection of market stalls. The narrow [View Full Entry]

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The main reason people flock to Nasca is to fly over the world-famous Nasca Lines and today we had our chance to get a bird's eye view of this ancient wonder. We booked with Alegria Tours and for US$40 each, we were picked up from our hotel bright and early at 7am and found ourselves at the small airport just 10 minutes later. The trip began with an excellent and informative video that explored the many theories surrounding why anyone would think to draw such incredibly big pictures, lines and shapes all over the desert plateau but ultimately, no-one really [View Full Entry]

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It's incredible to think that we are in Nasca, home to one of the world's greatest mysteries. There's no denying that we're in the middle of the desert though as even by mid-morning, the temperature was soaring up into the mid-30s. We are staying in the Hotel Alegria, a modern hotel with a lovely swimming pool that just I'm itching to dive into. We decided not to take the flight over the famous Nasca Lines until tomorrow morning, leaving us with a whole day to explore the town and check out the best prices for flights and tours. It's fun [View Full Entry]

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It was an early start for us this morning as we had booked ourselves on the Ballestas Islands tour, one of the main attractions here in Paracas. After a small breakfast, we made our way to the jetty conveniently situated at the back of our hostel (the hostel owners also run the tour) for the 8.15am start. We boarded the 25-seater speedboat, donned our tasteful dark blue lifejackets and braced ourselves for an exciting journey into the area dubbed the poor man's Galapagos. The first port of call was to the famous Candelabra, a massive drawing etched into the side of [View Full Entry]

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We've had such a wonderful day today, full of fun and adventure which is just how we like it. We booked a tour of the Paracas National Reserve but really had no idea what to expect. We were picked up at 10.30am from our hostel which is conveniently owned by the same people running the trip, Zarcillo Connections. Our guide for th day was Luis who has been taking care of us at the hostel since we arrived although it was only this morning that we forged an everlasting bond once again thanks to everyone's favourite bear. I had Jish [View Full Entry]

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Today we were hitting the road again and moving deeper into the Peruvian countryside. We took a Cruz del Sur bus to Paracas and were very impressed with the service. We were most concerned about Lima's bus stations having heard so many bad travellers' stories but we needn't have worried at all. The Cruz del Sur bus depot was nice and enclosed with guards at every entrance. The security to board the bus was as strict as at any international airport and the staff were as professional and friendly as you would expect from any major airline. Not only was the [View Full Entry]

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Before we came to Lima, we had been in two minds about whether to actually stay here. We had read lots of blogs from people who have visited Peru's capital city and had a terrible time, mostly at the hands of the many muggers who prey on unsuspecting tourists. It was with extreme trepidation that we decided to spend some time in Lima but we agreed from the outset not to take any chances. Alas that has meant we haven't had quite the adventurous time of it we would have liked but like the saying goes, better safe than sorry. We've [View Full Entry]

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Having exhausted our exploration of the Miraflores area, we wanted to try and see a bit more of Lima but weren't sure where was safe to go. Our guesthouse hosts suggested we give Central Lima a try and kindly printed out a map for us of 'the safety zone' which quite literally involved staying on the right side of certain streets. We booked a taxi and made our way to the Plaza Mayor, a 30 minute journey through some of the real city streets with adults and children alike hoping to earn a quick Sole by selling sweets, drinks, newspapers and [View Full Entry]

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When we rescheduled our flights to Easter Island an onwards to Peru, we had the option of taking a connecting flight in Santiago just 2 hours after we landed that would get us to Lima on the same day. Luckily for us, we decided against this option as flights to and from Easter Island are notorious for being delayed and our flight back to Santiago was no exception. By the time we were airbourne, we were one and a half hours behind schedule so you can imagine how relieved we were to decided against the connecting flight to Lima as we [View Full Entry]

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A beautiful blue sky greeted us this morning when we got up for the start of an epic hike around the perimeter of the island. We had considered joining a tour but without a bagful of cash to pay for it, we opted to try and see some of the sights ourselves on foot. We set off along the shoreline and made our way past the five Maoi we met yesterday wondering if we might hook up with Gomez, our stray dog friend, again. Just as we approached the five Maoi, the skies turned dark and we were hit by a [View Full Entry]

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