Huacachina to Arequipa

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Feb. 24th, arrived in Ica around 7pm and jumped in a tuktuk to Huacachina. It was about a 10 minute ride and pretty dark. I stayed at a hostel with a pool and also a very good bathroom. At sunrise I took a walk around the lake or pond really. The town is surrounded by huge sand dunes. Its like a movie set or something. It was hot and explored the tiny town.

Took a sand dune buggy trip at sundown. There was some romping around and we hit jumps in the buggy I was pretty scared, and thinking about how my friends husband Jens had almost died doing this and what the hell was I thinking. Then we stopped to ride snowboards down some big dunes.I did the first set but skipped the second set on the suggestion of a girl I talked to the night before. Was glad I did. Not only was that set HUGE, but they all had to walk up a steep hill to get back in the buggy. As the driver Leo and I waited he checked out his buggy and expressed to me how much he loved it. “It’s my baby” he said. After that I enjoyed the ride home with all the brodies and jumps because even if Leo didn’t care about the safety of a bunch of tourist he sure cared about that buggy.



Sunday I got on a bus to Arequipa. Cruz Del Sur bus company is amazing. They make it very easy and safe to scoot about Peru. It is like flying first class on an airplane. The drivers can only go so fast, the seats recline real far, hot airplane style meals,an attendant, airplane style bathrooms…Check. Arrived in Arequipa way earlier that I had thought ,around 3 am. My reservations were for the next morning. I went to the hostel hoping for the best. I rang the bell and woke up Eddy only to find out that they had no beds. Yikes it was pouring rain. But then he said I could sleep on the couch in the strange t.v room. Phew! lucky I have my sleeping bag with me. The roof of this room was just hard plastic sheeting and a pool of water gathered while I slept. But I was dry and relatively warm so thats good.



I stayed the next four days In Arequipa. The old town is very pretty and old. There are tons of churches and nuns everywhere. The mornings start off sunny and warm and then around 4pm the clouds and rain roll in swiftly. A very relaxed city with some killer restaurants. My last night I didn’t want to go far and was pointed toward a place that brews some good beers. I had a beer and a burger and upon looking around noticed all the beer signs and stickers, Ninkasi, H.U.B, Laganitas, all N.W. Then I see the Ducks flag. Come to find out the owner is from Portland. Small world.





Next stop Puno and Lake Titicaca.

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