Shaking off the Sand in Cuzco

June 24th: We are currently in Cusco, taking a moment to catch our breaths after taking in the colorful Inti Raymi festival earlier.

To catch everyone up: after unwinding a bit in Trujillo, Ryan and I backpacked to Lima, where I became aware of just how enormous the place really is. The pollution is eye-stinging, the pace of life is frenetic, and the poverty is quite appalling, but there is something very attractive about the heaving metropolis of nearly eight million. The many diverse areas in Lima possess an exciting if sometimes downtrodden energy, giving a cohesiveness to the odd conglomeration of trendy commercial areas, neglected neighborhoods, sleek highrisers and historic landmarks. Lingering in the tranquil backwaters of historic Barranco, meandering with the jetset in Miraflores, and shuffling in the walkways of the countless slums, the energies of this city were a shock to the senses. Once more we were greeted by friends and family of Ryan´s, who made sure we had an enjoyable and memorable time. We caught the Peru vs. Uruguay (futbol) match in a crowded bar, drank cervezas, munched on canchitas (Peruvian bar food - crisped corn), and sat in awe as the Uruguay squad wiped the field with Peruvian jerseys. The final score was 6-0 in Uruguay´s favor. Having become accustomed to the poor performance of their team, our friends were hardly crestfallen, but we did set off down the street in search of something to take the sourness from our stomachs. We dined on anticuchos (cow heart on a skewer) which were fabulous, joked for hours, and went our seperate ways with full smiles and full bellies.

Caught a bus to Ica the following day, en route to our final destination at the oasis town of Huacachina. With the towering dunes of the desert encroaching on all sides, the small lagoon and swaying palms in the village seemed merely a mirage at first sight. The tiny town is a lure for party hardy travelers in search of a bit of adventure, so we had no problem meeting other shabby backpackers from around the world and discussing politics, culture and (of course) travel. Made friends with two...err, four...six Irish, a French Canadian who lived in Arizona for year, a Swiss, an Ausie, etc. Tuckered off to bed at around 3:00 am. My eyes were pried open by the bars of light entering our room the next morning. Deciding on the day´s activity, we jumped in the back of a dunebuggy, and with a dare-devil driver at the wheel, scorched off across the desert. Stopping near the summit of a few 100-200 foot dunes, we hoped out and strapped on our sandboards. Having snowboarded years earlier, I was aglow with a bit of confidence. Turning proved a bit of a challenge at first, but within an hour I was tipping the dunes and gliding down with relative ease. Our buggy driver would prompty pick us up at the bottom, speed us to the top of another (some were as high as 800 feet) and wax our boards. Returning to Huacachina with sand in every corner of our beings, we agreed that the day had been well spent. Took an overnight bus to Cusco the following day. I´ll catch you up on that at another time! Until then, take care.

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