Huacachina, Dessert, Oasis, and Sandboarding

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So we arrived in Lima, and caught the 1st bus to Ica.
First, a few words about the city of Lima.
It´s a real city. The airport looked legit, with smiling customer service and clean open space, and soothing announcements heard overhead, in spanish and in english. Where are we? We´re in Peru.

After a 5 hour bus ride from Lima to Ica, we then took a 15 minute bus ride to Huacachina, an oasis in the middle of the dessert.
Legend has it that a beautiful goddess was taking a bath in the middle of the dessert, when she saw the reflection of a hunter in her mirror. Frightened, she dropped the mirror and fled, and the mirror became the Lagoon of Huacachina.

My questions are
1) If the mirror was what turned into the lagoon, then what the heck was the goddess washing herself with before she dropped the mirror?
2) What the heck was the guy smoking when he made up this legend?

But Huacachina is amazing. A small lagoon surrounded by boundless dessert. Everywhere you look, it´s just sand dunes upon sand dunes. It´s beautiful.
And warm.
After spending the past 2 weeks at high altitude and many a freezing nights trembling, it´s hard to believe that we´re now in an oasis, filling up our lungs with the cool breeze.

Around the lagoon are a few hostals and restaurants, along with library. Yes, a personal library belonging to a Peruvian writer who owns an estate here. The library is open to backpackers, and there are hammocks outside for your reading pleasure.

Apparently, April is low tourist season here, and there are only a handful of backpackers here, most are sandboard enthusiasts.

Speaking of Sandboarding. We went on a Sand Buggy ride today. The thing looks like a Hummer, and zipping through the sand dunes at 50 mph is quite an adrenaline rush. It really feels like a roller coaster, with just as steep of downslopes. Only we´re not running on any tracks. The driver´s name is Geeno, and Geeno likes to drive very very fast.

We stopped 4 times to sandboard down the dunes. The first slope was about 150 feet high. And each successive slope was higher and steeper. After the 3rd slope, we all wanted more, so Geeno drove us to the king of all slopes.

At the last slope, I asked Geeno how tall the slope was.
Geeno looked at me, shook his head, and said "I don´t know man, but stop in the middle and rewax your board." and then tossed me an extra piece of wax.

Tomorrow we will be sandboarding some more, and will have to leave this paradise on Thursday for Nazca. I will miss this place. I´m still not sure if I´m in La Paz dreaming of this place, or I was here, dreaming about La Paz.

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