little dune buggy in the sand....la la la

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Everything is just wonderful, finally! After 5 days of wishing I was somewhere other than where I was, five days that included excruciating stomach pains, dizziness, heartburn and homesickness, multiple trips to the bathroom, a failed trip to the pharmacy, a long wait in the emergency department and finally some antibiotics, and yep things are once again wonderful. But let me tell you, for a while there I just wasn't so sure. Bacteria infection for those who were wondering, lets just hope it was a once off and that my stomach isn't just super weak or these last 5 weeks are going to be well painful! that or a great weight loss program/look good for Europe plan!!

I'm in Huacachino just four hours south of Lima and yes I took the Cruz del Sur, after all I wasn't completely cured and had to be assured that there was a functioning toilet on board and comfortable seats....quite a nice trip actually.
This place is kind of pretty awesome and I guess it was a little unexpected. This huge desert in well what feels like the middle of nowhere. There's a welcoming silence, after all that noise in Lima; if one more taxi tooted at me I was going to flip; the bird and shit, and sometimes silence is just what you need. There are definitely tourists here, but i'm sure the numbers here over the last two days have nothing on numbers that are here in peak season, I'm sure this town is quite the party come July/August!

I met two lovely London girls at the bus station and shared the cab with them to Huacachina, an over priced cab may I add, but I wasn't going to argue for this particular cab driver wasn't happy with me. I had after all hijacked his perfect customers; not really knowing where they were going or what they should pay and not being able to speak a word of spanish, as soon as i arrived I tried to bargain the price and then told the girls I was planning on staying in the Desert Nights hostel....when we arrived the girls got out with me and this is about the time the cab driver man got angry; "desert nights hostel is bad, many bugs, no good1" with which the girls responded, "we don't mind, we'll soon find out".....'stupid australiana' or something along those lines shortly followed with along with numerous other vicious sounding words, sorry mate but I'm just going where i'm going for a price I think I should be paying.....I will admit that I didn't say this or act so calmly and the words Puta may have just accidently slipped out of my mouth....hehe oopps!
The hostel (Desert Nights) was relatively quiet when we arrived although at times its hard to tell if its busy or not as there is a nice restaurant out the front which is more often than not busy with customers.
The first nights sleep was interesting; and I felt like eating my words...there were mozzies, and heaps of them, buzzing annoyingly around my head for what seemed like hours. After dousing myself in DEET insect repellent I had a relatively good sleep and woke up for the first time in days feeling fine, bless these antibiotics! We were super lucky to have an 8 bed dorm room to ourselves and I will just add, comfortable beds and pillows without lumps=score!

The sun pouring into the hostel was already quite fierce so after lathering myself in the last of my sunscreen I decided to walk around the very green/algae infested however very tranquil lagoon that the whole town surrounds....within 10minutes I was done, hot and bothered and yes done. The sand was too hot to walk on and the sun was intense so I pretty much spent the rest of the day hiding away in the shade and cool of the hostel planning my next attack and booking my bus to Cusco (yes a decision was made days ahead of time people....success!)
At 4pm I was off in shorts and a t-shirt, first time in weeks, bearing my scarred lilly white legs (yes that costa rican/panamanian tan has gone) I was preparing to get into a scary looking dune buggy and go racing around the hills, followed by a bit of sand boarding action; exciting!
Our driver was names Jesus so I guess you can say I felt like I was in safe hands...and to be honest after the first five minutes I felt really safe; this wasn't what it was all cracked up to be, this wasn't that fast and this definitely wasn't that scary....although with time, things change!
We stopped at our first sand dune and looked at the incredible views; out over Huacachino all the way to Ica and beyond, 360 degree views of the wonderment that is these huge sand dunes and everything else in between (not all that much) It really took me back to those hot days on the dunes out the back of Patchewollock on our toboggans, such great fun!! and such a breathtaking sight, especially with the sun starting to set....just perfect.
So it was time to tackle our first sand dune, which was so much steeper than I'd ever imagined it would be. Jesus rubs our boards down with candle wax (oh yeah, professional!!) and gets the first guy ready to go, a and go he did! he absolutely flew down the dune, like flew! but he made it, so as always after gathering my thoughts I decided that it didn't look that bad, vamos! Before I knew it I was lying flat on my stomach, legs spread....I don't know what I was doing when he was explaining how important it was to keep your legs open wide and more importantly down, but I musn't have been listening because yep I had my legs up (apparently!) and yes as a result I stacked it, massively!! FAILURE!!! I was devestated....I hate failure and I failed and might I add that yes I was the only one for the entire day to stack it. It hurt, both physically and mentally, but I got over it. I was more focused on asking Jesus what went wrong and how to prevent it next time! Whether it was this or the fact that these dunes were just plain huge, I will admit I was scared to go down the rest, however after repeating "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger" and by gee did it make me stronger ( I have buns of steel.....for tensing in fear that is) I succeeded in making it down the next 5...in amongst my moans and thoughts of an unfortunate death of course! The best feeling would have to have been the finale....the blessed sun set over the sand dunes, which really is a sight to be seen, just magical, add in a pretty crazy return ride back to the hostel and you have yourself a pretty awesome afternoon.
This tour is so much fun and absolutely worth the 40s, yep only $13.50. I absolutely recommend it to anyone.
Its a great adrenaline rush and its in the most magnificent location, I mean sand dunes in every direction, great people, great guide, great adventure. Another one to tick off the list!

I spent the hour following getting rid of the sand that was pretty much everywhere sand can find its way inside of; ears, nose, underwear, you name it. So after showering with my natural exfoliator, the girls and I went to another hostel for dinner and drinks, just what the doctor ordered; a great chat, nice food and beer.....oh how great it was to rekindle my relationship with beer, just the one, but it was oh so delightful, oh and to top it off, chocolate ice cream. Yes I really do appreciate feeling normal again!
May I just add (said in a posh english accent) I am very excited to go to London; talking with the girls about the markets, music, culture, food, I just can't wait!

After preparing ourselves tonight (mozzie spray) before getting into bed, we all had a wonderful sleep and rose out of bed well rested and without all that many plans. After breakfast we decided we'd like to do a winery tour and so at 12.30 I negotiated in my best spanish yet, a 20soles return trip to the EL Catador winery where we were able to taste free samples of some of the regions best pisco, yes it was a pretty inexpensive day! After touring the winery and seeing first hand where the action happens; stomping of the grapes, fermenting, distilling and cooking, we returned to the resturaunt to taste about 6 different types of pisco; a sweet wine/liquor. Boy was it strong and I must admit not all that to my liking. Most, if not all of the wine they produce in this region is sweet as the temperature doesn't allow for dry wine to be produced, and I'm a dry wine kinda girl, however I sucked it up and sampled the white and red very syrupy tasting brandy, not so nice, the pisco sour-chilled; actually enjoyed this! the baileys; peruvian style, the puro pisco (wow! cough, cough!) and the pisco mix, also quite to my liking. All of these I've just listed are quite alcoholic, the pure pisco is something like 43%!! and the others range somewhere between 16 and 40!! these peruvians like their alcohol strong! After washing it down with some locally made, caramel filled chocolate we jumped back in the cab for our return to Huacachino and here you'll find me sitting in the hostel, having just skyped rach and jod (which was just what I needed) waiting and waiting some more until my bus leaves for Cusco. It's going to be another 18 hours, which shouldn't be all that bad, considering what I'm used to, oh that and the fact I'm travelling in luxury again with Cruz del Sur.
So until next time, ciao!

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