Blogs from Ica, Ica, Peru, South America

We woke at 5:15 AM to prepare for our 6-6:30 AM pickup at the hotel for the ride to Ica to experience the Nazca Lines Overflightarranged by Kaypi Peru Tours. Hotel Allpa gave us a box breakfast that included apple-peach juice, an apple, poppyseed cake, three little brioche buns with ham and cheese and we grabbed a coffee to go. Jorge, our guide for the day, met us in the lobby. There were only two of us as we climbed into the small 10 seater van with driver Paulo for our private 4 hour ride to Ica where we would catch our plane for the Nazca Line overflight. Jorge gave us another box breakfast with a meat empanada, poppyseed cake, chocolate cookie, apple-peach juice and water. The meat empanada was much better than the chicken empanada ... read more

Yesterday we took the bus from Nazca to Ica, our last destination on the way to Lima. The afternoon was spent in the pool. As we had two rooms, Ed and I were dorm mates and we played some chess. Hat had her first lesson and picked up the key concepts. An early breakfast, to avoid the hottest part of the day, and we headed out to the oasis at Huacachina. A green pool fringed by date palms and surrounded on all sides by very high dunes. We took a lap and had a chat with a local tour about sand bugging and dine surfing. We thought the buggy just got you to gorge tip of the huge dunes, but we were in for an adrenalin fuelled surprise. We should have guessed as we were all ... read more

Mardi matin, je me lève le ventre en vrac comme après une cuite. On m’avait pourtant assuré que le pisco ne donnait pas la gueule de bois. Je lui laisse pour l’instant le bénéfice du doute, c’étaient peut-être les glaçons, le vin, ou la nourriture… En tout cas ce matin là, la perspective de faire la tournée des bodegas ne me fait pas sauter de joie. Heureusement, j’avais pris dans mon sac des médicaments, et j’étais dans de meilleures conditions l’après-midi. Nous avons commencé par la Caravedo, une grande bodega très bien tenue et une production très à l’occidentale (contrôle qualités, cahier des charges, matériel européen…). Le contraste est très fort avec l’extérieur : c’est comme une forteresse au milieu d’une sorte de bidonville rural. Il faut laisser son passeport pour pouvoir entrer par un haut ... read more

Buenos Chicos! I left Lima and took at 5 hour bus to Ica. I left Lima and it was slightly cold and arrived in Ica to the beaming sun! I was welcomed at the bus station by one of my hostel owners, Gian Carlo. Himself and his brother, Yosef, own the hostel in Ica. I treated myself to a single room as my last night in Lima was not a pleasant one with two girls arriving in my dorm room after midnight and making as much noise as possible to keep me awake. I dropped off my stuff and I asked Gian Carlo where the cash machine was and he said he would come with me. Along the way, he took me to different historical places around the town and shared a bit of history with ... read more

The end is coming. I can smell it. I can feel the hustle and bustle of the Lima airport stalking me from 160 miles away. I walk quickly, looking over my shoulder to make sure it can't touch me, and realize the only sure way to beat it back is by going out and having copious amounts of fun to spite it. So, that becomes the plan for Ica. My Cruz del Sur bus took longer than I thought. I have no idea where I got the idea that it would only take a half hour. In that scenario it was perfect. I would leave Nazca at 11:30, arrive here around noon, have lunch and head off to explore. I reality, I missed lunch entirely, arrived to a blisteringly hot, crowded, madhouse of a city. I'm ... read more