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Published: December 6th 2006
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It was sad to finally leave Cuzco especially as our next destination was to be Lima. Having heard Lima described as a dump by numerous people we took the decision to transit straight through the place which proved to be the right one. We flew into Lima, taxi to the bus station and got the hell out. Our 3 hours in Lima were more than enough, it should have been 2 but that's buses for you. We elected to travel 'Royal Class' but I'm doubting any royalty have ever sat in the seats we were in. Our destination, Huacachina.
Huacachina barely warrants a paragraph in the Lonely Planet but had been recommended by just about everyone who'd been through this way so we thought we should take a look. It is a tiny little oasis resort just outside the town of Ica. This was all news to me as I didn't even realise that Peru had a desert but there we go!
This trip seems to have been largely dominated by monkeys of varying sizes and cutenesses and this theme continued at the restaurant where we chose to eat on night one. It was here that Em tried to adopt
the tiny pet monkey that was being largely ignored by all and sundry. The maternal instinct was almost audible and I fear it isnĀ“t long before we have baby monkies of our own! Coupled with this the Mango Hookah pipe that we shared amongst the group and you have Emmas new moniker- Mango Hookah, Monkey Mother!
The main attraction here are the massive dunes that surround the place and more precisely messing around on them with dune buggies and sand boards. This sort of thing is right up my alley and so I signed up straight away. The ride into the desert was nearly the most fun I've had on this trip. The driver steered the thing up near vertical dunes faces and over blind precipices and generally made us all squeal like girls. Next he pulled up on the top of a slope and doled out the sandboards. I say sandboards but they were actually laminated chunks of plywood which could have been, and probably were, cut out of cabinet doors. To attach your feet there were velcro straps bolted on, no Burton bindings here! Thus attired we were instructed to point ourselves down the hill. With my snowboarding
prowess I thought I'd be peachy. I was wrong. I did manage to stay standing after a couple of runs and confidence grew out of proportion with ability. The final run was very steep and it was advised to lie on the board and go down on your tummy. Well pride goes before a fall and this proved especially true a I elected to attempt it standing. I very nearly made it but things went very wrong as I hit full speed resulting in me doing some unintended somersaults and actually snapping the board in 2. Softer than a fall in snow but when you get a facefull of sand it doesn't, like snow, melt away so I was findind the bloody stuff in crevices for days. Excellent fun though.
The next day we visit the nearby Ballestas islands touted as the poor mans Gallapagos due the number of birds and other critters. Nothing too adventurous here but a nice sedate boat trip around the Islands spotting hundreds of Pelicans, Penguins, Boobies and Cormorants. Very nice and all that but birds are dull and so the stars of the show were undoubtedly Sealions, hundreds of them. I'm always impressed
by aquatic mammals and these were no exception.
despite Em's ailing health ( she had a salad that was probably washed in filthy water, I've always maintained that salad is bad for you and that kind of cements it ) we decided to climb the massive dune behind the hotel. This was probably the most taxing thing I've done in many a year, literally 1 step forwrd 2 steps back as the sand gave way under foot. I pant and gasp my way up but Em found it relatively easy, all those step classes paying dividends. We watched the sun setting over the dunes and have a well earned beer making the whole thing most satisfying. Coming down was a hoot too, especially passing poor souls going the other way.
As far as things I wanted to see goes, the Nazca lines was right up there. I'm fascinated by them and so it was we shipped out to Nazca. The town itself is just plain awful, a soul less hotch potch of the usual unfinished buildings and crappy squares. If it wasn't for the lines I don't think many people would stop to look around. As per usual we
were mobbed as we got off the bus by the super friendly and helpful 'Miguel' who kindly helped us to our hotel and kindly tried to sell us flights over the lines. We kindly declined and checked out the real prices ourselves only to discover the bugger was trying to charge 25 dollars over the market price. Armed with this information we returned to the hotel, let Miguel do his spiel, then named our price. he hadn't banked on us actually shopping around and the friendliness evaporated in a blink and we entered into a Mexican standoff as we stuck to our guns and he tried to meet us halfway, which was patently ridiculous as we could just duck out and get the same thing around the corner for the right price. He knew he was beat and skulked off which was hugely satisfying.
The flight the next morning was great. The Pilot pointed out the Animals which were smaller than expected but still amazing. More so were the miles of dead straight lines and trapezoids immaculately outlined in the desert. I can only assume that this was the work of aliens again, there is no other explanation to my
mind, the massive triangles are clearly UFO landing sites. There probably are some other explanations but they all seem a little dull to me. I think the aliens are still among us. Come to think of it old Miguel was definitely a scaly creature.
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sarah
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sandman
The theme of sand and mummies and all things ancient, evil and dark is coming through in all your entries steve. Thanks for the ancient graffitti shots as well. Very archaeological I must say.