Huacachina: Nothin´makes sand taste better than a little Pisco

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We arrived into Ica at around midnight on Monday night... way later than we wanted and we were exhausted from the bus ride, which ended up being a lot longer than anticipated.

Ica is famous for being the capital of the Peruvian wine region and an important industrial center. About 5km from Ica is a small desert town called Huacachina, which is famous for its relaxed atmosphere and sandboarding. After some groggy decision making we decided to go straight to Huacachina because the hostels there are more backpacker friendly (ie cheap). Huacachina is tiny! Basically a couple buildings, restaurants, and hostels around a small lake (called the oasis). It is so small that most buildings do not have an address so it was a bit hard to find the hostel we wanted to stay in. In the end we went to another one called Hostel La Rocha. It was basic but nice and we got to stay in a dormitory all to ourselves. We were so exhausted and didn´t get into bed until around 1am.

On Tuesday were were excited to explore since the area is known for its wineries and its sand... we took advantage of both.

At noon we went on a winery tour. We got to go with our own private taxi driver to 2 wineries in the area. The first one we went to was El Catador, famous for it antique methods of making pisco and wine. Remember Pisco is a type of alcohol made from grapes so most wineries produce both wine and pisco. We got to take a tour of the winery and got to see the process of making pisco. The grapes are first pressed by using foot power (people stomping of the grapes) then an old wooden press is used. The grape juice is then fermented in large ceramic vases for 2 weeks. Later the distillation occurs by heating the fermented juice in a large copper vase and then distilled through a huge coiled pipe submerged in water. The following liquid is then purified and mixed to make a pisco with a 45% alcohol content. After the tour we got to do a tasting. First we tried what is called a young wine (made from the distilled juice and not aged like most wines). It is very sweet and traditionally wines from this region are all very sweet (similar to dessert wines). Second we tried a pisco sour cocktail mix. Next we tried the Peruvian equivalent of Baileys... so yummy but made with figs so tastes a bit different. Then we tried 3 types of pisco (some aromatic, some none aromatic). The piscos were hard to taste as they were so strong. Lastly we tried some of their jams and chocolates. Sim ended up getting some of their fig jam and I got a jar of mango jam...we couldn´t resist!

The next winery, Bodega Lazo, was a lot more rustic. We went into a big room filled with the large ceramic vases. From the vases we tried 4 different types of wines. To try the wine the guide used a long hollowed out bamboo rod. They were all delicious and very sweet!

In the afternoon we hit the sand dunes! Huacachina is surrounded by massive sand dunes and has helped make this little town very famous. We left the hostel in the little dune buggy and raced up the sand dunes. Unfortunately the little buggy couldn´t manage to get up one of the big dunes so we have to switch to a much large buggy. While we waited we got to run up and down the dunes. The buggy ride was crazy! We were roaring up and down the dunes and holding on for dear life. It was a like a roller coaster except our seat belts weren´t particularly secure so our bums were in the air the majority of the time. Tons of fun! We got to our first stopping point where I got a chance to try sandboarding for the first time. The first run I went down snowboarder style with the board strapped to my feet with velcro-the first run was a success but the second run I tumbled forward and got a not-so-delicious mouthful of sand. We continued to race along the sand in the buggy to get to another huge dune to board down. This time we went on our bellies. So basically I was holding onto the straps at the top of the board with my arms tucked underneath and my stomach on the board. Sim was the first one to go down and didn´t understand that she had to separate her legs on the way down for balance so she ended up wiping out towards the end of the hill and tumbling a bunch of times. Then it was my turn and I flew! Belly-style was definitely more fun than boarding down because I got to pick up so much more speed. Again we raced to another big dune, this one even larger than the others. Again we went down on our bellies. I picked up so much speed on the way down... it was such a rush!!! So much fun and so fast! The buggy ride back was again really intense and probably induced some whiplash. I had sand everywhere but I had so much fun! Definitely recommend it for the pure adrenaline rush!

We luckily had time to take a quick shower before heading back to Ica to get on another bus. Next stop, Cuzco!

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Comments

[Schwein]

La Huacachina rocks!