This is a little bit of a catch up entry, so it's not just about the beaches, but also includes a brief stay in Lima and a trip to a fantastic musuem in Chiclayo on my up the coast of Peru. Heading North I landed in Lima from Iquitos and following some haggling, I scored a taxi to a recently opened hostel near the historical centre of the city. I'd chosen to spend the night in 1900 Backpackers purely because it's location near the centre of the city, meaning it's nice and far away from the bland Miraflores, but the hostel is actually one the best I have stayed in anywhere. It is inside a large restored colonial building and has retained it's ambience whilst being converted into a hostel. The ceilings are high, the dorm ... read more

We arrived in Pucallpa from Laguna Yarinacocha and went straight to the market where we each brought our hammocks/homes for the next several days. Tansy came away with a deckchair-ish red a white striped one, Ryan's was a bizzarely nice combination of every colour and mine was yellow with orange suns over it, something to keep me smiling if times got rough on the boat. My recent posts have been leading to the boat trip up the Amazon; and unlike previous entries, perhaps my desire to do this trip needs a reason. Why did I want to live in a hammock for several days, surrounded by strangers who speak a different language, eating food apparently so poor that guides advise taking prophelactic antibiotics whilst sweating in the heat and humidity of the jungle? A few reason, ... read more

Most travellers use a guide book, which is not surprising and understandable. I was using Footprint's South American Handbook until it mysteriously disappeared on a bus in Bolivia. The problem I have with guidebooks on occasion, is that some people use them as if the word inside is the gospel, using the book for every single restaurant, hostel and any other choice they make. The book is called a guide book and not an instruction book, it is meant as an aid. It is obligated to warn people of possible problems, even when they are not a common occurence; there are even current guidebooks out there for backpacking Afganistan, how safe can that be at the moment? Travelling should be an adventure that comes with some risks and so with this in mind I found myself ... read more

Finally I found myself at the Pacific Ocean. I arrived early in the morning in the town of Huanchaco, a short distance from the main city of Trujillo. I found and checked into a hostel before falling immediately asleep, I had arrived far too early for my liking. I woke after a few hours and dragged my tired ass out of bed to begin my first ever visit to the Pacific Ocean properly. At breakfast I bumped into a couple of guys I´d met whilst waiting for a taxi after the Santa Cruz trek and they invited me to join them sightseeing around Trujillo's wealth of pre-Incan culture. We jumped on a local bus towards Trujillo, jumping off at the beginning of a dirt road leading to the ancient Chimú city ofChan Chan. On the side ... read more

Rocking into Huacachina, the name given to the only oasis in South America, is like arriving in a mirage. Suddenly the grubby looking city of Ica disappeared around the road and sand appears. As the final buildings are passed they are replaced in the distance by mountains of sand and once the windy road has passed a couple of kilometres in an area surrounded by overpowerering dunes, they break and a village appears and breaks in these building reveal the gorgeous little oasis in the middle. I wandered the lake with my gear before checking into a hostel and booking myself onto a 4pm trip. This trip was one that I had looked forward to from the minute that I heard of it and I was not disappointed. Promptly at 4pm my transport arrived at the ... read more