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Published: January 4th 2006
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We'd heard about the gigantic sand dunes in Ica and how they were best explored by sand buggies and sand boards. This was too tantilising a suggestion so off we headed for Ica. We arrived late at night after another long bus journey from Huaraz and checked into the Princess Hotel. It was very quiet as most families were getting ready for Christmas at home and I think most fellow backpackers were either in Arequipa or Cuzco. But, it had a lovely pool as the sun shone all day so we made the most of it and topped up our tans while supping cold beer, as you can imagine, it was a hard couple of days...!!
About 5km away is Huacachina, which locals refer to as the Oasis of South America. Oasis it maybe, but it sounds nicer than it actually was. I was first attracted to the place after reading in 'Footprints´ that its green sulphur waters were said to have curative properties and locals went there in their thousands to swim. However, according to the locals, no one has swam in the water for many years as it is too polluted from the rubbish dumped by restaurants and
Sand Buggy
Our Beast. bars which align its palm fringed water. So no swiming in sulphur waters for us but bring on the sand buggy and sand boarding!
We paid 40 soles (about 6.50 pounds) each for 3 hours of wicked fun in the sand dunes. You basically sit on a big buggy, driven by a local nutter and get driven around, up and down the ma-hu-sive dunes at breakneck speed, don´t worry Mum, seatbelts were compulsary. The buggy would motor to the top of a dune, we´d get out, strap our feet into the boards, grease the undersides to allow for more speed and then bump and grind downhill. It wasn´t as scary as I expected and controling the board was easy. In fact, without the grease, the friction with the sand would mean very little movement. On the bigger dunes, we would end up having to walk down as when the grease dries up, you could be facing downhill and go nowhere. The good thing about the buggy and board trip was that the buggy met us at the bottom and took us to the top each time. Otherwise our boarding wouldv´t been short lived me thinks.... The buggy ride was
Sand Boarding
Off she goes.....check out the desert... wicked and it come HIGHLY recommended. Make sure you check the seats of the buggy though, because we saw some with plain wooden planks for seats and this would not be too comfy on the olde glutous maximus!!! We ended the day by watching the sun set over the dunes...it was a beauty!
So after our thrill seeking adventure, we thought we´d go for a bit of culture and so went to check out the Museo Regional. Inside we saw arqueological remains including; mummies, ceramics, textiles and trepanned skulls, all belonging to the ancient civilizations of Paracas, Nasca, Wari, Ica-Chincha and Inca. The mummies and skulls are particulary interesting. Having studied anatomy, I was fascinated by just how well the bodies had been preserved, and the grotesquely contorted skulls, believed to be a sign of higher status in those times. Whilst we where there we were accompanied by the sound of the local choir limbering up for Christmas with spanish versions of silent night and Jingle Bells.
Were not usually 'tour' types being the intrepid travellers that we are....he he he but we booked onto the Ica City Tour as the scorching sun was making us lethargic and
Sand Boarding
I think shes gonna make it! also we negotiated an excellent price, too good to be refused. It turned out to be a great idea and for those in Ica, I highly recommend it. Ica is Peru´s chief wine centre. Our first stop (after driving around the Plaza...) was to 'El Catador' where we learnt how the wine and pisco was made, then onto the Bodega Alvarez. The owner, Umberto Alvarez, won the gold medal for the best pisco in Peru in 1995 and was still very proud of this award. He showed us around and gave us many variations of pisco and wine to taste. Duncs took full advantage and was slurring his words by the end. I gave up after the 3rd or 4th tasting, not being a big fan of pura pisco.
After the Bodega visits we checked out the spooky town of Las Brujas (witches) where lots of weird witchy stuff goes on. There is the tree with seven heads, apparently one of only three in the world.
We thought it was time to see some wildlife and so went to see the Ballestas Islands. We took a boat from Paracas. As a town itself it is instantly forgetable, smelly
Desert Sunset
What a beauty.... and you are hounded by locals selling tacky souvenirs, camera film, hats etc... the minute you arrive. The Ballestas are supposed to be the poor mans Galapagos Islands. This we find hard to believe having visited them. The whole concept is completly different. Each island is uninhabitable and you are not allowed to step foot on the islands. Having said that, they are spectacular and worth a visit. They get their name from the shape they make after years of erosion (Ballestas means bow) The islands provide shelter for thousands of seabirds, some of which are very rare. For all you sea lion fans out there, make a trip to the Ballestas, we saw many more there than on the Galaps and thats saying something. There are tons of the them. We saw much bigger bull sealions there too (male sealion with huge heads). You can also check out pelicans, penguins (very cute), dolphins and guano birds. Take a hat for protection from bomb attacks from hundreds of guano birds flying above you. The trip is quite short but worthwhile.
With Christmas soon approaching we were unsure whether to hang about in Ica or make our way to Nazca.
Desert Twilight
That was all good..... We´d had a good laugh with our buggy pals in Huacahina on the last night and were tempted to stay and have a party at their hostal which was beautiful and very chilled but we decided to move on....
In all the guide books it advises you about the stories you will be spun about your hostal being full or shut down on arrival in Nazca. This was indeed the case and as predicted and their tales proved to be utter rubbish. Be warned! IGNORE ALL TOUTS!. We checked into Hostal Allegria which was really nice. The rooms are basic but cheap and their is a lovely pool and sun terrace.
We spent Christmas morning flying over the Nazca lines which we thought pretty novel. Although we both enjoyed it, it is not one for the faint hearted. Our pilot doubled up as our guide and as he turned the wheel with his left elbow, he held a map in his right hand and used his other hand to point out the various geometrical figues below. I tried to concern myself with this too much as to miss what was going on below but to be honest I
Mummy
In the foetal position couldn´t fully appreciate it. The Nazca lines are fascinating and there are many interesting theories about their origin and how they came to be ranging from a vast astronomical pre-Inca calender to a portrayal of the flight of the shaman who consumes halluciengenic drugs that convince him he can fly to enter the real world of spirirts in order to rid sick people of their illnesses. The etchings are huge and quite amazing and if you can spare the 40$ well worth the trip. Christmas dinner consisted of Chicken "Gorden Blu" (you can guess what that was) and Chips. We had a good Christmas evening meal with Scott and Kerry form Canada and Dirth and Julia who hailed from Liverpool and then stayed up until the wee hours playing cards and having a few cheeky beers. The cards were also accompanied by some rather strong debate as Dirth proved to have rather strong and some may say cynical views on the 3rd world we were all travelling through!
We were kinda happy to move on from Nazca, as there was not much going on there, but we were sad to say goodbye Kerry and Scott, who we spent many
Contorted heads
Are they really aliens? a late night munching and playing cards with. Hopefully we will see them again in Cuzco....
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