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Published: February 9th 2006
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Barranco Beach In Lima
Just before we were warned away Hello everyone!
So here were are, drawing close to a week and a half away from home, and having a brilliant time! We will start from the beginning….
Left Hastings last Monday, and made our way up to Heathrow airport. Had a fun night there trying to sleep, but being distracted by a woman trying to steal the trolley buggy! She told us “it’s just like driving a car innit”!! Finally we boarded the plane to Madrid, and the flight was uneventful.
On arrival at Madrid, our names were read out by the air hostess. We found her, and she gave us our boarding passes for the Lima flight. We rushed to the next gate where we were greeted by a huge queue. However, when we eventually got to the front, the attendant told us our seats had changed, and that we were now sitting in BUSINESS CLASS!!! How good is that! We spent 12 hours in total luxury, with a fully reclining seat, and our own TVs!! Food was lovely, and even got a free little pack with loads of useful stuff! We were very impressed, but as you can imagine, me and Rich stuck out a little amongst the
Pucusana Bay
View from the Hostel "Very nice!" businessmen!
Anyway, we finally reached Lima, where we were greeted by a taxi we had arranged before we left….and we were glad we did! There were hundreds of people waiting at the arrivals gate, and we had to push our way through!
So we stayed in a small part of Lima called Miraflores. Central Lima is quite pretty in parts, but mostly not that great, and fairly dangerous for tourists. Miraflores was lovely though…lots of big squares, and very traveller-friendly. Our hostel was great, and lots of other travelers to chat to. We also spent a day in another district of Lima called Barranco. This was really a nighttime place, but in the day everyone headed down to the beach. We were making our way there but were stopped twice, once by the Police, telling us to watch out as our bag would get nicked! It was a little off-putting! Anyway, on the whole it was quite pretty there, but not as friendly as Miraflores.
So after a few days in Lima, we decided to head down the coast. We got a taxi into Lima to drop us off at the bus station (which was a mission in itself, as
Isla Ballestas Sealions
The poor man´s Galapagos,well we are gringos the buses don’t stop in a particular place…they stop where you wait!!). We eventually found the bus stop, and we made our way down to Pucusana, a small fishing village about 2 hours away from Lima. The bus journey was a real eye-opener, as we drove through the whole of Lima. When you are sheltered in Miraflores, you don’t realize just how huge Lima is. There are over 10million people just in that city, and most of them live in little cardboard box houses, which spread out for miles and miles and miles. It makes you realize just how poor this country is.
So we eventually reached Pucusana, which was totally unexpected! It was beautiful! It’s in a bay, with an island just offshore (you could walk there in low-tide! There was also an even smaller island…with only 1 house on it! We found our hostel, which was right up on the top of the hill, and the view was spectacular! We could see the whole village, and at night time, we could see right across the coast to see the lights of Lima! Our hostel was lovely. Run by a small family who made us feel totally at home.
Huacachina
Little lagoon oasis,very cool They even were giving us help with our Spanish (particularly Rich as he is struggling!!). We stayed there a couple of days, and just chilled out. It’s the Peru Summer here at the moment, so lots of Peruvians are on holiday, and come to places like Pucusana. We were pretty much the only foreigners there! So of course, we attracted quite a lot of attention - especially from one huge Peruvian guy who had had one too many “cervezas”! He thought Rich was like Ricky Martin, and declared his love for me! Hehe!
Anyway, after a couple of days relaxing, we headed out of Pucusana down the coast to Paracas. Paracas is only a tiny little village, but is really popular with holiday makers…both foreign and Peruvian. This is because of the tours that you can do around the two nearby sites. The first was the tour of the Islas Ballestas, a group of islands about 15 minutes off shore. The boat trip was fantastic, and when you get there, you see hundreds of different types of birds, and more importantly, tons of Sealions! They were gorgeous, and they are in the middle of mating season, so there were lots of little babies! So cute! It was a really good trip. Then in the afternoon, we went on a little tour of the nearby National Park. Now this is a bit different to what you would expect…it’s all sand! As it’s by the coast however, there were some amazing rock formations, which we climbed under and above to see some brilliant views! It was a great day in all!
So yesterday, we headed away from Paracas, and came south again to Ica. There isn’t that much to do in Ica, and the only reason you come here is for the next door place…Huacachina, where we are now. This is literally an oasis in the middle of a desert! There is a lagoon in the middle where the locals swim, and all the hostels have pools! Our hostel is ok, but a real party hostel…there are some Irish guys here who haven’t stopped partying in quite a few days! We are staying in a dorm with 18 other people…as you can imagine it’s a bit noisy! Anyway, the whole point of coming to Huacachina is to experience Sandboarding! It’s so much fun. Admittedly, I (Zoë) was rubbish at it, but Rich was pretty good! You go at quite a speed! The only downside is the walking up the giant dunes to get to the top! It’s a real workout!
So that’s it…it’s now 8pm on Wednesday (we are 6 hours behind you guys). Generally it’s been boiling, but actually not over sunny…quite a lot of clouds. Here in Huacachina, it starts to cool down at around 3 which is much nicer than Lima which is hot all the time!
We have also hooked up with an Ozzie couple (Megan and Dennis) who are our traveling buddies now. We met them on the bus to Paracas, and they were heading the same way as us. They seem really nice, and are giving us loads of advice for when we get to Oz (Megan worked in the tour guide industry in Cairns so can get us some reductions!).We are heading off with them two tomorrow South again to Nazca. From there we will do the flight over the famous Nazca lines (miles of pictures and emblems made on the ground from the ancient Nazca culture - a bit like crop circles!!). From there we will head onto Cuzco and the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. We will write more there! Missing everyone lots.
Rich and Zoë
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Chris Randall
non-member comment
Hi from the PCT
Great to hear from you - we're enjoying following your trail with you! Love Chris x