The Adventure Begins

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Day 6

Where do I start? Peru is very beautiful with a lot of culture and history to soak in.

The first night... I met up with Lydia at the airport in Lima and we were ready for our pick up that we had previously arranged. We searched and searched for a sign with our names but nothing. We waited for about half an hour before we called the hostel. They came within 10 mins but we had to wait for another party they were picking up. While we were waiting, we were approached by numerous people asking if we needed a taxi or a place to stay. We also noticed that a lot of people had large jackets on... turns out it is quite cold here at night! We ended up getting to Hotel Espana around 1130pm... we were pretty tired. Unfortunately our room didn't have any windows and when we asked if we could switch rooms... they said they didn't have any rooms available that night so we could only switch tomorrow. I think they just didn't want to set up a new room.

Day 2 - we were woken up by what we thought was a little boy yelling... we later discovered it was actually a parrot. It was so adorable b/c it could speak Spanish... it kept saying "Hola." We walked around and did some sightseeing around Lima. The Cathedral at the main square was closed by the time we got there so we decided that to try before leaving the next day. We did a tour at the San Francisco Church (yay.. we put our ISIC cards to use) and saw the catacombs. Later, we met up with a friend Lydia had met on her flight in Miraflores, Lima. He showed us around that area, walked along the coast of the Pacific Ocean and introduced us to a delicious Peruvian beer called Quara.

Day 3 - We finally got to see the Cathedral in Lima... it was very beautiful 😊 There was a festival/special ceremony that day... a lot of people wearing purple robes, holding signs and they were even creating some sort of mural outside. There was also a parade down the street. We haven't quite figured out what they were celebrating. Around lunchtime, we took a bus to Paracas. The bus ride provided some interesting scenery! Goodbye city life. Poverty was more apparent and destruction from the Earthquake was very evident. Makes you really appreciate the life we have in Canada 😊 There were lots of huts, unfinished buildings, dirt roads, and destroyed buildings among the desert. When we arrived in Paracas, they dropped us in the middle of nowhere.. the roads were still dirt. Luckily, we had booked a hostel in advance and they had arranged a pick up for us. We were pretty surprised when we were taken into the main part of the town. It was more developed than we had expected and the area was very tranquil. Lucky for us, we even had a view of the ocean in our hostel 😊 We walked around the main strip and booked our tour for the Ballestas Islands for the next day. That night, they had a HUGE celebration in the main square by our hostel. They were celebrating the founding of Paracas and Pisco. They even played pitbull. haha.

Day 4 - Ballestas Islands!!! I think I've figuoed out where all the birds go when they "head south." Yep... Ballestas Island. It was quite a sight! I think everyone on our boat was shat on by the birds. Luckily we had our wet naps and hoods on. We saw sea lions, pelicans, starfish and of course... the seagulls. Interestingly, they take the bird poo to make manure. It was quite a sight seeing/smelling all those birds. Next was the Paracas National Park! What a sight!!! You have the desert, fossils, caves, and the ocean. They even had a beach with red sand. We had delicious seafood there... we tried Ceviche... pretty much sashimi cooked by lime juice... it was very delicious. We headed to Pisco after thinking we would need a few hours to explore. However, we decided it was time to go within an hour. About 80% of Pisco was destroyed by the earthquake and it was VERY evident. Little streets were paved and buildings were incomplete. We took a bus back to Paracas... (which is an adventure on its own)... boy was I happy to be back in tranquil Paracas.

Day 5 - This was by far the BEST day I've ever had. I'm still so happy from this day. We took a shuttle to Huacachina and searched for a hotel. We ended up finding a fairly good/cheap hostel... the atmosphere was quite different. It was full of backpackers... lots and lots of backpackers and it was apparent. There were clothes and towels hanging on the banisters... there was even a pool for everyone to hang out which was pretty nice. This town kind of reminds me of a mini Hangzhou, China... probably b/c of the fairly big pond in the centre. Huacachina is very relaxing and beautiful. We booked a sandboarding/dune buggy tour for 4pm. This is where the fun begins!! We departed with a group of people from another hostel on a dune buggy. I now understand why they have NO amusement parks/rollercoasters here. Our driver was awesome... he drove us around the desert giving us the best ride we've ever had. I must have flew out of my seat 100 times. We made 3 stops along the desert, each time we got to go down 3 hills. The last stop we made was amazing. The first of the final 3 hills was deadly... we were all scared to go first... the hill was steep and long. By this round, I had decided to slide down instead of "sandboarding." Much faster and easier. The second of the final 3 was even more deadly.... but lets just say the final hill does not compare to any other hill... it was its own kind of beast. I absolutely could not believe how steep and long the hill was. Lets just say... it was UNFORGETTABLE. I had so much sand everywhere including in my mouth 😞 I was pretty good at keeping my mouth shut so I wouldn't get sand in my mouth but I guess I must have let out a yelp. Lydia said I looked like a dart shooting down. We are both still happy from this experience. yes.. UNFORGETTABLE.

Finally, today! I'm quite tired of writing now... so to sum up, we're in Nazca right now. We WERE aiming to be in Arequipa by tomorrow morning but we've hit a bit of a delay. The only thing we really want to do in Nazca is fly over the Nazca lines but unfortunately, it was quite windy today so it was very dusty... which means visibility is quite low. We're going to try again tomorrow, hopefully we'll be able to catch a plane to see the Nazca lines. If not, we'll have to settle for seeing the Nazca lines from a tower since we're leaving for Arequipa tomorrow night. One thing that boggles us... how do they make their chicken so delicious?

- Myra

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Photos

happy sandboarder!
myra makes it down the hill in one piece.

Comments

[anonymous]

ur pictures are beautiful =)

[sylvia lai]

sounds like fun
that is soooo cool that you get to sandboard!!!! im so jealous of you guys minus Ballestas island lol