Paracas and Nazca

Hi all,

The wifi didn't work in Paracas so I'm posting a couple of days worth....

Thursday 8/1

We had a pretty chilled out morning before our bus to Paracas. Had brekky, went to the supermarket. Then we got a private bus to the bus station, a 4-5 hour bus to Pisco and a private bus to our hotel in Paracas. 

On the private bus, Carla told us a few facts about Lima and Peru. Ten million people live in Lima which is 1/3 the population of Peru. This is due to terrorism occurring lots in the highlands in the 1990s so people moved to the city to feel safer and have more opportunities. She also told us the minimum wage in Peru is just $300 US, yikes!!

The traffic was even more manic than normal getting out of the city. We eventually passed a car accident involving 6-8 cars which must have been holding us up, because we moved a lot faster after that. The bus ride up until that point was jolty as for some reason even though we were in traffic kept speeding up then slamming on the brakes!

The scenery to Pisco was mostly desert. There were lots of hills, coastlines and dilapidated buildings. It hadn't really hit me until now that this is a third world country. 

We arrived in Paracas and settled into our hotel. We then went for a walk around the town, which is fairly small and a beach town. We saw the sun setting behind the mountains which was pretty! Then we went out for dinner at a pizza place which was really yum. 

Everything is so cheap here and with no activities today I spent a grand total of......$14 Aussie! Amazing! Set myself a rough budget of $60 a day and thus far I am sticking to it well. A few big days of activities coming up but it all evens out :)

Friday 9/1

This morning me, Rachel and Courtney (we shared a room last night) got up and had lots of muesli bars and some fruit for brekky that we bought in Lima. Last trip I bought myself waaaay too many snacks and my pants got tight by the end so this time I'm on the muesli bar and fruit diet ;) haha. 

We walked from the hotel to the port and got a tourist boat to the Ballestas Islands. It was well worth it! The sea breeze was lovely and on the way to the islands we saw a candelabra carved into the sand on the hills, just a taste of what is to come with the Nazca Lines. When we got to the islands we saw so much wildlife! We saw pelicans (but they were grey, not like the ones at home), sea lions, various birds including Boobies (heehee!), Humboldt penguins and some other coloured ones. We also saw some massive crabs clinging to the side of the islands. I just sat in the boat in awe really! You get so used to the wildlife around you at home, and when you travel - especially to places as exotic as here - it's so amazing seeing different animals. There was so much life on the islands, the birds were going nuts. One even pooed on me, the guide tells me this is good luck. Does this mean my lingering throat infection is going to go away?! I hope so!

We went back on the boat and got on the bus for a one hour journey to a Pisco winery. We had a tour of the winery including the processes of making wine and then tried various wines and piscos. I only had a couple because of my throat and antibiotics. 

Huacachima. Our guide earlier on the boat told us that the Atacama Desert (which is in Peru and Chile) is the driest place on earth with just 10-15mm of rain a year. This place was proof. Right in the middle of the desert with massive sand dunes rising up! Here we went sand duning and sand boarding. It was similar to what mum and I did in Dubai, but instead of a 4WD we were in an open buggy and  the hills were HUGE! I'll admit it was pretty terrifying but it was amazing! Screamed my head off which meant I got a mouth (as well as everything else) full of sand! The harness wasn't the best so we all got thrown around a bit, but seem to be doing ok so far. 

Then came the sand boarding. To think I thought the buggy was scary! The first hill wasn't too big, but I didn't tuck my arms in properly so I got kind of like a carpet burn. Doesn't hurt too bad though. The second hill was absolutely terrifying. I had one of those moments where you just have to not think and force yourself to do something. As far as I'm concerned I try everything when I travel. So I sped down the hill again screaming my lungs out (adding to the sand in my mouth!!). I was able to keep my eyes open this time and it was lots of fun :)

Back in the town we had lunch. I had a salad and a pasta which cost $6 all together - budget still going well! Then we had a quick look around. There's a naturally occurring lagoon in the town which is really cool in the middle of the desert. There were quite a few people swimming. I then bought some earrings (because I don't have enough at home already!) and an anklet. I'm still wearing my Cambodian ones from a year ago so thought I should add to the collection!

We then drove three hours to Nazca. On the way we stopped at a pharmacy as me and one other girl have a bad throat. They didn't have any antiseptic throat gargles though so looks like I'm just going to have to tough it out until London and hope it's ok for the Inca Trail. I will push on and all will be ok!!

Tonight we are staying in a nice hotel and having dinner in Nazca. Tomorrow we are doing the Nazca Lines. Nan and Pa, I am using the money you gave me for this. It's $115 US and you told me to do something great, so this is it! I'll post tomorrow night before we get on our overnight bus so you'll see all my photos of it then!

Much love to you all

Claire

Xoxox