Adventures in Peru

bus from ica to lima
departure date: jan 25

sandboarding was everything i remember it to be, and moreóthese dunes were even bigger. it took 20 minutes to walk up one of the midsized sand dunes, and about 1 to board down it. that was very time consuming, and almost not worth the output.
then i went on a dune buggie/sandboarding tour. that was amazing. dunes that took 2 minutes to board to the bottom (when standing up, if you used your board like a sled it takes half the time.) i took a great number of spills. i also would like to take this up as a regular sport. warm weather, and having fun, it might be heathy too!

the sunset from the sand dunes was top notch.

bus from arequipa to nazca
departure date: jan 21

flight over nazca (thank you nana and pompa)
departure date: jan 22

bus from nazca to ica
departure date: jan 22

i made it back from the canyon, ALIVE. some people had the concern that it would be dangerous for me to trek there alone, in the ‘rainy season.’

the worst two things to happen to me were:

  1. i got a sun burn in the scorching hot sun.

  2. i stubbed my toe (taking the skin off the tip) after having a swim in the oasis pool.

the trip went a little like this… arrive in cabanaconde on the evening of the 16th. i went for dinner at the hostel restaurant, i got alpaca ‘bistec’. (people often like to translate bistec to steak. that is wrong. bistec is meat cut as thinly as possible and fried, or deep fried. not steak.) i went to bed early, about 7:30. i was awoken when 3 americans were being admitted into my dorm. i had hopes that it would be all to myself. i was told that it would be to myself. they had no idea what they wanted to do, other then trek the canyon without a guide. i joined them as they eat dinner and we formed a plan that would take us all around the canyon. why not trek with other people? then i went to bed, again, around 9.

up at 5:45. started the day with a walk to the lookout. i wanted an early morning view of the canyon. it turns out that all i could see was fog/cloud. it was epic. back for breakfast. started the 4-5 hour treck at 8. the trek was good. it was walking down hill on switchbacks, on the canyon wall. the fog had lifted by this point and i got a good view of the canyon. the trip took 4 hours, arriving in a little paradise. it had been cloudy, as expected, for the walk. after arriving the sun broke and it became hot. t-shirt weather. normally it starts raining before 1 during the rainy season. it stayed sunny until 4 or 5. didn’t start raining till about 5:30. had another early night, and another early morning.

8 o’clock early, eating pancakes for breakfast, and off. another 3 hour walk to the oasis. another paradise. who would have thought, 2 paradisesóand only 3 hours apart. the sun shone all day. from before i woke until 6ish. then the rain came in like a ravenous beast. the rain quickly lightened. it was in this oasis that i stubbed my toe. i was swimming in a man made pool. it had fresh water piped from the aqueducts. on the edge of the pool was a small piece of rebar. i managed to stick my toe into it. missing the tip skin. another early night; when you live by candle light it is really easy to sleep shortly after dark.

up at 5:30, again. we wanted to complete the trek out of the canyon before the sun was to high or hot. breakfast, packing and a start around 7. the uphill, out of the canyon, climb was rough. it only took 3 hours. not bad, 4 hours into the canyon and 3 out.

the place was 100 times more impressive than machu picchu. i took more photos. i filled a memory card with photos. after being on the salt flat tour i was not sure what kind of place would be able to inspire that kind of aw into me. the canyon did it. i want to buy a plot of land in the bottom of the canyon.

pictures coming.

bus from arequipa to cabanaconde
departure date: jan 16

bus from cabanaconde to arequipa
departure date: jan 19

you know that you have been in peru for too long when…
http://www.thepointhostels.com/noticias.php?id=49

i have a flu, or some other such unpleasantry. i am so sleepy, i could not sleep a wink last night. the fact that someone had a cough, another kept sneezing didn’t help. 2 people woke up at 5 in the morning to go on a treck. one person woke at 8 for a treck. i make the 6th in the 6 bed dorm. what a night. at least if i was alone i could have read, put on some music, something with my time.
i also needed to run to the w.c. ever couple hours. that must have drove people crazy.

woke up early for some beaching. the beach is 2+ hours from arequipa, the hostel had rented a private bus. the bus got a flat: rear right inside tire. the driver jacked up the bus, removed the outside tire, bus came tumbling down. the few people on the bus when it happened jump and exited, white faced. i get wise and crack a joke about how the bus can’t fall any lower, until the driver removes the flat. he jacks up the bus, the jack slips, bus falls back onto the flat. he jacks up the bus, with me attempting to explain to the bus driver that the jack needs to be vertical, he has it wedged on off to one side. he had the jack on this ‘/’ angle. he did succed at making the top of the jack perpendicular with the suspension. he popped off the flat tire, went to pick up the spare tire, and a semi passed by. the shakes slightly and falls. this time onto the part that i will call the ‘hub.’ it’s at the end of the axel, makes the wheel spin, has the breaks on it.
that fall was big. and funny. scared the hell out of a couple of the girls. one of them swears that the bus almost tipped onto its side.
the beach was what you would expect.
coming home was drinking on the bus.
the after party was what you would expect, plus more. i got drunk enough to dance — and enjoy it (i think i was drunk enough to enjoy anything.)