I saw sunset on my last two nights in Huacachina from the top of the dunes, it was awesome although i could actually hear "don´t look back in anger¨coming from one of the bars in the village, luckily i love that song so it didnt ruin the moment. It was a nice change from George Michael and Bob Marley (who i am covinced Peru thinks is still alive). Quite a few people make the trip up to the dunes for sunset so it was a nice moment.
Next we got a taxi along the worst road in history to Ica where we caught a bus to Nazca. This part of the Panamerican Highway was amazing. The trip takes you from completely barren desert to mountains in 4 hours. The drivers are not so lovely, our bus driver decided on more than one occasion to over take lorries uphill on blind u-corners, its best not to watch really.
Our hostel in Nazca was run by a midget (im not being rude, he was). He was very friendly actually and had a beer with us on the roof. He called us "Muchachos" which apparently means the boys. The hostel was nice aside from the torture beds they provided us with, im thinking of contacting the UN. I have not slept a proper night since (thats about 4 days). Anyway we woke up early the next day for our flight over the Nazca lines. This was great for two reasons - the lines themselves and the tiny little plane that we flew on. Its amazing that people so long ago made shapes in the earth that are so symetrical and perfect. Only later did we find out that one of these planes had crashed killing all on board only 2 weeks before ours. So surviving the flight can be the third reason why that day was great. Theres not a lot to do in Nazca town really, its a dustbowl and VERY local. I think we were the only gringos there, oh and the supermarket was crap too, how can peruvians surive on biscuits and cusqueña?! This lack of activities led us to the roof terrace where we sat for most of the day. Now the problem with Peru is its huge. That means long bus journeys and often at night. So we rocked up to the Nazca bus stop for our midnight bus to Arequipa 8 hours away. We hoped to get some sleep but the film they were showing and the snoring peruvians put an end to our dreams of some dreams. This would have been okay but the bus journey was when i became ill. Not the best place to begin illness, 8 hours away from a proper toilet and a drink of water. Again the driver was doing his best to kill everyone on board by overtaking entire convoys in the dark in the mountains. Despite all this we arrived in Arequipa ok! Arequipa is beautiful. It is a colonial town in the shadow of mountains and the volcano "El Misti" and has a completely different feel to the place than we have experienced before. For a start a driver let us cross the road in front of him. I thought it might be some kind of trap but no it was a genuine good deed. I have got mild altitude sickness as we ascended from sea level to 2800m in 3 hours which isnt very nice, i was ill anyway so i guess i am just more prone to it i dont know. I think ive lost half my bodyweight, so about 2 stone. Santa Catalina Monastery was well worth seeing. It is a city within a city that was created for Nuns around 400 years ago and it virtually cut off the nuns from the outside world. It was a gorgeous place tho, so tranquil. Still not worth giving up your life for though. Hoping to get out tomorrow and see some more of the city but ive been up all night with stomach cramps so may spend the day in bed on a drip.
P.
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