On the way to Cusco

After all the excitement in Huacachina, we decided it was time to move on. We booked an overnight bus ticket to Cusco (the ride was 18 hours) for the following day.

We spent the day in Ica, doing stuff, (i.e. giving police officers money) including a wine and pisco tour by a local taxi driver. It was neat to get out into the country and go to some private wineries and learn how pisco is made.

After that, we went back to Ica, for dinner and to catch our 7:30pm bus. Getting to the bus station at 7 just in case the bus arrived early (ha!), it was about 8:30 before we asked where the bus was. Oh it caught on fire. I think they were lying to us and the 7:30 bus just didn´t exist. We ended up waiting for the 9:30 bus, which showed up at 11:15pm. Gotta love Peruvian time. It´s funny because we went all out and purchased a ticket with the expensive bus company and one of their statements is that they are always punctual! Riiight.

Anyway, we got on the bus (which provided us with blankets, movies, a crappy breakfast, and 2 roadside stops). The bus was trekking it through the mountains along tiny winding roads and I woke up multiple times in the night to look out the window and there was no road in front of us! (We book the very front seats on the top deck). Also, I had to demand one the roadside stops because you are only allowed to go #1 on the bus, and 18 hours is a LONG time.

We arrived safely in Cusco on Tuesday around 4pm. I haven´t done much here, yet. Suzy used to volunteer here a couple of months ago, so she introduced me to the city and the volunteer organization she worked with. We also toured around a bunch of the different markets. I picked up some alpaca clothing to keep me warm!

On Wednesday, we went to a cooking class and we learned (kind of) how to make a potato dish.

Cusco is an awesome city, it´s so pretty. I think I´m going to stick around and take some Spanish lessons before I move on again!

Will have more pics the next time I post!

Huacachina, Peru

Sorry, it´s been a while. Oh the stories,

Last Saturday, Suzy (my new British friend) and I got on a bus to Huacachina, which is an oasis town in the middle of the desert. That it was, check out some pics:

This was our hostel - definitely roughing it. It was actually hot enough for some sunbathing!

We spent the day Saturday just enjoying being in the middle of the desert and preparing for our sandboarding adventure the next day...

Oh Sandboarding. We decided to take the early afternoon tour in order to take advantage of the sun. The dune buggy ride was awesome! We were ripping through (and over) the dunes like nobody´s business. At one point we reaching the top of a dune and we couldn´t see the bottom of it...it was a ridiculous incline and we ended up going down the dune almost 90 degrees. I may or may not have screamed a little :S

Our driver took us to two separate locations - the first having three ¨small¨ dunes to conquer. It was hard to get started but after the second dune I felt I had the hang of it. So I sucked it up and braved the third ¨small¨ dune. I managed pretty well (i.e. I remained standing) until I got to the bottom of the dune.

Then I´m not sure what happened next...it equates to me doing some acrobatic moves I wasn´t at all prepared for, thus landing on my back, neck and head. Suzy said from the top of the dune I just turned into a cloud of sand. When I landed, I had no idea what happened, but I had knocked the wind out of me. I got up and shook it off, but man it hurt!

Here´s a shot of me after I decided to allow sand to inhibit every crevice in my body:

Hot, eh?

After making a quick trip to the doctor (yes, I´ve only been a week in South America before needing a doctor) I determined that I just badly injured some muscles and I´d be ok...

(needless to say, I went down the next hill on my bum...) Look at how big it was:

You win this round giant sand dunes.

Hola

Howdy, I have reverted back to blogger, as it is easier to update in internet cafes here.

I can`t believe that it has been two weeks already! I am currently still in Peru, but will post a couple of updates so that you can get caught up :)

Ciao!

Erin