The Oasis of Huacachina

Day 6 - Wednesday
Being in the middle of the desert is hot. Imagine that. The only pool in Nasca is at one of the hotels. So even if you aren´t staying there, for $5USD you gain entrance to the pool for the day as well as a lunch. Mmm, hamburger sandwich. This is how our entire day was spent. That is, until we cruised the streets to feed our addiction for Pisco. We needed Pisco to get Pist-oed. Ah ha, the Pisco bar is finally open at 8pm and our night is Pisco-ed away.

Day 7 - Thursday
Slightly hungover from the night before (Oooh Pisco) we managed to catch a bus 2km north of Nasca to Ica. This bus, much like a Greyhound, let us mingle with the common folk for 3 hours of un-airconditioned torture. Upon arrival in Ica we immediatly left for the Oasis of Huacachina. It´s so secluded that the cab driver parks his car at the bottom of a dirt road and leads us on a desert trek for 15 minutes as the dirt road is unfit for vehicles. Huacachina is like a resort with a bunch of mini resorts inside. See the pictures we posted to get a better idea. It´s so beautiful, describing it really doesn´t do it justice.
Day 8 - Friday
Our hostel is wonderful. It is full of young travellers from all different countries with a nice pool with recliner chairs for tanning and a swim up bar. Only $8USD each a night. The front desk also books Sand Boarding and Dune Buggy Excursions. So off we go. We climb aboard a caged dune buggy and head up the dunes. Two other buggy´s join ours so now we´ve become a 3 Dune Buggy Convoy drag racing through 400 foot dunes into the sunset. The driver does twists and turns and jumps and steep cliff like dunes. It´s a roller coaster on steroids. The buggy drops us off at the top of a dune, waxes up our boards and lets us go. It´s difficult only because there aren´t binders, just velcroe that you strap to your shoe. Nevertheless, it makes for an exciting day. The highest dune we accomplished was 250 ft and super steep. Kevin makes it down on his feet while Lisa lies on her tummy and soars down the cliff with supernatural speed. Awesome.
We arrive back at our hostel with enough time for a shower and a few hands of cribbage (Current Score; Kevin 1348, Lisa 1395) before dinner. All you can eat, all you can drink BBQ at the pool bar.

Sept 16

¡Hola!

Since we are lazy and don't want to send emails to all of you individually, we have created this blog. So feel free to check it on a day to day basis for updates on our travels as we know we are the most important people in your lives and you probably will.

The update so far is as follows:

Day 1 - Friday
After a grueling 25 hours of travel, including a 2 hour delay in Miami due to a faulty plane, we arrived in Lima where the shuttle we had prepaid for decided not to show. After many failed attempts to call our shuttle service using Lima´s confusing pay phone system (apparentely there are 2 types of pay phones. For one you use your cell number as the pay phone number and the other being a regular payphone. Identifying the difference with the naked eye is impossible) we finally used simple gestures (because neither of speak the language) to find another shuttle service. We stayed at the fabulous 5-Star Hotel which more liked a shotty Best Western back home. $170.00 a night well spent.

Lima is a shithole.

The shanty homes, 70% of Lima, are the size of a mid-sized bathroom in Canada. Driving through these areas to get to Miraflores, Lima was the grossest part. After wandering aimlessly around the city, we decided to sleep for a while. Our room has an amazing view of the city ... and if the city were even remotely nice, the view would have been better. Looking out the window we saw this beautiful fenced in building with green grass and fancy cars. It was the only part that reminded us of home. Then, in the distance, we see a red and white flag. Could it be? Yes, it was the Canadian Embassy.

Day 2 - Saturday
More aimless wandering. Ate, drank and was merry. That evening we searched for 3 hours for a pub. Stopped at each shanty joint (all them Mexican, it was wierd) for a cerveza then went back to our hotel. We discovered that our hotel has the hottest club in town. Finally! Our search is over! Let´s go get a pint. However, our appearance isn´t up to Lima standard and we are denied entrance. Apparantly Lu Lu Lemons and Board Shorts aren´t acceptable fashions.

Day 3 - Sunday
Everything is closed. Thank God because (thanks to Kevin and his love for $2 litre beers) we lost our Lonely Plant Spanish-English phrase book. We might die without it. We did a city lights tour via double decker bus. The attendant put us to shame speaking fluent Spanich, French and English. Tanks and Policia decked out in riot gear patrolling the streets was common.

Day 4 - Monday
Get the hell out of hell. At 7am we hopped on a bus bound for Nazca. 8 hours later, the city smog lifted and for the first time, we saw blue sky. 30 degrees and lovin life. Of course, the first thing Kevin did was get a litre of beer for $2. Nice. We found a cute little 2-Star Hotel in the heart of the town. 15 Soles a night each ... equivilant to $5 USD. It has an open patio on the rooftop overlooking the town square. So we did what we did best. Got hammered on the roof while continuing our on-going cribbage tournament. Current Score: Kevin 679, Lisa 628.
We don´t know the language, see Day 3, but have enough liquid courage in us to go mix with the locals. Pisco, a spanish wine-brandy, is gooooood. It helped us get along with the locals. Being a little white woman was also helpful. They loved us so much (we are about 15 drinks deep mind you) we were invited to attend a Full Moon Nazca Line Viewing just outside the city limits in the middle of the desert with our very muscular drunken bartender and his burly friends. ... After pondering it over a cerveza, we kindly declined.
(The view from our 2 star hotel)
Day 5 - Tuesday
Hungover and haggard, we decided to take a rickety, single prop Cesna ride over the Naza Lines. Including the pilot, the plane held only 6. Lisa was in charge of locking the door. Oh Lord. It was extremely fun and we met some nice Americans. After about the 5th sand figure, Kevin gets sweaty. He can´t look out the window due to extreme nausea. We land ... Kevin pukes all over the runway.

... Our journey will continue ...