6th October - 7th October Lima to Nazca
Had my final morning in Lima, can´t say I was that struck by the city and was quite glad to be leaving. Did some internet updates and sent some mail and then we all made our way to the bus station for our bus to Pisco. The bus left at 2:30 pm and was supposed to take about five hours. The driver had other ideas and after countless stops and a puncture we arrive in Pisco at 8pm. The puncture was amusing as the replacement tyre was non existent and so a spare had to be found from a local garage. The spare was just as bald:
After checking into our hostel we headed into town for a meal and then to a local bar. It was Luke´s birthday so we had a good night drinking the local brew Pisco Sour. More on that later!
The next day we headed to the small coastal town of Paracas where we took a boat ride to a nature reserve off the coast. The reserve contains seals and millions of birds, so many that every 7 years the locals go to the island to collect the bird crap and sell it for manure!! The boat ride back was entertaining as the wind had got up and so the journey was pretty rough. We all got a good soaking, at one point the boat died as the engine became flooded. We headed in land after the boat trip to a Pisco winery. Pisco is a strong wine grown locally and turned into many different forms including a cocktail drink called Pisco Sour which is made with pisco, lime, egg white and suger - very nice:
Alex samples some of the local brew!!!
We left the winery and headed inland to an oasis in the desert for lunch. The landscape is completely desert with dunes and reminded me a lot of my trip to Namibia. After lunch we all jumped into dune buggies and went out into the dunes. This was great fun and like riding a roller coaster at times when we went over the dunes. We also did some sand boarding down some of the biggest ones:
Dan heads off down one of the dunes
Our next stop was the town of Nazca for the night, we arrived about 8pm and checked into the hostel.
8th October - 9th October Nazca to Arequipa
The town of Nazca is next to the famous Nazca lines which are huge carvings believed to be carved by the Incas into the desert. Some people believe they are the work of aliens!! We spent the morning in the town of Nazca and I did some internet updates before taking a light arcraft flight over the lines. There are all manner of shapes including monkeys, whales and birds in addition to the lines stretching for miles. The picture below was taken from the aircraft so I hope it comes out ok, I think it is of one of the birds:
The flight over the lines was very bumpy due to high winds and everyone was feeling a bit green by the time we landed. Next stop was to the bus station for our overnight bus to Arequipa. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and a big university town.
The bus journey was uneventful except for attempting to load the bags. The spare driver was sleeping in the luggage compartment and had set himself up with a bed. It was very funny as we loaded bags all around him as he slept!! We arrived at about 9am and checked into the hostel. I didn`t sleep too well so was feeling pretty drained. Arequipa is a beautiful city with many old buildings and a fantastic square surrounded by cafes and bars. The city also has a backdrop of mountains which adds to the charm. In the morning we visited the museum of Juanita. This is the museum dedicated to the frozen body of a girl who was an Inca sacrifice. The body was found in 1995 in the mountains and has been perfectly preserved. Today it is on display in a special room in the museum. In the afternoon we went to a local market and relaxed in the hostel. Here is a shot of Arequipa town square:
In the evening some of us headed out to a local nightclub. What an funny night as we danced in the club to everthing from salsa, dance, charts, rap and rock. We all had a great time and it was good to be mixing with the locals rather than in a "gringo" bar!!
10th October - 11th October Cusco
We left Areqipa and took the short flight to Cusco on Lan Peru. This pleased me as I was able to add more points to my BA club card, that upgrade cannot be far away now!! Our first night in Cusco was in a hotel before we met up with our family stays. We checked into the hotel and headed out to explore the town. It was a Sunday today so the usual parades were taking place in the square. I did some internet updates and got my bearings - this town will be home for the next three weeks. In the evening we were given a talk by the manager of the language school about our time in Cusco. It is going to be great fun learning the language at last and also getting a real insight into Peruvian life. We all went out for some food after and headed to the "Cross Keys" pub for beer and pool. It was an early night as we have to be up early in the morning to meet our families and start the Spanish lessons.
Our families arrived at the hotel at 7am to pick us up. I am sharing with 3 other guys, none of us speak much Spanish so it is going to be great fun. The family we are living with is middle class and their home is more western than I thought. We were given our rooms and unpacked. It is going to be great not to have to live out of a rucksack for three weeks. The language classes started at 8am so we headed up to the school to begin. It was strange being back in a classroom after ten years but good fun. The classes last for the morning and we spent today learning some basic verbs and having simple conversations. Hopefully after three weeks I will be able to converse at a basic level.
All our meals are with the families and we headed back to our house for lunch of soup and some rice with stew, very nice. It will be interesting seeing family life Peru style for three weeks. This afternoon I have been getting the laundry done and updating the website. It takes a lot longer than you think!!!
OK that is all. I will do another update in a few days time and tell you how the Spanish is going.
Adios amigos!!!
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