The number of foreigners on the streets rises steeply once you arrive in Lima, and you soon realise that the vast majority of them are only there in passing from flights and buses before making the trip to their true destination of Cuzco. The importance of little old Cuzco to big bad Lima is emphasised by the fact that 30 years of attempts to build an international airport have been resisted by Lima due to a fear of being bypassed altogether.
It certainly makes for a pretty long and interesting road-bound trip between the two. We left at 12pm with the Tena bus company very excited about our 'presidencial cama' seats, which turned out to be the same as everyone else's. Not sure Obama would stand for that, but to be fair they came with plug sockets and use of the on-board library, which was a nice touch.
Four hours later we arrived in the desert town of Ica, jumped in a mototaxi for the 10 minute trip around the corner to the oasis at Huacachina, were offered a buggy trip straight out of the taxi for 35 soles (8 pounds), dropped our stuff off at a local hotel and within 15 minutes of stepping off the bus we were heading to the dunes in a 12-man dune buggy. For that reason:
Reasons to love Peru #3: total spontaneity/recklessness
What followed was my best experience in all of Peru. First we bumped along the uneven sand near the dunes entrance, before reaching smooth sand and hitting top gear. The buggy used the flatter parts to pick up speed as we raced across Lawrence of Arabia style landscapes before aligning itself directly with a 45° sand dune, hitting it head on and climbing upwards up to what felt for all the world like a tipping point, where we would sharply peel away to the side and descend that very same improbable slope.
Similar insane rollercoaster antics followed before our guide slammed on the brakes at the top of one such slope and shoved a sandboard in each of our hands. Instead of driving down a steep dune we were to lie headfirst on a thin piece of wood. It was a very cool experience but felt kind of tame in comparison to the buggy ride, which gives you an idea of how awesome that was.
Luckily the rest of the tour only consisted of one more sandboarding session and plenty of buggy insanity, until after the shortest hour of my life we parked up above the oasis to gawp unbelieving at a truly unreal sunset.
Then, seemingly as quickly as it had started, it was over. We were left to sit by the faded grandeur of the oasis-side architecture (it used to be a playground for the Peruvian aristocracies) and try to take in the experience and THAT sunset. We had time for a couple of fittingly delicious pisco sours before a taxi back to Ica for a quick restaurant meal before joining our bags and jumping on the 9.45 bus for the final 17 hours to Cuzco.
It started fairly inauspiciously as we half-asleep kicked in the lids of our unwanted airline-style dinners and the sharp curves of the ascent sent food flying through the air, which our 'bus hostess' found hilarious. However a stunning sunrise (see below - sometimes a sleepless night on one of those buses is a blessing) and some of the best landscape I've seen out of a bus window and we were in the capital of the Incas to be offered massages around every corner like the rest of the gringos. And very happy we were too.
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