Peru...

Hi,

Have some time to kill while waiting to catch another overnight bus. It is a busy hot night here in Nazca and everyone seems to be out on the streets and in the main square. I literally had dinner on the street tonight - rice, salad, chicken and a drink of ice tea for $1. I´m looking forward to this overnight bus. I could only get on a ´pricey´ one tonight so have a bus cama which means bus bed. Oh and i´m heading to Arequipa, a colonial town in the mountains surrounded by more volcanos. Nasca is famous for huge ancient (around 600AD) drawings of animals and shapes in the desert. The best way to appreciate them is by a 30min flight in small cessna which is exactly what i did today. Incredible. There are many theories as to why they were created but the most popular is they were used for ceremonies and are linked to constellations. They were made by digging channels through the dessert some go on for 100s of meters and all are perfectly straight and aligned. It was really mind blowing to see them from the air.

First, the day began in Hurranchincha, which is best described as a ´Lawrence of Arabia´ type place with dune buggys instead of camels. It is a little green oasis type town with a couple of hotels and hostels and restaurants around a lagoon in the middle of some impressive sand dunes. I arrived the day before from Hurraz, quickly passing through the huge metropolis that is Lima before heading 5 hours south. Içm spending a day in Lima on my way back. Anyway Hurranchincha was great, even if it was a quick stop on what now has become a hectic schedule as i try to digest as much of peru and possibly boliva in a couple of weeks. This am i took a dune buggy tour through the dessert on a machine that looked like it was straight from the mad max set. I was a little apprehensive about tearing though the desert like some bogan redneck but have to say it was a damn fun, aendraline pumping experience as we screamed up and down huge dunes. Some the drops were about 70deg so it felt like being on a roller coaster. Also got to try my hand at sand boarding (same as snowboarding but warmer) down some of the dunes and managed to get down at a decent pace without stacking it. Then i checked out of the friendly backpacker resort (complete with pool) and clocked some more bus hours to here..

Hurraz was great as well. Managed to have two spontaneous adventures. The first was mountain biking around some beautiful mountain lakes with a couple of South African girls, Gail and Nicky i meet in the hostel. One was a doctor and the other a physio so couldn't´t have been in better hands! We taxied it up some 1500ms to the lakes then later descend the 1500ms calling out ´Hola´to all the friendly locals living in the villages and dodging all the excited dogs that seemed to love chasing and trying to scare biking gringos.

The second adventure was a two day hike along the Ishinka track to a mountain of the same name. Once again i hooked up with some fellow hostellers, a nice English and Polish couple, Andy and Maltivia. The walking was brilliant as we hiked through a brilliant forest of twisted trees into a valley only a couple of 100ms wide strewn with massive bolders and enclosed with impressive rock walls. We didn't do a huge amount of walking as it was tough going at 4500m and it was Andy and Maltivias first serious hike in south america. It was a really magical place and the surrounding snow covered peaks were very impressive. Its still the rainy season so everyday at around 2 or 3pm it pours. You can almost set your clock by it. Luck was on our side as we had our camps setup by this time and on day 2 we had just returned from a hike to check out
a huge moraine when it started pelting hail. Afterwards there was about a foot of hail around our tents. Close call..

Along the way we meet lots of colorful indigenous women either driving a few cows, sheep and dogs or spinning wool dressed in brightly coloured shawls, skirts and blouses and top hats. The men were also very smartly dressed with bowler hats, vests, long pants etc. All were very friendly and stopped for a chat to ask us about where we were from and where we were going. It is really great being able to converse a little in spanish.

Peru is a great place. Not only is their unlimited adventuring, most of the people ive chatted to have been super friendly and helpful. There is also a lot of indian in the population and some of the women look stunning. I wish i could spend more time here but April the 18th is fast looming and im keen to try and get a few days in Boliva to cycle the worlds most dangerous road and get really get close and personal with the amazon jungle!