Sand, Siu Mai and Sun Gods

So Adam and I have quickly concluded that we cannot go more than 3 weeks without ... Dim Sum. After an 18 hour bus ride from Mancora we arrived safe and sound in Lima, checked into our hostel and immediately sought out probably the one and only dim sum restaurant in the city. Okay so it was distinctly below average but we did NOT have high expectations, just needed our fix really! 

Adams Spanish has improved tremendously! Mine... not so much. The only times he speaks English are when he's talking to me or translating for me. What really impressed me was that Adam was able to successfully argue with the manager of a bus company to get money back on our tickets because the light above us didn't work and the earphones were broken. The manager did not speak a word of English so Adam had to first explain why we were unhappy with the service and what we wanted them to do about it. We ended up receiving 35% off our next bus ride which was fine by us! It also proved to be a real stepping stone for Adam and his Spanish vocabulary. This reminded me of the time in Korea when I was successfully able to order a pizza by myself to my own apartment. Language barriers are called barriers for a reason - they really restrict you from being able to accomplish simple tasks that we wouldn't even consider an inconvenience in our everyday life. 

The outskirts of Lima are a bit dodgy so we stayed in a nice area called Mira Flores where we ended up meeting our friend Michael again (same one who invited us to spend the day at his resort). The route we're taking down South America is pretty standard which means we also keep running into the same people more or less. We met Micahel at a Perivian Japanese fusion restaurant our first night there which was delicious and then investigated first hand what Peruvian city night life was all about.

We're always interested in an authentic foreign experience wherever we go but somehow we ended the night in typical North American fashion- with 2 Big Macs, fries and a coke. How is it that McDonalds fries taste the exact same in every country in the world? 

We toured Lima during the day, explored the catacombs, the famous "Love Park" and ate more Cerviche.

Walking underground through the catacombs

Altogether we spent 3 days in the city then left for a desert oasis just outside of a town called Ica. These sand dunes were nothing like we've ever seen before in our lives! The landscape was absolutely breathtaking! Waking up everyday to sun and sand, climbing massive dunes, going sand boarding and then swimming in the afternoon when the heat became close to unbearable, was a typical day in Huacachina.

The sand was so soft and the stars at night were so clear. Watching the sun setting behind the dunes was almost surreal.

Mind you, the hostel we stayed at was a hole in the wall... there was actually a massive whole in the wall of our bathroom haha this place was still magical. 

The hole in our bathroom wall above the toilet...

After we had enough sand in basically every crevice of our bodies, we decided it was time to see the Nasca "Lions"- or at least that's what I thought I had heard my British husband say. Yes there are still times and will probably always be times where his accent disguises words and so sentences become tangled and sometimes lost in "pronunciation".

 Wondering how close we would actually get to these "lions" and thinking about the fact that there are no real enforced health and safety laws in South America, honestly scared me a little. By the time I realised Adam had actually said "lines" not "lions" we were already on a cramped city bus heading to the observation tower. 

I had never heard about these mysterious "lines"  before but now I had 25 minutes left on this bus ride to read that section of the Lonely Planet. Turns out, these Nasca lines were miraculously created about a thousand years ago and intensely studied by some German women who is now worshiped on the same level as the Virgin Marie. Some theories are that the lines were used to pray for rain since they are all connected to aquatic symbols (frog, whale, etc). Others believe they are a representation of shamans dreams brought on by hallucinogenic drugs. Either way we will never know who and for what reason these gigantic, ancient lines exist. 

It's common for tourists to take a short flight in a small dodgy plane to view the lines from a better angle but that was a bit over our budget so we opted for the stationary view point that was standing in the middle of the highway where the bus had dropped us off. When we first arrived to Nasca there were cab drivers outside trying to bargain a round trip cost with us to bring us to the lines and back. When we politely declined the offer, the drivers were adamant that the lines were far out in the countryside and buses wouldn't stop to drive us back to the city. Adam and I both were skeptical thinking they just wanted our money so we took the risk and made our own way there (for $1 each). So after about 15 minutes standing on the top of a shaky, unsecured steel tower looking at lines in fields, we were ready to head back but soon realised maybe the pushy cab drivers were right. The only buses we saw were passing by the opposite direction once every 30 minutes. To give you a clearer picture of how out in the middle of no where we were, we probably could have played a game of rummy in the middle of the road until any sort of vehicle was visible. 

Suddenly, a group of 70-80 year old French tourists arrived at the observation tower where we were patiently waiting and it wasn't long until Adam made conversation (in French of course) with these lovely old grannies. When they heard we were on our honeymoon they took an instant like to us and just 10 minutes later we sat squished between a retired French banker and an older French tour guide in their nice air conditioned bus heading back to the city of Nasca. They graciously offered us a ride and obviously we accepted! We were by far at least 40 years their junior and probably reminded them of their grandchildren but it was a kind gesture and a hilarious story. 

We only spent the afternoon in this small town and then hopped on a night bus to a city called Arequipa, known as the "white city" of South America. We slept for most of the 11 hour drive and arrived to a beautiful city surrounded by mountains, canyons and volcanoes.

Arequipa

We only decided last minute to check out Arequipa mainly to break up the trip to Cusco. Nasca to Cusco would have taken just under 20 hours in a bus and we were in no such rush. The buses so far have been quite comfortable- wifi, cup holders, big seats that recline 160 degrees and if we choose to go first class we get a meal and a tv on the back of the seat infront of us! Much better than I ever would have expected for a developing country. Our first experience on a bus in South America however was anything BUT comfortable! After 3 stop overs and 14 hours of flying we were ready to get to our first hotel in Ecuador! We got our bus ticket just outside the airport in Guayaquil and what was supposed to be a short 2 hour bus ride ended up being close to 4! Two men sitting behind Adam and I ended up arguing which then turned into a physical altercation and the bus driver actually had to pull over to resolve the situation. Once everyone seemed to have dealt with whatever happened we were on our way again... But not to our hotel, to the police station!

Three cops suddenly entered the bus and began screaming at people to exit the vehicle. They then separated men and women to line up on either side of the bus for full on body pat downs- checking for weapons I can only assume.

Keep in mind we had only just been in South America now for maybe 2 hours and we had already seen the inside of a Police Station! Not the best first impression, obviously. On the plus side, the views from the buses are pretty spectacular, passing by farmland, snow tipped mountains and small Inka villages. 

View from the bus

The city of Arequipa was originally an Inka city so we were able to see many locals dressed in traditional colorful gowns. Inka´s were one of the earliest civilizations in South America and worship the sun as God. We really fell in love with this town! The locals were friendly, the city had so much history and the landscape was beautiful.

Arequipa town center

We did the free walking tour which was really informative and explored the massive food market which was unlike any other market I've ever been too. A delicacy in this part of South America is Guiney Pig and so you could probably imagine some of the raw carcuses we saw walking down the meat aisle. We managed to buy 8 eggs for $1, a loaf of bread for 25 cents and the biggest and freshest avocados for less than a buck! We also bought some sausages but didn't ask what kind of meat it was. Probably for the best.

We went to sleep quite early that night as our tour of the canyons began at 3am!! The bus picked us up well before sunrise and we drove about 2.5 hours to what is the second deepest canyon in the world. The mountainous landscape felt never ending and we got to see these large, mystical birds called Condors which we learned can live up to 80 years old and are monogamous, similar to humans.

Two Condors in the mountains

However, once their partner passes away the other bird will fly to the highest mountain and drop straight down, committing suicide. It's almost Romeo and Juliet but minus the feathery wings and the dramatic ancestral English.

We met a few tourists out there who planned to hike down the canyon and trek for 4 days. Adam and I briefly considered joining them... That was until we heard about a natural hot spring close by and decided that was probably more up our alley. 

Natural Hot Spring outside Arequipa

Relaxed, content and sweaty, we left the hot spring feeling completely rejuvenated and ready to move on to the next adventure... Machu Picchu. 

Write more soon about that big green mountain...

Signing off,

Gillian & Adam xx