fanny-to-fanny

We have returned to Lima after a CRAZY, EPIC, 4 day weekend adventure with Megan. The itinerary was: Lima to Ica. Ica to Huacachina (2 nights). Huacachina to Nazca (one night). Nazca to Lima. The HIGHLIGHTS were the dune buggies in the Cerito in Huacachina. Imagine being on a crazy rollercoaster, except there is no SET path and you have a LOCO car driver choosing what hills you go down. It was pretty awesome. We actually got one FREE ride in a dune buggy because these guys were going on a rescue mission to TOW another buggy, but they took us on a free ride out there, so we got a taste of what was to come on our real buggy tour. We had 2 argentinians and a peruano on our buggy. Everybody was screaming the whole time. We also did SANDBOARDING. which is kinda like snowboarding or sledding -- depending on how you use the board. We all did the lay on the stomach method. But whoa -- we went down GIGANTIC hills. They were like 4-5 stories high -- no joke. It was super scary, but once you got to the bottom it was all adrenaline and fun. A couple of the girls got bad sandburn, but mostly we just had sand EVERYWHERE. And we still do...

The first night in Huacachina we stayed at a hostel with a pool and a crazy cavern looking bar. We decided to stay up and drink our wine and mingle with other travelers and locals in the bar. When we got inside the bar was playing weirdo regaetone and soon we made some friends...they were really just a group of peruvian lawyers who kept bringing us more cervesa. One of the lawyers told us we can call him PEPE and he was 32, but honestly he looked 40. PEPE is now a codeword for us for an old creeper with glasses.

The next morning we woke up, went swimming in the pool and then ate some bread and had coffee. Later, we found out how many scoops (of coffee) it takes to poop. 1-2 scoops really...We wandered around Huacachina which was really beautiful since it´s an Oasis--lagoon surrounded by giant sandunes, palm trees, etc. We met some open-hearted travelers who were peruvian artisans named FERNANDO y MANUEL. Oh and ANTONIO, but he had a crazy look in his eyes...Immediately FERNANDO y MANUEL started asking us the basics about where we were from and where we were going. Then FERNANDO made us some metal-wire rings for the three of us. Now we are the TRES AMIGAS!

WE eneded up staying another night in Huacachina because there was no bus going to Nazca that late at night. SOOOOOO we stayed and partied with FERNANDO y MANUEL y ANTONIO...ALL NIGHT. We treked up this sand dune and MANEUL played guitar and ANTONIO busted out his panflute and jammed to traditional andean o peruano musica como EL CONDOR PASA. Then MANUEL eased into some bob marley and the following: knock knock knockin´ on heaven´s door, living on the edge, 4 non blondes, crazy by aerosmith, and many other great 80s ballads. It was awesome!!!!!


After staying up til sunrise, we got some sleep and then woke up, ate a delicious egg sandwich and bought a ticket to Nazca. In Nazca we found a hostel and Megan did an amazing job of haggling to get the right price for a tour of the mummies, flying over the nazca lines and freeeeee drinks all night with Luis y Eduardo, who worked at the hostel. We learned that you SHOULD NOT consume Pisco the night before you have to wake up to someone banging on the door at 10 a.m. and then hop in an airplane to fly. Seriously though, the lines were amazing. Harder to see than you think, but totally worth it...even though Megan puked! AHHH! Hannah rode co-pilot and Megan and Marie rode together in a different plane. The Nazca people were one of the most religous y suspersticious cultures in Peru. Everyone was mummified and the average length of hair was two meters (you could see the dreads on the mummies) and the average lifespan was 35 years. The desert doesn´t offer much vegetation for humans to live off of. Researchers believe that the Nazca people made the lines because they lived there and similar images were used in their pottery, etc. Pretty crazy stuff.

Things we learned on this adventure: they check you bus ticket like about 20 times per hour the bus until you get off. Lots of people use FANNIES, for example when paying for your bus ticket or your hostel, you know it will be a "fanny-to-fanny" transaction. Haggling is key. Also -- knowing Spanish is KEY. So WE are re-learning everything and really need to step it up for when we go off without Megan to Cuzco.

We´re planning on staying the week and weekend in Lima to see everything and then perhaps Sunday or Monday taking a bus to Cuzco.

Besos.