Huacachina is where I feel I properly arrrived on this trip - In lima I was bogged down by jet lag and the big city feeling. Paracas helped to shake that off, plus getting meet a load of cool people got me settled in. Huacachina is the first place where I felt it was all worth it.
So this is a desert oasis; a small lagoon with small hostels, bars and restaurants. The sand dunes around the outside are HUGE, they put Hemsby to shame...it takes about 20-30 minutes to climb to the top...but more of that later.
Once we'd arrived at the hostel, I was given the choice to either go sandboarding with the israeli's, but for an hour - or wait until the following day and join the Paracas group for 2 hours...easiest decision Id had to make so far. A bus was going to a wine tour nearby, so I fluttered my eyelashes at David (daveeeed) the ultra-camp tour guide, and he let me join in. Met a few new peeps, who's names escape me but I rememer there was one guy from Sheffield...anyway, they were all buzzin over the sandboarding, so I couldnt wait for that.
Later, after I was reunited with the group, we found out it was club night at the hostel. The biggest club in Huacachina was directly behind our room, in fact the bathroom 'window' was an opening into the club. Might as well have a few cerveza's and join the party. Francisco organised a meal and so e drinking games before the club opened, so we all entered the party in good spirits. We were pretty much the only foreigners in there, but the locals were friendly and loved a dance and took pics with us etc. The music was mainly latino/salsa/regaton type music with a few american club 'hits'. Most of the night is a bit of a blur but good fun was had by all.
The next morning, after very little sleep, I went and found a hammock and some fried chicken to get my head together...worked a charm...and it needed to, because at 4, it was time for sandboarding.
We were picked up outside the hostel by these beasty dune buggies, each one holding around 14 people...the driver, aptly named 'smiley' took us slowly to the edge of the oasis, paid his tax to get out and we were off....The guy drove like the devil! With the roar of the open engine and desert air blasting our faces we ragged it around, up and down the sand dunes at full speed. Smiley obviously loves his job, and took every opportunity to scare us shitless....he'd drift along the ridge of a dune before plummeting to the bottom, encouraged by our screams. It wasnt for the feint-hearted, but I absolutely loved it...when we stopped on top of a dune for the first bit of sandboarding, the scenery sunk in. It was incredible, to one direction Ica, a city close to the oasis, with the Andean mountains as a back drop - in the other, sand...as far as the eye could see, with the various slopes and curves of the dunes...breathtaking.
But enough of that, it was time to plummet down the huge, steep dune on a board. The boards were similar to snowboards, slight fatter and with less strapping. Being completely inexperienced on the snow, I opted, along with the rest of the group to do the first one on the belly. Once the board was waxed and Id pushed fear aside, I got on and went for it. It was a rush: the pace was insane and I was down to the bottom in no time. Luckily we had a few more goes. I tried a couple standing up, I managed a few yards before stacking it onto my arse...and when I nearly popped a bollock I called it a day...well, for standing up anyway. Smiley took us to what couldve been the steepest dune around for one last go before ragging us over to a nice spot for the sunset. A good opportunity to take those photo's where it looks like you're jusr sat there looking out, thinking about life and someone manages to grab your camera, find the perfect angle and take several pics for you to choose from....yeeeeh you know the ones.
Got back, ate and slept.
The next day, after sleep deprivation and the excitement of the dunes, was a day for chillin. Sunbathing, swimming and eating...before a 30
minute trek up the dune for sunset. It looks easier than it actually was to climb, but the reward was something special...not to mention, you get to sprint down the dune so quickly your ears pop.
Peniltimate day in Huacachina, so Nick the Canadian and I thought we'd be a bit adventurous and trek over to a shanty town the other side of the massive dune. The night before we thought we'd seen a nice easy route around the dune...buuuut when we got there, it was even harder. So we climbed all the way along the edge of the dune to the very top. With every step, you lose half your energy pushing sand to the side...its fecking tiring to say the least...what with the heat an'all, i was a mess. We got there in the end and were thankful that it was an easy descent to the shanty town. We'd not seen any white people enter this place, so we took with us the essentials: camera, water and a little cash. As we entered the town, we were greeted by angry dogs and friendly humans...luckily the locals have good control over their canines so we were safe to venture further. The place was very similar to the shanty towns Id already seen, but was good to get a closer look and a feel for the place. We mooched about for a while, looking like absolute tourists, taking pics - much to the amusement of the local kids. "hello....gringo" a few of them said as we passed. We found a little shop and bought a couple of ice cold beers to celebrate the journey...wasn't long until a few of the kids came to have a look at the wierd little white men sat drinking out of plastic cups. A few dogs got involved too...im a lover of dogs, but I shit myself whenever I come accross one abroad. Especially as I didn't complete my Rabies vaccinations. Nick showed them a lot of attention and was rewarded by being humped by one of them.
The sun was setting, and the temperature plummeting, so we said our adioses and headed back up the dune. Night had fallen by the time we reached the summit so we stopped to check out the moonlit dunes and half lit cities...spectacular. Bombed it down the dune again - I remember thinking half way down "Im sprinting down a dune under the moonlight towards a desert oasis" Not a bad feeling at all.
That feeling wasn't present at 3 in the morning when I woke up needing the biggest poo ever (twice as big as the one on the plane). It felt like my entire digestive system was full of it. Legged it to the toilet; needless to say there was no toilet roll, ran into the ladies (of course there was toilet roll) back to the mens and AMEN, it was a godly affair.
The next day it was time to leave Hicachina...definitely my favourite place so far. Now on to even bigger and better things.
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