Paracus

So I hopped on the Peruhop bus, eager to leave Lima and explore the more beautiful parts of Peru. I was joined by a group of Israelis from our hostel: a clique of 5 that had one guy who I was certain I wouldn't like. Its not a particularly 'cool' thing to look at someone and prejudge - but as soon as I saw this guy, a voice in my head went "Stay away from this knobhead" There was nothing I could consciously gain from his appearance that supported this, but maybe his body language or the way he moved sparked an alarm bell inside. I didn't act on it, just noticed it and then discarded it...

Anyway, we joined the half-filled bus and I took my window seat towards the back, placed my bag on the seat next to me and settled in for the journey. After a couple of pick-ups, the bus was nearly full - I could see a few couples, one of which I could sense was English (based on dress, skin, hair style etc) - I could hear Canadian, spanish and Irish accents and was happy to see that the average age, from what I could gather, was around 30. I had feared that the Peruhop would be a bit of a gap-yaar job with a bunch of pretencious douchebags, so this was positive.

First stop was the Peru sign in Chorallitos, a big old red thing saying 'Peru' placed in front of a Hollywood style CHORALLITOS sign. Not much to excite me here, although I did get talking to the couple, Edd and Sarah...they were English and very pleasant. 

I noticed, at one point, that Knobhead decided to lay on the grass with his hands behind his head...hmm...a little later, while standing with others, he put his head down and spat onto the concrete.

Back on the bus and up a cliff overlooking a very poor part of Lima - I could see, in the foreground, a huge shanty town - dusty half built houses, noone to be seen but plenty of dogs to be heard. In the background, the tall finished buildings of Miraflores...the contrast between rich and poor highlighted once again...our guide at the time, Paolo, was educating us on the history of everything, Im sure it was interesting but I wasn't really listening - I was distracted by his accent...He kept saying "so guuuuys...nice one...cheers.." with an irish twang. I learned later he works for two irish lads so it had obviously rubbed off...I tried to listen again but could hear the sound of water hittin the floor, coming from the bus...Wasnt sure what it was at first, but then realised someone was in the toilet and the piss was flowing straight through the bus and onto the road...I caught the eye of a girl had noticed as well and we started gigglin like little kids, trying to keep it in because Paolo was still talking....guess who it was in the toilet...knobheeeeeaaaaadd.

There was also a smaller Christ the Redeemer type statue, which overlooked the town...I've only seen the one in Rio in photo's, but Im pretty sure it puts this one to shame.

Stopped for lunch on a beach, deserted but for a long row of identical restaurants. The food was awesome...I tried Cerviche, a Peruvian speciality which is a selection of raw fish..I've never been a fan of Sushi or the like, but this was delicious. 

After lunch we dropped off Paolo and headed towards our stop for the night, Paracus...

Paracas is a strange little place, some of it modern, some of it proper rough...lots of travel shops but noone visiting them, like a place waiting for a convoy of buses filled with moneyspending tourists to come...but never does. Im sure they do ok, but the time we were there it was a bit if a ghost town. 

We all stood like school-kids on a trip, backpacks on and waiting to hear the sleeping arrangements. There were over 30 people for Francisco (our new guide) to organise so it was pretty stressful for him...The first 4-bed dorm would house the Isreali group, meaning one of them would have to join a different room. knobhead was not happy, and instead of waiting til we were all sorted, he kept interrupting Francisco, telling him there was five of them in their group. "there's only

four beds, so unless you want to share a bed one of you will have to join another room" Fran said, but knobhead continued to interupt and show his annoyance...I looked about to see how other people were reacting...some impatient shuffling and eyebrow raising. Finally, we were all given our groups - I was placed with a couple of Irish lads that I hadnt yet spoken to...as we walked to the room, one of them (think it was Jon) said in a thick irish accent "dat israeli guys a fuckin' dick like" ... 

Our room was basic to say the least - and Jon found out the toilet didnt flush after he laid a massive egg in there. We left our room to fester and rejoined the group for some lizza and drinks in a cool little reggae place. Got to know some people in the group a bit better...and remembered the usual backpacker conversational script Iearned on my last voyage...

"Where you from?"

"How long you been travelling?"

"Where did you start?"

"What route are you doing?"

"Where do you finish?"

Then you can move on to:

"So what do you do back home?"

Works 60% of the time, every time.

Anyway, after the meal we headed to a hostel that had a little halloween shindig going on. The people who were already there were all dressed up and obviously far more drunk than we were - so after a beer a few of us left them to it and got back to get some sleep....early start for the boat tour.

Up at 7am for a boat tour...Wasn't sure what to expect but it was included in the bus ticket. It was awesome in the end - The lot of us jumped on board a big old speed boat and set off to some islands about 15 mins away. Saw a ton of wildlife, including Sea lions, Pelicans, Penguins and starfish. The boat got us really close to the Sea Lions, where knobhead decided he'd get his go pro as close to the Sea Lions face as possible, it went mental and the guy nearly shat himself, much to the amusement of everyone else (who had all, by then, expressed their dislike for the guy). You know its bad when the local wildlife hate you.

The boat journey back to Paracus was cold and wet...I spent the time with my hood up and head down..not ideal but grabbed a coffee which sorted me right out. 

Had a walk about Paracus, and on closer inspection its actually a pretty little place: lots of little cafès and shops with friendly locals. Returned to the hostel to find out I was due to be on the bus that was about to leave, so had to run and grab my stuff and head out, leaving the rest behind (apart from the Israeli's, of course) 

The scenery changed from coastal to desert within minutes, and we were well on the way Huacachina...a desert oasis.

Note: Ive talked about knobhead quite a bit, but its the last time Ill mention him...Although he's clearly a twonk, I actually quite like havin knobheads in life: it unites the rest of us.