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First day of travel with the tour. We have free time until 11:50 when we are to leave for the bus station. Breakfast is included with the room, traditional of bread rolls with butter and jam. Nothing of substance. We do get a nice fresh pineapple drink. We supplement it with mandarins and custard apples.
We go for a walk to find the beach, but have some difficulty. It is very hot and we walk down some side streets. There are still plenty of little shops, but the houses and yards are tidier. We walk down gated streets that we can see bow at the end only to discover a fenced cliff with a highway then the beach. We walk past an out of use tram. There are lovely large established trees shading the path. We walk past the restaurant we dined at last night and down a path, which does lead to the beach, but we don't go all the way. We rest briefly at the hostel before joining to group on a small bus to the station where we get tickets and check bags in. The bus is delayed at least 45 minutes, but is comfortable when we get on. Meal of chicken and rice, starter and desert, movies playing in a few main screens, leg rests, ac, and reclining chairs. The ride is about 4 hours long. Along the way we follow the coast although we can't see it at all times. The scenery is captivating and contrasting. It appears mostly as dessert or dusty barren plains and hills. Vast sections are fenced off with high brick walls. Some sections have agriculture others modern resorts others partially built shack homes. The homes look like like they are half built with steel rods sticking up from first floor and a lot of debris and rubbish sitting on the roof. This is very common every there. A good storage place for building left overs, but looks awful and dumpy. Often times the front has been rendered and looks presentable enough, but is odd with the noted above. In the middle of apparently nowhere ppl have small shops and homes. I wonder how they survive. Life seems primitive for them.
Off the dusty plains we stop at a small settlement on the shore- paracas. Our hostel is pirates refuge. Looks a but shaky from the road, but our room is lovely and a king bed is a surprise! We freshen up and have dinner and a restaurant nearby with the group where we meet a hairless dog. I have asparagus soup and Mal has stir fry veges, with a strange stack with peas and potato.
We decline a swim and shower for bed.
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