18/11/2009 14:10
A lot has happened since I last wrote. I have been trekking in the mountains before going back down to Lima and continuing to the south of Peru. Here I first went down the coast to see the Barrista islands and the Paracas peninsula before going inland to the desert oasis of Huancacina on the outskirts of ICA, where I am now.
The trek in the mountains was beautiful. We started out with taking a bus over the mountains up through a beautiful valley and over a pass of 4700m we then got off on the other side of the mountains at around 3400 m and trekked for the fisrt after noon. The second day of the trek was the hasdest one where we walked up from 3400m to a pass at 4750m and then down to the second camp at 4150m. This was really hard because the air was so thin up near the pass that any activity, even just talking, made one winded. When walking I had to stop and catch my breath every 50 m. The third day we continued a gradual descent down theough the valley, and there was also an optional excursion up to see a glacier, but I had to say no to that because of I had gotten altitude sickness.The last day we only had a short walk to the beginning of the valley before going back to Huaraz by taxi and bus. The next day I relaxed at the hostel in Huaraz before going down to Lima with the night bus.
The trekt was harder than I expected and I got problems with altitude sickness. This meant that I got a strong headache most of the trek which made it less fun. I also got stomach problems so I could not eat much and lost energy. The stomach problems only really disappeared when I got back to sea level in Lima.
In Lima I was just in time to catch the farewell party for Magnus, the norwegian guy I had lived with and we therefore spent friday and saturday night partying. Saturday afternoon I also met up with Lara and the Danish volunteers from her organization and we found a nice bar whith german beers which we all missed and had a very nice afternoon.
Sunday I spent the day packing and sent home a package to Denmark with various clothes which I did not need any more before catching an afternoon bus to Paracas. After I arrived there I found that I had unfortunately had my computer stolen by a pick pocket in the bus. Apparently he had managed to get under mys seat and sneak a had into my bag which was between my legs and lift my computer out. This was really annoying as it will make getting on the net and skyping much more difficult. At least it turned out to be relatively easy to report this to the police It only took 1.5 hours to find the police station and get a police report, which for Peru is surprisingly efficient. It also helped that I was there with a german I had met in Huaraz whose spanish was much better than mine.
Monday we then went on a tour where we first took a boat trip out to the Barrista Islands which have been nicknamed "the poor mans galapagos" because they also hold an amazing varaity of animals and huge colonies of birds. There we saw pelicans, penguins, sea lions and many more animals including a few dolphins. Afterwards we went on a tour of the Paracas peninsula which is a desert peninsula next to the islands. There we saw many beautiful but also very desolate landscapes. The peninsula was old sean bed which had been pushed up by the rise of the Andes and everywhere there the ground was littered with fosilized sea shells.
Monday evening I took the bus onward to Ica where I went to the small desert oasis of Huancachina just outside town. This is an amazing spot with a tiny village centered on a small lake sorrounded by sand dunes hundreds of meters high. All the hostels have swimming pools and the village is filled with swaying palm trees. It is very romantic and I have decided to stay here a few days to relax. Yesterday i also went on a desert trip where we drove out in the desert in a sand buggy (a rough terrain car covered with a steel cage in case it rolls over). We had the luck of getting Alfredo, the most cazy chauffeur at the oasis, so the drive was licke one long rollercoaster ride, but really fun. The desert was also extreemely beautiful as you can see on my pictures. with enormous sand dunes streetching as far as the eye could see. On the desert trip we also went dune boarding down the biggest dunes. This is basically like snow boarding, but on sand instead of snow. It was great fun.
Today I am just relaxing at the oasis and getting my internet requirements satisfied. Tomorrow I plan to continue my trip down to Nazca wher I will see the famous mysteroius huge drawings which were made on the desert floor over a thousand years ago.