Hotel Villa de Valverde Ica

... part of Peru that most neglect in lieu of, well, activities like sandboarding, so we arranged to head to Huancavelica in the north. We knew we were on the right track when the hostel owner said we couldnīt bus there without going to Lima first. We knew however, thereīs a bus to practically everywhere in Peru and we tracked down a local bus (read: old, decrepid) to take us on the overnight bus to the little town.

Till next time, hope you all are well.

... the pisco in Peru. This tour was neat because they have tons of huge equipment and we got to see how it's made on a large scale. After a tasting that included both the one dry wine of the day and a sweet, light, breakfast wine, we headed to bodega Lazo.

Lazo was probably my favorite. It's the smallest, and is a very traditional, artisanal vineyard. You walk in, and it seems like a museum. It's got all sorts of artwork, statues, tapestries, and animals on the walls. The ...

... on your **** if youīre me) and then have to trek all the way back up again. Exhausting! I wasnīt very good and got pretty frustrated, having never really been taught any technique, I kept falling over comically when I got too fast. There were also some locals who were ludicrously good and kept boarding down the dune and doing jumps with ease. Grrr. I also foolishly decided to take my camera out with me; I got some lovely photos as the sun was setting, but the ...

... the world. Their flippers can't really grip anything, so they just wriggle about until they get somewhere. Later, we see a fur seal (I think. The loud speaker wasn't always that easy to hear) only the second our guide has seen in ten years of leading these tours. Pretty cool, but soon, we are turning around and heading back to shore for breakfast. The tour will return to Huacacina, but I am going north of the capital for my last three days in country. Stay tuned.

... a lot more drunk that we realised! And of course we were in the desert – an adults giant sandpit! I’ll save some of these stories for telling in person as I can’t do them justice to write them down but I will let you know the one that paints me as a hero (as if I could resist that)…

Steve had been off on the horizon looking up at the stars but in his rather inebriated state when he looked up he managed to topple over ...

This was it. Our last full day in Peru and were going on a dune buggy ride and sand boarding for 2 hours to cap off our trip. Though quite exhausted, Rowena and I were both giddy about it. Just around the corner of our hostel, we jumped into some crazy caged dune buggies that resembled a desert bug. Shoulder harnesses and goggles for the flying sand were necessary for the drive. According to my guide book, sometimes accidents on these dune ...

... reality, I was an awkward humanoid ineffectively plunging limbs meant for solid ground. As I neared 75%, my little fear of heights started kicking in, but sucked it up and finally made it to the top after an estimated 45 minutes. The view from the top was unbelievable and I snapped a few photos as proof I climbed the thing. Descending took a mere 10 minutes leaning back against the sand dune.

... hostels, markets...woot! No more boring Lima! It was all positioned around the central park, and our hotel was right on the park in the middle of everything. So we were happy.

It was a different world in daylight though...not nearly as exciting. And Peru doesnīt really wake up till about midday (the shops donīt even open till 11!), so we wandered around for a few hours aimlessly. We decided we would walk down to the beach, and see how it compared to our ...

... is the cure was neaby and nothing happened

Also going to the gondor look out was breathtraking, these birds were no more ten 10 metres away soaring abve us, nearly 20 in one go at times, some with wing spans of 3metres

Arequipa itself is beautiful colonial town with some coll looking architecture. It also has some volcanoes that tower over the town, El misti being one of them

Cusco, was the next poort of call to see the famous Machu Picchu. Firstly this ...

Alan's blog: Day 2 was a travel day - a free morning in Lima and then a long bus ride to Pisco, the home of the Pisco Sour. Lima seems to go on for miles, lots of low buildings, not a lot of wealth. Our hotel, Refugio del Pirato, was outside of Pisco in a small village on the Bay of Paracas. Had a great dinner in a local restaurant and talked late into the evening on the upper terrace of the hotel.