Ica/ Huacachina
Picture a pretty oasis of a lake nestled right in the middle of milky brown walls of endless sand dunes, palm trees with bundles of dates hanging off their branches...Egypt, you're thinking? Think again...this is southern Peru!
A once upon a time resort for Peru's imperial class, this place gets a lot of local tourists on the weekends, looking to picnic in the sand, and paddleboat or kayak around the picturesque lake. It's so popular, it's on the back of the 50 Sole note. As soon as we arrived, Ashif's snow boarding instincts kicked in, and Reeshma knew we weren't leaving for a while.
ADRENALINE RUSH: Not realizing what we were in for, we signed up for a Dune Buggy ride to sand board and watch the sunset. We expected to climb into a 4x4, like we had done in the Siwa Oasis in Egypt a couple of years back, but instead we board what seems like a spaceship, complete with roll bars, padded seats, and a massive engine! Before you know it, we're racing full throttle into the world of surrounding desert, just miles from the mountainous Andes! A roller coaster ride doesn't even begin to describe the intense exhilaration and crazy death defying speeds we reached. With our hearts in our mouths, we climbed straight up impossibly vertical dunes, and did a few sheer drops, with gravity aiding our acceleration. The crazy part is our driver, Alex, kept gunning it as we were going downhill...now, is there really a need for that? Reesh kept thinking we were going to roll a million times to our death, but thankfully Ashif's arm hairs cannot be yanked out that easily!
Sand boarding is less painful than hitting the cold snow, but it's impossible to get it out of every possible orifice you can imagine. Your shoes will be full of the grainy stuff, and it also gets in your eyes. Other than that, it's almost exactly the same! You can swish and make those savvy turns to your heart's content, minus the weather! No ski masks or touques needed here! We boarded down a few hills, and then decided some of them were more fun going belly first, and sliding straight down the dune without any semblance of control was certainly a rush unlike any other.
In the evenings, we found a spot to sample Pisco Sours, the local state specialty...lime, Pisco Aguardiente, and sugar...and the home made box of pecan and toffee covered chocolates from Sol de Ica did nicely to top it all off!
NOTES FOR THE TRAVELLER:
- Hotel: El Huacachinero, 70 Soles, double room, private bathroom, great pool to sit and lounge around at. Bar serves Pisco Sours.
- Restaurant: Sol de Ica is great for cheap almuerzo, and also sells its own fabricated chocolates in cute little boxes for 10 Soles.
La Sirena and the Pizzeria Trattoria is good for dinners as well.
- Dune buggy tours: Go with the green buggies at the El Huacachinero Hostal, and you can get a discount of 10 Soles off your room. The tour is 2 hours, includes sand boards off 3 different dunes, and a beautiful sunset that will make you feel like you are in Egypt.
- You can also rent sand boards around the lake for 3-5 Soles for a couple of hours, ,and hike up the dune of your choice, to practice some of your moves on your own.
- Bus: Lima to Ica, Company: Peru Bus Soyus, leaves for Ica every 20 minutes (25 Soles, 5 hours).
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