Paracas was hit hard by a big earthquake in 2007 with left many casualties and also much building damage. The town is still visibly only rebuilding itself now. However hopefully the tourist attraction to the Ballestas Islands will bring in some much needed income to the local community still rebuilding. They call the islands 'poor mans Galapagos' because you can take a morning tour by boat for under $10 with the Galápagos Islands in Equador costing hundreds of dollars just in flights alone!

On the trip we saw masses of birds, some huge Pelicans fishing, sea lions, and loads of other smaller marine life. The guide was really good at explaining everything and the trip was really worth the money! Glad we made it especially as it was on route north as well.

The hostels are all not far off building sites still, in some shape or form, but we saved some money, got a decent a nights sleep and set ourselves up for the trip to the northern Andes. A long day ahead on 2 bus stints!

Our bus first stopped in Lima with a 7 hour wait before the next one north so we took a taxi into Lima centre and randomly went to the cinema for the first time in about a year! Caught and English speaking film in a decent cinema! Another version of Moby d*** called The Heart of the Sea, good film as well!

We managed to get a lower deck '1st class style' seat on the first bus, not so lucky on the second! Although we arrived in Huaraz around 5.30am, our hostel let us check in early so we were able to catch up on some sleep... Ready for the days hikes ahead!