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Location Date Puno 1323907200 Pisco 1322870400 Huacachina 
1321747200 Machupicchu 1321056000 Cuzco 1320710400 Lima 1320192000 Arequipa Cupiarniyoc
After working hard all week (and Saturday dont forget!) Dave and Emily decided to spend their free Sunday in a nice relaxing way by heading off to the sand dunes of Huacachina.
After a tuc-tuc, then a collectivo out of Pisco we jumped on a bus for the hour trip through the desert, another taxi at the other end took us to the popular Peruvian playground. Lots of super impressive sand dunes around a beautiful (but slightly over developed) lagoon oasis.
Before we even consider making sandcastles we found ourselves strapped into a very fierce, powerful and loud dune buggy. After a payment of ´sand tax´ the driver opened up the throttle and what proceeded was similar to a rollercoaster ride but on sand. We were thrown around all over the place, hit in the face by lots and lots of sand, and the driver loved to unexpectedly drop the buggy over very steep inclines. Was fun but rather brutal!!
After this we stopped at the top of three sand dunes and proceeded to sandboard down face first at high speed. Our volcano surfing experience came in handy but what we didnt consider was the heat of the sand. Both Dave and Emily were wearing shorts and flip flops and the sand was red hot, so burnt feet were the overall outcome of the day.
Once satisfied that we had burnt our feet enough, we went for some nice local food, a cold Peruvian beer and then back to get the bus, however when we asked for a bus ticket they insisted on seeing our passports. We did not have them on us and therefore they refused to let us on. We had no credit cards or proper i.d of any sort to show them.
So Dave and Emily were looking like they were stranded in a random town on a dusty Sunday evening. But all worked out when Emily found her blood donor card and came up with the idea of telling them it was her English i.d card, they then proceeded to copy the card number down thinking it was her passport number!!
So a fun day in the sand (even without passports) before we head back to the building site for more 9 to 5 hard labour! (any comments expressing sympathy for our hard work will be most welcome)
- comments
Gill A beach in the UK (or most other places for that matter) will be SO boring for you two in the future! Good thinking with the 'ID' card! Dad is trying to think up a suitable comment re your building work - at the moment all he can come up with is: "Tommy Walsh watch out" (ex-Groundforce chap who does a building programme khe watches on Sky). Looks like very hard work but you seem to be enjoying yourselves - for a very worthwhile cause. Loads of love Speak soon Mum and Dad / Gill and Pete XXX
Pauline To be honest, getting burnt feet in the sand, which you chose as pleasure, sounds much worse than the hard labour! I am afraid you have turned into adrenaline junkies and must now endure more hard labour to prepare you for your return to normal life. After sanding endlessly, normal life will seem like heaven and it is all in a good cause. Which specialities are the new clinics for or are they just adding to the resource generally? Are there any particular illnesses or conditions particularly prevalent there, anything different from our health profile? Have you had a chance to find out anything about the community? I expect it is a bit difficult over sanding - bit noisy, but hope you do get the opportunity. I laughed at the ID Em - you've come a long way since trying to fake that sick note for school - being a blood donor says a lot about someone's identity anyway, probably more than a passport. Glad to see you wearing your masks - mind they give you ear defenders if you have to do more noisy jobs. Hope you'll try to Skype us again soon. Needless to say your Dad/Derek is proud of your efforts. Tons of love, Mum/Pauline xxxxxxx