We had a different waiter at breakfast this morning, Angel must have been close to retiring but he had the spirit of a teenager making jokes and generally just fussing over us. The food was the same but it felt somehow better this morning.

There wasn't much else happening in the morning apart from packing and taking a taxi to Cruz del Sur bus station at Javier Prado. We didn't have the best seats on the bus but for some reason we were invited into the VIP Lounge at the bus station. Nothing spectacular but a comfy seat and free coffee.

We were on the 1.30pm bus to Ica in Semi Cama seats, definitely not as comfortable as the Ittsa bus, but unfortunately it seems Ittsa only operates in northern Peru. We did get a warm airplane style meal and some nice sea views along the way. As the day came to a close there was an amazing sunset across desert.

After arriving in Ica, we quickly retrieved our bags and collected tickets for our next journey on Sunday. We then took the offer of a taxi to Huacachina although once outside, the car was not a taxi. We took the gamble that we weren't going to be mugged or robbed and the guy turned out out to be quite helpful with knowledge on things we should do while we are here.

The taxi headed out of the city and into the desert towards the little oasis village of Huacachina. After about 15 minutes we very abruptly took a left turn down a dimly lit street and stopped after 50m. The taxi door was yanked opened and it took a second or two to realise that were not about to be robbed, it was the bellboy from Hotel Mossone.

We were gobsmacked to say the least. 'Hotel' is a word used excessively in South America when the property is nothing like that expected of a western hotel. This one was however, and the first we had come across in this continent, a proper hotel in the true sense of the word. The room had cost a bit more than we normally paid but Huacachina on the whole is an expensive place to stay.

After a very quick check-in, the bell boy took our bags and led us across a huge central courtyard to the far corner. All the rooms seemed to face onto the courtyard with rocking chairs outside. Inside the room, we were equally taken aback - the room was huge with really high ceilings, even the bathroom was about the size of the 'rooms' we normally sleep in. A couple of comfy chairs and a large fridge in the corner finished it off nicely.

We went to the bar, overlooking the lagoon, for our free 'Welcome' Pisco Sour which was made expertly by the barman. There was a hostel/bar next door which played loud music and was hosting a bunch of very excitable and ****** American kids.

Fortunately the noise from the next door's bar did not travel to our room and we managed to get a good nights sleep.