Monday 16 September - Wednesday 18 September

Ica, Huacachina and the Nazca lines, Peru

Lima, another grey dirty city was of no interest to us, so after an initial 15 hour journey from Mancora we were back on a bus to Ica, land of Pisco, another 4 hour journey south. Our plan for the next two days in the area was to check out Huacachina, a Pisco Bodega (vineyard) in Ica and the mysterious Nazca lines.

Huacachina, a desert oasis is only 5 minutes drive from Ica so we booked a tour from our hostel which included dunebuggys and sandboarding. When we arrived in Huacachina our first thought was 'we should have stayed here'. It's a cracking spot....just as you would imagine a desert oasis but with accommodation options, quaint restaurants, bars and of course tour operators.
Unfortunately our tour was a bit of a let down. Our transport was firstly late in picking us up from the hostel, then we waited for the tour operator to sort themselves out before our dune buggy arrived but the one plus was that we were the only ones. We only set off into the sand at about 1pm, 1 hour later than scheduled the night before. The dunebuggying was mildly thrilling and had us bouncing all over the desert, with hats flying off our heads and Dons clutching her glasses to her face, I think I was more excited behind the wheel of my Corolla in Bahrain. The sandboarding was all of only 10 minutes (3 runs each) with Dons opting to go down on her belly and I tried to sandboard the good old fashioned way - standing up...sand is not as forgiving as snow. Then a call came in for the driver from HQ telling us our 2pm bus back to Ica was leaving. Time for about 3 more rushed photos from an agitated driver and our 'tour' was over, only to find out later that the bus to Ica was just a different tour bus taking another couple on a tour of Ica that our operator had managed to hijack a lift for us on....effectively pocketing more money for himself and rushing our entire experience. Gringoed....again!!

Back in Ica and after a basin shower to clear out the dune we had taken from Huacachina, (after taking a tumble I had sand in every orifice) we headed out to El Catador, a Pisco Bodega on the edge of town. The tour of the small vineyard and the processes as well as a tasting session costs nothing as long as you have lunch there. So we ordered upon arrival and were then taken on a the brief but interesting tour of the Pisco making process. Its basically a brandy made from grapes but way more drinkable and tasty than the common brandy. Again we were lucky enough to have our own private tour and tasting session which we made the most of, in fact I should say our guide made the most of. At this Bodega we sampled Tony Labis label Pisco, which consists of a fair variety, from the strong pure 40% stuff to easy drinking creamy one nicknamed "The baby maker" by locals.....dangerous stuff. Another was called Perfecto Amor or "Perfect Love" which is also easy drinking and more like a wine than a pisco or brandy. We left a very happy D&G (well D was a bit more sozzled than I - seems she has a weakness for all things grape based) with our bottle of Pisco Sours and homemade pecan toffee chocos.

It was then on to our favourite hangout, the bus station, to get down to Nazca, only two hours south of Ica. Flying over the Nazca lines in the desert was on Dons 'Must See List', even though she wasn't sure her stomach was going to manage the half hour flight flipping from side to side to get the best views in a small aircraft. Dons dosed herself up on air sickness pills and after nearly a three hour wait in the Nazca airport we were assigned on a slightly larger plane with a big group of guys who were on a motorbike trip across Peru. The flight was amazing - the amount of interlinking lines and drawings scattered across the desert in Nazca are mind boggling. People had spent hundreds of years measuring, plotting, placing rocks and dusting areas to create these images and paths that can only really be appreciated from high above, perhaps only for the Gods above to look down on. Many theories abound as to why and how they were created, but they still remain a mystery that needs unlocking, and Dons just managed to keep her breakfast down by the end of the flight.

Before leaving, we had to visit the Maria Reich Observatory, which was built in her honour at the Hotel Nazca Lines where she lived whilst discovering and documenting the hundreds of lines and images in the nearby desert for more than 40 years of her life. Maria studied the lines mostly from stepladders and had a theory that they represent some sort of vast astronomical pre-Inca calendar.