Just when I thought I had seen off the worst of Peru and even South America's roads, the route from Cusco to Ica, passing through the Andes was the deadset worst of them all. I don't think the bus came into contact with a straight stretch of road during the entire 18 hour trip. Instead wound its way up mountains, down mountains and when the mountains were over, it for some reason kept on winding its way around. "Oh great! An overnight bus and chance to sleep" I thought (stupidly) to myself. I have never been so wrong. I could have kissed dry land when we finally made it to Huacachina, but the abundance of dog poos quickly changed my mind. The Frenchies had had a rough time also, being particularly bothered by a few small, yet noisy children on board the bus, and we all agreed on a hostel room for 3 (with a pool!).

Hot little Huacachina is an hour from the coast and only home for 200 odd people, but feels alot bigger due to the huge tourist crowd. It is basically a town surrounded by huge sand dunes, with a small palm tree shrouded lagoon in the middle. This same image is actually on the Peruvian 50 sole note! Though the lagoon doesnt look as pristine as it probably once was, instead more of a deep green, with a pungent odour, though people still swim in it. Due to the town's size, there is not really much happening. There are a few nice places to eat and the dunes to explore if you can push through the pain of climbing them. We ate some feeds that night, and welcomed the strange Peruvian guy who offered us a bottle of Pisco and began filling our glasses generously. Things eventually escalated to the rooftop of the restaurant, where he continued bartending and the 3 of us sat around, talked/did alot of no-good and shared plenty of laughs with a few Argentine travellers. I drank so much Pisco that I couln't see straight, but managed to get home in the end. Still laughing, the Frenchies began telling me about how one of the Argentine blokes was actually in love with me (I knew he was gay before this). I felt weird and had problems sleeping that night.

I worked off the Pisco the next morning with a climb up to the highest point of the surrounding dunes and took it all in, the town, shanty towns over the other side and even the larger town of Ica, just visible in the distance. That afternoon it was time for the main attraction - Sand buggy rides across the dunes. These things have more power than I thought! Though there is room for about 10 people, the driver is not afriad to put the foot down, and I was nearly thrown out of my seat on departure for the dunes. Seatbelts are a must. The dune ride itself was crazy, and serious air was had not only by me being thrown around in the back but also from the buggy. They go up and then straight down, I laughed the whole time. So much fun. The sandboarding side of things were a little better for me this time around, as I managed to make it down to the bottom on a few occasions, still couldn't steer very well though. One of the French girls was a full on legend at it, got it first go!

Being surrounded by nothing but dunes was a surreal feeling, nothing else in sight and watching the sun setting also added to the amazing times that were had. We arrived back in town, and I was quick to empty the whole desert from my shoes before boosting out of the hostel into Ica to catch a bus to Lima that night.