Huacachina, Perú

So I am asleep on yet another bus in the middle of Peru when I arrive in Huacachina. This oasis in the middle of the desert, surrounded by dunes is a tourist destination. One of the those places that feels contrived, constructed and completely sustained by tourism. I don’t say that with my nose in the air. I had learned that these are not typically places I enjoyed visiting, towns like Baños, Ecuador or Copacabana, Bolivia. Butt Brett wanted to go sand boarding and I was along for the ride. 

On pare with my lack of interest in these touristy spots, is my desire to sand buggy and sand board. Not really my thing. However, I enjoy going with the flow and it was kinda nice to let someone else make decisions. So, I bought a ticket. Brett and I killed time with lunch, figured out bus tickets to Arequipa for that night, and at 3pm our buggy came to collect us. 

Off we went, up and down and all around the dunes. I had no idea what to expect, but it was like riding a roller coaster. Every so often we stopped at the top of a dune, and one by one scooted down the dunes on our sand boards. You might have thought sand boarding looked like snowboarding, and that is exactly what sand boarding is. We were doing something more a kin to sledding. At the top of a pretty steep drop I would lay on my board, hold on to the foot straps for dear life, as instructed by our driver who would then give us all a little push over the edge. We stopped four times and every time the drop was steeper and the dune was higher. By the fourth stop I was a little spooked, but I’m no chicken. 

Our time in the dunes concluded with the sunset. Along with every other tour group, we found a spot high up on a dune, unloaded from the buggy and watched the sun sink into the desert sand. Once back in the village we headed to a very cool hostel called Banana, if we had been staying in Huacachina this was the place to be. It was way hip, almost too hip and had an extensive vegan menu. We had dinner with a group of people Brett had previously traveled with and then headed to our bus. 

I suddenly felt like I might throw up which is really lovely, especially when you are about  to get on a night bus. I found my seat and closed my eye immediately, desperately willing myself to sleep and escape my nausea. Eventually, I fell asleep with a plastic bag cliched in my hand. While the universe spared me from being sick on a 13 hour bus ride, I would soon arrive in Arequipa and a day later experience the worst sickness of my life, at the bottom of the worlds deepest canyon. 

Stay Tuned,

lil