Peru (Lima, Nazca and Huacachina) - Our first taste of South America.

After almost 11 months in Central America, it was great to finally reach South America, though with so many people telling us how expensive Peru and South America as a whole are, we were a little concerned about how long we would be able to last down here.  After a few days in Lima, it was clear that Peru is definitely somewhere that you can spend a lot of money if you wish, though you can also travel moderately cheaply as well.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that most of the foods that are 'must-haves' in Peru, are more than affordable - something that we have rarely encountered on our trip so far.  We arrived in Lima a few days earlier than Cassie's mum and sister, so hung around the city to wait for them. After spending seven nights in Lima, a city that doesn't really have many 'must-see' sights or attractions but is quite beautiful nonetheless, we were more than ready to head off towards Nazca to see some more of Southern Peru.

Looking towards Playa Waikiki and the Pacific - Miraflores, Lima, Peru. 

Cassie and I took a bike-ride along the coast through Miraflores and Barranco to reach a point where the daily Salto del Fraile (Jump of the Friar) 'show' occurs.  Legend has it that in the 1860s, a monk took his life by jumping off the point and into the raging seas below, after his underage girlfriend was sent to Spain by her father. The story suggests that the young girl became pregnant, so the girl's father forced the man to become a monk.  The father was still unhappy with the forbidden love, so sent the girl to Spain and left the man heartbroken.  To keep the legend in everyone's memory, a man dressed as a monk jumps off the cliff (apparently up to 36 times a day, for the last 26 years!) before climbing back up the cliff and asking for donations from (occasionally stunned, concerned) onlookers.  

After a few days of hanging about in Lima, Melissa and Larni arrived. 

Parque del Amor (Love Park) - Miraflores, Lima, Peru.

One of the 'must-eats' of Peru, ceviche, a dish of raw fish that is cured in lime juice and spices.  Here our platter is fish ceviche, crab cakes with sweet potato, mussel ceviche and octopus ceviche.  Elsewhere in Latin America, I have not been the biggest fan of ceviche, but this platter from La Red (The Line) in Miraflores, was amazing!

The girls trying out their obligatory Pisco Sour cocktails.  Pisco is a Peruvian brandy made from grapes which can be drunk by itself or with egg-whites, lime and biters (plus other flavourings to taste) to make a Pisco Sour.  

Plaza de Armas - Lima, Peru.

After a 7 hour bus ride from Lima, we made it to the town of Nazca where we decided to stay for a couple nights to break up the trip to Cusco.  We could have taken a 1 hour flight directly to Cusco from Lima or a 22 hour bus trip, for half the price - so our obvious choice was to take the bus but break it up with two nights in Nazca on the way.  There isn't a whole lot to see in the town, though it was a great point to see the Nazca lines; a number of ancient geoglyphs (motifs) produced on the Nazca desert, 350kms south of Lima, which are arguably the largest piece of artwork in the world.  Situated between the Inca and Nazca valleys, the lines form patterns and shapes (perpendicular lines, animals, geometric symbols) that are easily visible from the air, though we opted for the much cheaper option and chose to see them from the ground. Scholars believe the lines were etched into the earth between 200BC and 650AD and there is a wealth of speculation as to how and why the lines were formed - from the suggestion that they were used as a landing station for ancient visitors or as an astronomical observatory, to the theory that they were used as pathways between shrines and places of religious worship. Whatever the reason, they are a true testament to how ancient civilisations were capable of creating such impressive monuments (for lack of a better word) and well worth the visit. 

The girls posing after our bus ride - Nazca, Peru.

Looking at the mountains surrounding town - Nazca, Peru.

The drive through the desert to the see the Nazca lines - Nazca Desert, Peru.

Palpa Mirador (one of the viewing platforms for the lines) - Nazca Desert, Peru.

Standing atop the Palpa Mirador - Nazca Desert, Peru. 

View from atop the Nazca Mirador - Nazca, Peru.

One of the shapes, a tree, from atop the Nazca Mirador - Nazca Desert, Peru.

Some of the perpendicular lines - Nazca Desert, Peru.

Our next day trip from Nazca, was to the oasis of Huacachina. Huacachina is a small village situated next to a natural lake and is aptly named 'the oasis of the Americas'.  When we visited, there were few people around, though in the summer time the area functions as a resort to both local families from the nearby town of Ica and to foreign tourists, many of whom come for the surrounding sand dunes where one can sandboard and take a dune-buggy tour. We took a tour with a local agency, and our tour guide Tom, took us to a bunch of sand dunes where we could either stand-up and ride to ride the boards like a snowboard or lie-down like a toboggan. The sandboards were rather shitty and difficult to manoeuvre though it was still great fun. (Unfortunately we only saw at the end of the tour that other companies actually had real snowboards with boots for rent!)

The natural lake that gives the town its name, Lago Huacachina - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

A view of the town looking down from the sand dunes - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

The girls on our dune-buggy tour - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

It was more of a roller-coaster ride at times - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

Our driver, Tom (look at those shades!) - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

Cassie cutting some lines on the dunes - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

Getting ready to drop-in - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

Our dune-buggy in a precarious position atop a dune - Huacachina, Ica, Peru. 

Tobogganing down one of the bigger dunes - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

We were a little sandy at the end of the tour - Huacachina, Ica, Peru.

After Huacachina we headed back to Nazca to catch our 15 hour, overnight, bus to Cusco where we will stay a couple nights before beginning our Machu Picchu jungle trek.  I will put through another update next week with our highlights of Cusco and the trek.  If you want any more info about the tours we did / agencies we went through etc, just let me know. Remember you can leave comments by clicking over on the sidebar (otherwise send some through on Facebook). I hope you've enjoyed and thanks for reading!