It's The End of Peru As We Know It

Huacachina, Paracas and back to Lima. Here goes.

We had heard great things about Huacachina and Paracas so we decided to go there hearing that Huacachina is known for their incredible sand dunes and Paracas is known as "Poor Man's Galapagos." Having been in Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru, we slowly transitioned into the total opposite, both very small towns.

Sarah in Huacachina

We arrived in Huacachina after a 6 hour bus ride from Arequipa and went to Desert Nights Hostal. Good food, nice people but no swimming pool. Huacachina is a small town, actually its hard to even call it a small town. Hostels, restaurants and little tiendas (stores) sprung up around the small lake outside of the bigger town of Ica. Fun fact: On the back of the 50 Sole bill is a picture of this lake titled "The Oasis of America." The entire area is surrounded by sand dunes, it's pretty incredible. We walked around the whole town (maybe 1.5 miles) and ended up finding a cute little restaurant called Bamboo Restaurant where we ate lunch. We had great Red Thai Curry and Falafel, the owners are Canadian and Peruvian and have the cutest sons.

The Lake and the Sand Dunes

Adorable half Peruvian half Canadian kiddo

Later in the day we did the sand buggy and sand boarding tour. There were about 12 of us total and we loaded into a dune buggy and off we went into the dunes. We sat in the front with the driver, Erwin and we had a blast. Hands up, glasses on and lots of laughs, sometimes it even felt like a roller coaster. We drove to the top of five different dunes and then individually everyone rode down the dunes on their stomachs on a sand board, and we went fast! If you are going to do this make sure to ask for the protective glasses to prevent flying sand in your eyes, no one else knew to ask but we were glad we did. At the end of the tour we drove to a viewing point where we were supposed to see the sunset but unfortunately it was overcast. Still it was a great view, we had a blast and we're glad we visited Huacachina. And we even took some sand with us but not by choice.

In the Dune Buggy

Bro-ing in the dunes

Sarah going down the dunes. That dot in the distance is the person who went before her.

Sarah and Erwin our dune buggy driving boyfriend

Rocking out with her board

View after our Dune Buggy tour of Huacachina

The next day we headed to Paracas. You can't take a bus directly to Paracas unless you go on Cruz del Sur which is a bit pricey compared to other bus companies. So instead, we took a bus to this cross or cruze where the highway breaks towards Paracas or Pisco and then took a mototaxi (like a motorized rickshaw) to Paracas. Paracas is a small beach town and we absolutely loved it. It has a very tranquil, calm and chill vibe which was exactly what we needed.

Us with a penguino (self timer)

We stayed at Paracas Backpackers House, owned by Alberto and Lidia. Alberto was so helpful and answered tons of questions, gave us information about the town, and helped us sign up for a tour of the Islas Ballestas. Also they had the best kitchen to cook in thus far. We walked along the beach, ate some fish and relaxed. The next morning we woke up and did the Islas Ballestas, a two hour tour by boat to this island with more birds, sea lions and penguins than you could count. It was amazing to see a natural site so untouched by humans with so many birds and sea lions in their natural habitat. And the rock formations were pretty incredible too. We were warned to wear hats and that it doesn't smell very good because of all the bird poop. One girl on our boat got pooped on on her face!!

Beach in Paracas

View of the beach

Bea

View of the Candelabro (apparently has been in the sand for hundreds of years)

View of the island.  Some sea lions.

Some of the pelicans.

Sarah and the Island

Gorgeous Rock Formations

Thousands of Birds

We finished the tour at 10 AM so we had all day and decided to go for a beach walk. We met a girl from our hostel who was doing a 3 day kite surfing training so we walked a few miles along the shore to go watch her. Along the way we stopped to watch part of the World Competition for Wind Surfing 2012 which was in Paracas for 3 days. There were so many jellyfish in the water, and dead ones washed along shore, so every step we took we had to keep our eyes on the sand to watch out for stingers. We ended up staying in Paracas an extra night because we wanted more beach and sun.

One of the gigantic jellies

Sarah on the path near the fancy homes

Kite surfing

Amazing sport

Thursday we headed back to Lima on Flores bus and we highly recommend that you never use this bus company. It's actually kind of funny because once we got to Lima we were looking through our Lonely Planet and had hand written "Flores- don't take, bad company." Must have been a suggestion by a fellow traveler but we failed to look at prior to getting on a bus. Anyways, they stopped so many times along the way to pick up and drop off people, it was like a public city bus only it was for 5 hours. It seemed to double travel time and we also had to get off and change buses midway. We arrived safely to Lima around 8:30pm and went to our Couchsurfer's house in Miraflores.

Parque de las Aguas

In one of the Fountains

Friday we had a "treat ya self" day as we went to a nail place/spa and walked around Miraflores. We went to an amazing place called Parque de las Aguas, a huge park with many different water fountains.  There was this incredible light show where they projected images onto the fountain and different water formations.We went to a Couchsurfing party Saturday night at this abandoned (sort of) building and the police came because there was too much noise. Very different than police at a party in the States. The police just stood outside the building, for about an hour, apparently waiting for a bribe, and then cut the electricity so we were all in this big building with no lights. We eventually left to a club and didn't get home until 5 AM. We slept until noon and then went to central Lima and ate lunch at the food festival. Very rich food but yummy. We went back to Miraflores, hung out in a cafe, ate dinner, packed and left for the airport at midnight. We arrived to Lima Airport with plenty of time (Ali made sure of this travel anxiety anyone??).

Sarah with our new friend Carlos imitating the woman in the photo at the couch surfing party.

The woman in the photo.

Ready for a story? We arrived in customs and Sarah goes to the customs agent first and is told there's a problem with her visa and is directed to another line. Ali got through with no problems (because her visa was for 6 months) but apparently Sarah's entrance was only stamped for thirty days so she had to pay a fine. One dollar for everyday she stayed over her visa. Lets just say Sarah was not a happy traveler and she let the customs agent know. But we have learned to be more aware and check our visa dates, so this won't happen again.

We are currently in Panama City waiting for connecting flight to Costa Rica and we are so excited! We are so thankful and filled with gratitude for all of the incredible experiences we have had in Peru. To everyone we have met so far on our journey thank you for teaching us, laughing with us, hugging us, learning with us, hiking with us, showing us the way when we have been lost, and pointing us in the right direction. We have loved Peru and being able to experience the warmth of the people and the lovely culture. Thank you for the past 7 weeks! Happy Holidays to everyone. May your holidays be filled with love and joy. Next on to Costa Rica :)

Xoxo,

A & S

Shabbat in Arequipa

We write today with great sadness for our country for the loss of so many beautiful young children. It is with a heavy heart that we found out about the shooting and we will always remember a newspaper headline here that said we sell guns in the US like they are cigarettes.

It is difficult to find out news like the massacre when we are so far away. But our hearts and thoughts are definitely with the families and community in grief. Although there have been tough times at home we have been enjoying our time in Arequipa. We have been here for about two weeks now and it feels like a stable, comfortable place, just in time for us to leave :)

Last we wrote about staying with our first couch surfing friend Alberto and our incredible experience at Colca Cañón. When we got back from Colca we started staying with another new friend from couch surfing, Renato. Renato is so fun and welcoming, 25 and lives with one of his best friends, a wonderful girl from France, Melissa who was finishing her University and living and working in Arequipa. Renato was working at this fun place called Mr. Fish (which is kind of like Señor Frogs but well explain more about that later) as the MC/entertainer. Melissa and Renato were wonderful we had our own room in their apartment and had lots of fun with them, staying for about 5 days. They were both transitioning to move to Lima so we helped with the moving a bit (one incident included tying two mattresses on top of a taxi to return them). They showed us a great time and were such fun hosts. We even went to their going away party and met all of their friends who were sad to see them go.

Couch surfing has really been incredible for us in Arequipa we have met such interesting, great people and made great connections. Our third friend from couch surfing is Adolfo. Adolfo's grandfather is from Germany and was Jewish. Although Adolfo is only 1/4 Jewish he was very excited to find out that we were Jewish! He told us that his uncle (Tio Pepe) would love to have a Shabbat at his house. So of course we decided we would try to make a traditional Shabbat for Adolfo and Tio. Adolfo and Tio had only ever had Shabbat once with a Turkish Jew they had met.

So we created our menu: Hummus (from scratch) with veggies, Homemade Challah, Tsimmus (apples, sweet potato, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon and honey) Pasta with veggies, and Snickerdoodle cookies (vegan). Shout out to Jan (Ali's Mom for the amazing challah recipe and Tsimmus suggestion!) The cutest part of the evening was when Tio Pepe brought out his kepah so proudly and showed it to us. He had bought it in New York and was very excited to show us. We did the blessings to welcome Shabbat, the blessing over the wine and bread and Tio even had a menorah that we lit to celebrate Hanukkah. We also did one of Ali's family traditions of "Two Good Things" in which you share two good things that happened to you during the week. In this case it was called "Dos Cosas Bueno" and of course we sang the accompanying song (in English :) ).

The Shabbat Table

Tsimmus

He did not have a big enough pan for a regular challah.

So we made mini Challahs

Ali and Tio Pepe

Ali, Tio and Sarah

Ali, Adolfo and Sarah

After we light the candles

Tio Pepe is an orthodontist and has a wonderful house where we made Shabbat. One of the craziest coincidences was when we left Melissa and Renato's apartment to go to Tio's we realized it was literally across the street like 15 feet from each other. Tio offered for us to stay at his house and we accepted happily. We have our own room again including a bunk bed!

After eating relaxing in the sitting room.  Tio told us a story of an artist that waited 10 years to have his teeth fixed and paid him with the painting above the empty chair.

Sarah in our room at Tio Pepes

Yesterday we decided to go to Mr. Fish the place where Renato used to work. By hanging out with Melissa and Renato we had met many of their friends that still worked at Mr. Fish and we were able to get in for free. It is a huge venue with two different VIP areas, a stage and an outdoor area. It is set up almost like a giant tiki lounge with bamboo and light colored wood. There is a ton of day drinking, people start coming at 1 PM and it kind of feels like spring break. They have entertainers, dancers and bands on the stage every so often and otherwise it is just a huge dance party. The demographic was a bit young for us but we still had fun of course and thanks for the hook up Renato and Melissa!

At Mr. Fish

Sarah wearing her Mr. Fish shirt Melissa gave her

The scene at Mr. Fish

Sarah rock climbing at Mr. Fish

Ali in the jardin (garden) at Spanish school with Paca the tortuga

With our wonderful Spanish teacher Angela

Today is our last day in Arequipa and although we have loved it here we need to start making our way up to Lima to meet Ali's family in Costa Rica in less than a week!! We are going to head to a small town called Huacachina where we will go sand boarding down one of the biggest dunes in the world.

We love you!

Hugs,
















A & S

Arequipa Love.

Ready to hear about another amazing adventure? We arrived in Arequipa on Monday night and stayed with a Couchsurfer who was very nice and hospitable. If you don't know what Couchsurfing is and you are looking to travel on a budget look into it. The website is www.couchsurfing.com. Even if you don't stay at people's homes it's a great way to meet locals. So Tuesday our new Couchsurfing friend (Alberto) showed us all around town and we went to eat a great vegetarian lunch with Alberto and his friend Christian. Alberto is 26 is finishing his degree in electrical engineering, speaks English, Spanish, German and French and is a language teacher in his spare time.

Sarah at Alberto´s (couch surfer friend) couch

Arequipa is this beautiful town with most of the buildings being constructed of this white rock which was once volcanic rock. There is a huge volcano near the city. The architecture feels very European as there are mostly buildings with amazing courtyards that we have enjoyed.

Sarah and Alberto in Arequipa

Ali, Alberto and Christian

View from Mirador in Arequipa

We stayed at this place Tuesday night called Amazing Hostal, good breakfast, nice beds but cold showers. We had heard all about this amazing trek to Cañón del Colca but we did not want to go on an organized trip so we went by ourselves. Here's what we did: On Wednesday we took a bus from Arequipa to Cabanaconde (17 soles) and arrived around 8 pm in the pouring rain. Usually tourists have to pay 70 soles for a ticket into the canon but we somehow snuck by unnoticed and didn't have to pay. We stayed at Pachamama Hostal in Cabanaconde which was pretty nice and the staff gave us great information on trekking. It was similar to a lodge feeling and they had a wood burning oven for pizza and really delicious hot chocolate.

At Pachamama Hostel in Cabanaconde

Starting the hike in Cabanaconde

View as we started the hike. Eating peanuts.

We started from Cabanaconde, hiked to San Juan de Chuccho and then to Sangalle, commonly known as Oasis. We planned on sleeping in San Juan de Chuccho the first night but after only 4 hours of hiking, and no rain, we decided to hike the rest of the way to Oasis. We stopped in San Juan where Ali bought some water and we chatted with the local woman who sold the water. She had a little girl who was quite mesmerized with Ali, probably because she's never seen red hair (or her unmatched charm).

After we crossed the first bridge

Little girl staring at Ali

In San Juan de Chuccho 

So we continued on to Oasis. We met a woman named Judith who's a doctor and she hikes to the different villages to treat her patients at least once a month but more if needed. It reminded Ali of a book she read in grad school called "Mountains Beyond Mountains" an amazing book about a doctor who does similar work in Haiti. If you haven't read it go read it now! Judith was hiking with her dog who reminded Sarah of Max (Sarah´s dog). She spoke great English and helped us navigate the path until she arrived in the village she was staying in.

The dog that reminded us of Max

As we were hiking we saw so many amazing things; we crossed three bridges, a circular terrace farming that reminded us of The Lion King and three rock structures. We think that these structures are for people to say a prayer or wish on a rock and then place it with the other rocks, kind of like the Western Wall in Israel. We took lots of pictures and had such a fun time hiking even though parts of the trail were difficult, more mentally than physically.

The circular terrace farming that reminded us of The Lion King.

The rock structure

View of Canyon

Path we hiked down to Oasis

Another town we walked through

The orange river

This way to Oasis

Once we arrived in Oasis we stayed at the first place we came across, Paraiso. There were other hikers sitting around and the pool looked nice, and we were ready to be done hiking for the day. We decided to stay in one of the bungalows which was only 10 soles. We all ate dinner prepared by Freddy who was working at Paraiso. It was really yummy sopa (soup) y pasta, and after our hike it was much needed.

Paraiso, where we stayed in Oasis

After dinner we went to our bungalow and there was a big frog sitting in the middle of the room and Ali totally freaked out. Sarah was laughing hysterically and Ali was not going to sleep with the frog in the room. Ali wasn't sure how to say frog in Spanish so she looked it up in her dictionary before going to get Freddy (for those of you in the same situation in the future frog is rana in Spanish). Freddy came and removed the frog. So many laughs it was pretty hilarious.

Rana in our room

Attempting to eliminate the rana

We woke up the next morning and hiked from Sangalle back to Cabanaconde which was all uphill and about 4 hours. Once we arrived back to Cabanaconde we took a bus to the hot springs in Chivay, which was in a word, amazing! Two hours of sitting in the hot springs felt fabulous but the sauna was pretty weak. We went to this cool cafe in Chivay, drank delicious hot chocolate and then took a bus back to Arequipa. We had a great time hiking Cañón del Colca and definitely recommend doing the trek. And if you are debating whether or not going on an organized trip, we suggest not to because we had the freedom to choose our pace and make our own itinerary based on how we were feeling.

Success! Finally at the top

Aguas calientes in Chivay

Smiles of fierce success... bus back to Arequipa

The first night of Chanukah was a really cool experience for us. We went to Christian's house with Alberto (our first friend from Couch surfing) and made lots and lots of latkes. It was their first Chanukah (and we were the first Jews they had met!) and we had a lot of fun sharing our holiday with them.

Ali making latkes

Alberto eating latkes

Sarah and Alberto relaxing after latke time

We started Spanish school on Monday at Arequipa's Spanish School on San Martin Avenue and we absolutely love it. We are taking classes all week to total 20 hours. We have two different teachers, one for first two hours then one for second 2 hours. In between the two teachers we get cafe y galletas (coffee and crackers). Oh, and our classes are in this beautiful garden and there's a tortuga (turtle) that lives in the garden. A few nights ago we went to watch our other friend from Couch surfing´s (Renato) fútbol game.


We are having a great time and love Arequipa! We have Spanish homework to do tonight and school in the morning. :) We will be in Arequipa through the weekend before we start to make our way back up to Lima to meet Ali´s family in Costa Rica.  Happy 12/12/12 everyone or as we like to say only 9 more days until the end of the world ;) just kidding!!

Besos and love to all!

A & S