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Puno, Peru
15° 49' S 70° 1' W
Jan 07, 2006 22:24
Distance 868km

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Other entries in Puno

dune surfing and reflections on Lima

Text written in: English

well, i had written a long and detailed desciption of leaving lima and getting into huacachina but then the computer froze and i lost everything. im going to try to recreate what i can remember writing but safe to say, im not going to be able to get everythign in there, so its all of our loss. i hate you whatever caused the freeze.

ok, here we go. two days ago we left lima and i was amazed at how quickly my mood and attitude changed. it was something strange in that city that put me in a foul mood and made me want to get out of there as soon as possible. well, now we are and im a much happier camper. we took a bus out of lima towards a small desert town called Huacachina whose tourist attraction is sand dune surfing and not much else. the transportation was standard, over crowded bus, no leg room and dont even think about air conditioning. the ride was relatively uneventful but both of us commented on how desolate the land was between lima and the south of peru. really quite barren. we got off the bus and were met with the usual taxi service committee. we took one to our hostel and when we got out, one of the employees came out and greeted us with a ¨shalom¨. he must have thought we were israelis; dont know what gave him that idea. the hostel itself was decent with a pool and plenty of hammocks to lie in. there were plenty of rooms but also plenty of guests as we had to settle for an 18 person dormitory on the third floor of a sketchy looking adobe structure. its strange that sometimes you feel more comfortable leaving your belongings in a room filled with similar backpackers than you do leaving it in a locked room but everyone seemed to share the safe feeling and many people left their ipods, headphones, and money lying around on their beds.

we decided to go on a sunset walk on the sand dunes and it was amzing to see the size of these thigns. i was expecting dunes maybe 2 or 3 stories tall but some of these were easily 15. the hike up them was serious. imagine youre walking on a beach with the normal sinking and struggling to make similar progress on a sidewalk and then add gravity and the incline. it was a tough trek. we summited one peak and looked out over the oasis that was huacahina. there is a lagoon that centers the town and then multiple restaurants, hotels, and knick-knack shops scattered around the half mile community. we turned away from civilization and looked out over the vast mountains of sand. david commented that it was like looking out into the sea except that one is teeming with life in every sense of the word and the other is completely devoid of it entirely. both are mesmorizing and we sat there enjoying the tranquilty of the silence. every now and then you could hear loud echoes from across the valley of children finishing their afternoon of play or of excited teenagers racing down the hill trying not to fall over each other.

when we got back to the hostel, we decided to look into the various offers they had for tours. the first was obviously the sand dune surfing that we had come for and the second was a communal bbq the hostel was hosting that evening. the first seemed overprice and the second well underpriced for the all you and eat and drink endevour. we soon found out that this hostel is known for deceiving their guests. the bbq was very lackluster. around 8 people emptied from their rooms and congregated around a buffet table looking for sustinence. they found little. here was the menu: baby baked potato, hard small roll, suspect shreded lettuce, slimy sliced tomato, chunks of unrecognizable cheese, cold unseasoned broccoli, similarly sounding corn, a tray of browning avocado, salt, and then the meat, burnt hot dog resembling logs, crusty meat patties from which animal i dare not venture a guess, and eventually, the piece de resistance, small, dry pieces of chicken. the dirnks were water, local cola, rum and coke, and pisco sour (1 pitcher of each). the food was gone in about 30 minutes leaving many, this camper included, unhappy and unsatisfied. the bbq organizers did not shed a tear.

after dinner we sat and enjoyed the company of an australian couple. they told us they were lured to this place with promises of wine and free food when they got here. obviously they were fooled but were good sports about it. we enjoyed a great conversation ranging from sports to the death penalty and the whole time never got either of their names. in this travlers world, there seems to be a trend to exchange basic formalities and questions when first meeting new people. whast your name, where are you from, how long are you travleing, where have you been, etc. after a while, these identical converations can get tiresome so it was great to engage in one that was completely mundane and could only be classified as shooting the shit. before long we all tired and went to bed. the rest of the hostel bussied itself with drinking and getting louder which led to my seeking the assistence of headphones to take me to dreamland.

the next morning we woke up late and didnt do much except eat lunch and lie in hammocks until the activity at 430. when the time arrived, we all climbed into three dune buggies. to understand what these cars looked like, you have to imagine an engine, and then the frame consists entirely of roll bars and wheels. there are no doors, no roof, no worries. of the three drivers, one had been described as 'the crazy one' and i ws secretly hoping he was our driver because despite their appearance, their speed and their course, these bggies are pretty safe as the hostels track record only reports a few accidents and only 4 deaths. just kidding. once buckled in, we tore off through the quiet streets of the small town and all three drivers were battling for first position and who could make their carload scream more. once out of the city limits, we veered sharply off the road and were immediately surrounded by massive, towering sand dunes that more closely resembled mountains. i soon found out that we did indeed contract 'the crazy one' as he often took his time getting to our destination and clearly reveled in his ability to induce feminine screams from the girls and fatty alike. we often took hills at an angle and once we were high up on them, turned the car straight down to catch the full effect of the slope. it really was like a rollercoaster without tracks and any idea of which way you were about to turn. he finally guided us to th other two buggies and stopped the vehicle inches short of clipping of of the guests.

we unloaded the boards and got a crash course in riding down the dunes. basically its like snow boarding except you cant turn and the sand doesnt give way like snow (that means the going is slower and the falls hurt more). we applied wax to ensure a smoother ride and soon everyone was tentatively waiting for others to being the show. a few brave adventurers stepped over the moderate ledge and almost all fell within seconds. very few people made it down successfully the first time mostly because everyone instinctively tried to carve and go sideways. the only way to go is straight down. if you try to turn, you catch your edge and fall, its very straighforward. on my second run, i made it down quickly and unharmed and looked back to see david do the same. once the beginners run was faced, we tore off over the dunes to find our next hill. throughout the day they took us to mor difficult slopes that were steeper, longer, and larger. not sure if any or all of that was redundant but what the hey is for horses. the only problem that i experienced was that occasionally, in the mad dash to get the good boards, i would come up short and get a board that only pointed one way. this is called goofy foot and basically means that your opposite foot is forward making you feel uncomfortable as you go down the incline. you basically feel like youre going backwards and i fell repeatedly in this manner. the last hill they took us to was by far the most difficult, scariest, most dangerous and for all those reasons, the most fun. the instructor told us before embarking, only go on this hill if youre looking for death. a joke of course but there was some truth to it. everyone seemed to be aprehensive so i waxed my board up and started my descent. at first i went side to side to get familiar with my board and then i pointed my nose straight down the hill and started to pick up speed. pretty soon i was racing down this massive hill and thnking to myself that this was going to end in one of two ways: either i cruise quickly and safely to the bottom and nothing happens or i end up in an explosion of sand. it was the latter that happened of course and i wish i could have seen wht it looked like because i assure you it ws hilarious. like i said, sand is rougher than snow and i definitely felt the difference. when i caught my edge, i saw the dune racing towards my face adn then was tumbling over and over down the hill. when i finally stopped, i wiped myself off and discovered that my cheap, imitation sunglasses had decided to save themselves and abandon ship and were 15 feet back up the steep slope. i sat their helplessly waiting for another surfer to come down to my rescue but when someone came close, they were also off balance and not in control so they were unable, although totally willing, to help. i had drop my board and climb back up the hill to get them back. fatty waited till i was at the bottom to start his descent so iwas able to watch his progess attentively. he was doing very well, going fast and staying upright. then he got the bright idea to make a turn and bam! he caught an edge and a massive cloud of sand appeared in the spot which previously belonged to my friend. when the dust settled, i saw him sitting on his ass, laughing and cleaning himself off. very comical indeed. the tour ended at another oasis for pictures of sunset and then back to the hostel.

we showered and were ready to get out of there. we had booked a night bus towards the south and when we boarded, we found someone in one of our seats. we both had picked window seats because we prefer to snooze leaning against the wall as opposed to the 90 degree head on flat palm that always leads to a neck cramp and drooling. so when i found a 90 year old grandmother in my seat, my first reaction was to haul her old bones off the bus. but then i remembered my southern upbringing and because she had sat there so she could sit with her grandaughter, i had to allow it. now, there is no more certain recipe to get me and david bickering than to put us directly next to each other for 11 hours on a already cramped and festering bus. it took maybe 20 minutes before one of us found a problem with how the other was sitting or took exception to the arm placement or the crossing of the ever important plane of separation. we each exchanged various complaints at different points on the ride but made it through relatively unharmed. afterward we both simultaneously agreed on the hilarity of the situation and that if grandma hadnt been so presumptuous, we would have been fine. but were alive and kicking still, so no harm no foul. almost immediately after exiting that long bus ride, we found another that would take us to where we are now, Puno on lake titticaca. this trip was only 5 hours and was a luxery bus which meant seats that reclined further, an inride meal of cookies and horrible Inca Cola (i dont undertand how people drink this stuff. its literally liquified bubble gum and its neon yellow), two movies, and a rousing game of Bingo. during the Bingo game, the reader would occasionally pause to ask questions relating to the busline and these questions obviously favored the other riders as we didnt know most of the answers. the prize for a correct response was three bingo spaces of your choosing (we were playing blackout, not 5 in a row). the one question i did know the answer to, i quickly raised my hand but a rude girl in front me blurted out the answer before i was called on and she went on to win. brutal.

so now were in Puno and will be here for another 32 hours. then we're on to Bolivia and after a short stint there, Argentina and lots of relaxing and steak eating.