Our next stop down the coast from Nasca was the little beach at Atiquipa which for me was a very pleasant two day stop. When we arrived and saw the track down to the beach we all shuddered as we remembered the terror of getting the truck to other destinations but this time Ernie gracefully made her way down the steep switchbacks and onto a gorgeous wide open beach. Either side of the beach were two headlands with granite boulders scattered all over.
While our driver chris got to work setting up his hammock on the local football goals the rest of us set about exploring the boulders. The potential from the beach was not so as we struggled to find lots of good boulders. Still we did find some and got to know new hot rockers such as woodie from Australia and Jen and Simon from New Zealand. My finger tips were still pretty wrecked from Hatun Machay so found the granite very hard going but still managed some good problems. After the first day i put some awesome tunes on my ipod and did a 2 hour workout on the beach and football goals before dinner. Felt really good and while the others indulged in a strange undressing party I headed off and found a beautiful spot to bivouac on the beach.
The following day after funny tales of last nights shananigans we went to explore the other side of the beach and again found very little of promise but still enjoyed exploring. Four of us then went for a dip in the pacific which I expected to be reasonably warm, how wrong i was, it was freezing and ended up playing that game where you run childishly away from the incoming waves. After the most amazing run ever music again being the answer I felt it was my turn to have a party so enlisted a few others with a bottle of run and some French techno and we had a jolly good night. Someone suggested we all draw on tatoos in permanent markers so that was next to follow. I was most happy with my Southampton FC logo on the arm which stayed on for a good week after, probable due to the lack of showers available!
The next morning after being groggily served breakfast in bivvy by Jon we made it back up the track with no difficulties and continued on to our next destination - the historic city of Arequipa.
Photos below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150326028018780.348368.501123779&type=1
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Lima to Nasca
Sorry it's been so long since i posted, i'm way behind!
We arrived in Lima after two weeks roughing it but loving the stone forest. We were clearly ready for some luxuries and I enjoyed many a fine meal, a milkshake and ice cream. It was a pretty nice city, we enjoyed some trips to museums to discover ancient Incan culture who from the pottery were clearly an erotic bunch! We also managed to find the local climbing wall and met some really friendly local climbers who advised us of some top spots to go.
Some people were also leaving the truck so sadly we had to say goodbye to them but also welcome others. This was done by some ace dancing to the classic reggaeton music down pizza alley named after the fact every other restaurant was a pizzeria. Sadly one of these nights meant the end of my attachment to my University of Leicester mountaineering hoody as it was swiped off the chair while I was busy boogying! Hopefully it has gone to a good home!
After two days of expense we were pretty keen to leave Lima but after getting 2km out of the city Ernie's brakes failed and we ran into the back of a taxi. This meant an extra two days in Lima whilst the brakes got fixed. So lots more eating and drinking continued till we finally left.
After Lima our next main destination was the famous Nasca. I couldn't justify paying 100 dollars to go in a plane to see some lines in the ground so instead i paid 2 dollars to climb a small tower and see lines depicting a hand and a tree, or maybe a lizard. At Nasca I has another one of my highlights of the trip. 5 of us took a sandbuggy into the desert visiting ancient Nasca civilisations and burial mounds before we had a go at sand boarding. This was awesome fun. The scenery making it even more special, i love the lines that dunes create, especially against the setting sun. I took reasonably well to the boarding although not being able to turn made it a bit dull. Most fun was lying on your tummy and hurtling down the dune. On the very last run i stacking it and landed square on my bottom, it still hurts as i write this 6 weeks later, boo! As the sun went down the desert turned super chilly and we drove back across the dunes to Nasca, a cracking day!
Photos below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150326014748780.348367.501123779&type=1
We arrived in Lima after two weeks roughing it but loving the stone forest. We were clearly ready for some luxuries and I enjoyed many a fine meal, a milkshake and ice cream. It was a pretty nice city, we enjoyed some trips to museums to discover ancient Incan culture who from the pottery were clearly an erotic bunch! We also managed to find the local climbing wall and met some really friendly local climbers who advised us of some top spots to go.
Some people were also leaving the truck so sadly we had to say goodbye to them but also welcome others. This was done by some ace dancing to the classic reggaeton music down pizza alley named after the fact every other restaurant was a pizzeria. Sadly one of these nights meant the end of my attachment to my University of Leicester mountaineering hoody as it was swiped off the chair while I was busy boogying! Hopefully it has gone to a good home!
After two days of expense we were pretty keen to leave Lima but after getting 2km out of the city Ernie's brakes failed and we ran into the back of a taxi. This meant an extra two days in Lima whilst the brakes got fixed. So lots more eating and drinking continued till we finally left.
After Lima our next main destination was the famous Nasca. I couldn't justify paying 100 dollars to go in a plane to see some lines in the ground so instead i paid 2 dollars to climb a small tower and see lines depicting a hand and a tree, or maybe a lizard. At Nasca I has another one of my highlights of the trip. 5 of us took a sandbuggy into the desert visiting ancient Nasca civilisations and burial mounds before we had a go at sand boarding. This was awesome fun. The scenery making it even more special, i love the lines that dunes create, especially against the setting sun. I took reasonably well to the boarding although not being able to turn made it a bit dull. Most fun was lying on your tummy and hurtling down the dune. On the very last run i stacking it and landed square on my bottom, it still hurts as i write this 6 weeks later, boo! As the sun went down the desert turned super chilly and we drove back across the dunes to Nasca, a cracking day!
Photos below
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150326014748780.348367.501123779&type=1
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