I took the bus from Arequipa to Huacachina…one that ran over 2 hours late. So a 14-hour bus trip it was! At least the trip had a few stops- one for lunch in Chala and one for the Nazca lines. Three of the many hundreds of shapes/lines can be viewed from the viewing tower. As we were running so late we nearly missed the lines due to the fading sunlight, luckily, we were the last group up!
The whole trip is a sparse, harsh desert landscape that meets the Pacific Ocean. There are varying landscapes of towering dunes/ sedimentary mountains and volcanic flows. The one thing in common is a complete lack of vegetation on the mountains. As a stark contrast though, the valley floors are irrigated farmlands.
Arriving in the early evening in Huacachina it was dark and thus I just went straight to the place I was staying and settled in for the night. The next morning, I went up to the terrace for breakfast and was taken aback by the scenery – the tiny little village oasis is surrounded by giant sand dunes! It is a rather different sight- a little lake in the desert, complete with palms, surrounded by offices and restaurant and hotels… not many people stay here but it is quaint. Popular activities include sand barding and dune buggies.
Part of the bus perks was also getting a free Pisco tour. It was fun and interesting tour that was held at El Catador. We also had a tasting of 6 wine and pisco shots. The wine is super sweet!! As the Peruvians like suck sweet drinks and due to the minimum European immigrants’ influence it has remained so for hundreds of years. The other countries’ tastes and wines were influenced by millions of European immigrants into the respective countries. The grapes have really hire sugar content here due to the very dry and hot climate, which concentrates the sugar. More sugar=more alcohol % too!
The fermentation process only takes two weeks in the heat around Ica! Due to the fact that there is no oak around Peru the Spanish used local Incan pottery to ferment the wine in. Incans used to ferment their local maize drink- Chicha in these types of vessels.
