Peru Hop

A quick note on how we travelled Peru:

We decided to do the Peru Hop bus through the whole of Peru and down into La Paz, Bolivia. The bus is set up in a way were you an change your next bus up to 12 hours beforehand, they help you book tours and accommodation if you like (we just used Hostelworld as the prices were comparable). This kind of tour may not be for everyone, but the ease of it, and with Peru being the first stop in our trip, it made sense for us. Especially as they help with the border crossing into Bolivia and the local buses don’t look as comfy!

Paracas

Early the next morning we got our bus to Paracas, a small seaside town popular with the locals for the summer holidays.

Only after only an hour of driving, we stopped at a rest stop to get breakfast and do 2 very random activities: a traditional Peruvian horse show and Tombola. I feel as though the horse show is self expanitory but my only previous experience of tombola is the adverts for the app Tombola arcade.

I’m not sure the version we played relates to the app, but apparently it’s a very traditional game played in small towns accross Peru. The way it works is that you stand in a circle over a pit with a guinea pig inside of it. Along the edge of the circle there are holes with numbers, you pick a number and if once released, the guinea pig chooses your hole, you win!

We didn’t win but others won a horse ride, a zip line (also at the rest stop!?) or some bread. A lovely Peruvian mother won the bread and shared it with us which was sweet.

We reached Paracas around lunchtime and as we couldn’t check into the hostel for a couple of hours we walked through the town (2 streets) and grabbed some lunch. There isn’t much to see in Paracas so I would recommend only staying one night – the main attractions are the national park and Ballestas islands (generously named Peru’s mini Galapagos), which I will come onto in a second.

We stayed at Viajero Kokopelli hostel which was fine – again, it had a very loud bar which went into the small hours but had a nice bar/restaurant space and a (questionable) pool. That afternoon we went on the ‘Golden Shadows Trek’ which takes you out into the National Park. This landscape is stunning and is an extension of the Atacama desert in Chile. The sands are full of colours due to the various minerals and the juxtaposition of the desert and the sea is beautiful.

The trek was really a 1.5 hour saunter up the dunes and hanging around to take some photos at sunset. It’s pretty chilled and lasts 3-4 hours.

That evening we went for a surprisingly good pizza at Venezia, it was suggested by our hostel and the owner is actually Italian!

The next morning we got up early to get the 8am boat to the islands. You can book this through PeruHop but we ended up going with the hostel as it was TBC on whether it would be able to go ahead due to strong currents. With the hostel it was a couple of dollars cheaper but there really wasn’t much in it.

During the 2 hour trip, they take you out to the islands past some lines in the sand which nod towards the Nazca lines – they don’t know who drew them in the sand, but ~50 years they have sat there. Once at the islands, you can see penguins, sea lions and a lot of birds.

Immediately after the boat, we went on the bus tour to the national park. This tour is free within your Peru Hop ticket, you see a different part of the park to the trek and get more information on the park itself which is nice. Then we drove to Huacachina, only 1.5-2 hours from Paracas.

Paracas Summary

• Length of stay: 1 night
• Where to stay: Anywhere! It’s tiny
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Golden Shadows Trek, Day 2 – Ballestas islands & National park bus tour
• Top tips: It can get chilly at night, in the desert and on the boat so bring a jumper/jacket

Huacachina

Huacachina is a desert Oasis which according to legend was made by a woman’s tears mourning the death of her lover. It’s a tiny town with only one real street.

We stayed just outside of the Oasis at Upcycled Hostel. This was the chilled hostel we were looking for and would recommend staying here if you don’t mind the 15 min walk into ‘town’. The hostel is nicely decorated, clean, the staff are lovely, it has a pool and a decent bar and restaurant. If you’re looking for more of a party vibe, stay at Wild Rover, although you can go to their parties even if you’re not a guest.

One the day we arrived we spent all afternoon chilling – reading with a couple of beers. In the evening we walked to the Oasis and went to another hostel, Banana adventure, for drinks and food. This hostel also looked good if you don’t want to be in somewhere as noisy as Wild Rover!

We decided to stay 2 nights but you can do Huacachina in 1 if you prefer. The main attraction here is the dune-buggies and sand boarding. You can also hire boards and skis yourself if you’d prefer! If you’re only staying 1 night, do the tour in the afternoon you arrive but we decided to do it on our second day.

We spent the morning of our second day lying by the pool and soaking in the desert sun. In the afternoon, we headed into town. Before our sand boarding we walked up the dune to get the classic shots of the oasis – definitely worth doing!

The dune buggies and sand boarding tours run every day from 4-7pm so you can see the sunset at the end. This is an absolute must-do activity! It was so much fun – the buggies felt like a roller coaster and don’t be fooled by the small dunes at the start, they get much bigger as you go on! One thing to note is sand gets EVERYWHERE, so wear clothes you’re happy to get sand in every pocket.

After the boarding we went to Wild Olive for dinner, this is another nice guest house and is supposed to be the nicest restaurant in Huacachina (don’t get your hopes too high). Wild Rover had a pub quiz on that evening so we went there with some Irish girls we met sand boarding. It was good fun but I think we’re getting a bit old for some of the games they were playing.

The next morning we were up early for our bus to Nazca.

Huacachina Summary

• Length of stay: 1 night if you’re in a rush, 2 if you’re not.
• Where to stay: Upcycled Hostel if you want to relax, Wild Rover if you want to party, Banana adventure or Wild Olive if you want something in the middle.
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Chill (& Sandboarding if only staying 1 night), Day 2 – Sandboarding
• Top tips: Wear long trousers and closed shoes for the Sandboarding if you can, I wore shorts and birks and had some scratches on my knees from the board and ended up going barefoot for most of it (everything will fly off you on the board!). The last 30 mins or so waiting for the sunset can be a little bit chilly so bring a light jumper or over-shirt.