Nazca

Now, what I wish I had known when I boarded the bus to Nazca is that on the PeruHop app, it says the bus from Huacachina to Nazca is 10:40am – 5:00pm, then if you are going all the way to Arequipa, you re-board at 6pm and get in at 5:30am the next morning.

We decided to stay a night in Nazca as we didn’t want to be on a bus for nearly 24 hours. However, what they don’t tell you is that the first 3-ish hours of the bus to Nazca is actually a Pisco tour and lunch, before going back to Huacachina to drop people off and then you go to Nazca which is only 3 hours away. If we’d have known that most of the day wouldn’t be spent on a bus, we may have made a different decision. Saying that, it was easy to fill 1 night in Nazca and we were glad we stayed in the end.

The Pisco Tour

The Pisco tour is only 20 mins from Huacachina and the tour itself lasts about 45 minutes. They tell you about how they make their wine and Pisco and then you get to try a lot of it – one guy did like 7 shots of Pisco (which is 40% alcohol)… I only had 2, one pure and one coffee crème one. If we didn’t have the rest of our travels to go, I definitely would have bought some to bring home. The tour itself is included within your Peru Hop ticket so definitely worth going.

Once the tour is finished you have lunch there, you’ll have to wait for everyone else so just get the lunch! You preorder your food on the bus and then can order drinks there.

Nazca

Around 20 minutes before you arrive in Nazca the bus takes you to the Nazca lines viewing tower. You can see 3 of the lines from the tower and there are couple of information boards about them but not much. The Nazca lines are main attraction for Nazca and when you visit you can buy flights over them but they are~£80. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the lines as they don’t really know why they were made – there are theories of offerings to the gods for water but no concrete evidence.

We arrived in Nazca at 5pm, everyone else was getting dinner before the overnight to Arequipa, but we grabbed our bags and walked 15 mins to Hostal Nazca Lodge. This is a small family run hostel – its not very pretty and there isn’t really any communal space, but the rooms were large and clean, the showers hot and the host was lovely. Our room didn’t have any aircon but it did have a large powerful floor flan so it was enough to keep us cool, even if it did feel like i was sleeping in a wind tunnel. Top tip: if you have a strong fan, point it at the wall opposite you, the breeze that bounces back is much more pleasant!

Nazca is a small desert town – it reminded us a bit of India but probably a nicer version. In the evening, on the suggestion of our hostel host, we went to a small planetarium. It was quite a random experience but nice – it’s only cost 25 soles and lasted 45 mins . When you get there the host shows you what he can see on his telescope, we saw Jupiter and its four moons, the telescope was powerful enough for you to see the gas storms on the planet which was pretty special. After that you go into the planetarium and they tell you more about the Nazca lines, how they were discovered, persevered, what their meaning may be and how they could relates to the stars. If you are spending a night in Nasca, I would highly recommend going!

We then went to dinner at La Encantada, food was good and had cold beer so can’t complain. We’ve found that a lot of restaurants do Peruvian food and then also Italian which is bizarre but at least you can always find something to eat!

The next morning we went on a tour of the Aqueducts and the Cahuachi Pyramids, our hostel host kindly set it all up for us at very last minutes notice. It was only 70 soles and the guide picked us up from the hostel, took us round the sights, showed us some of local farms and then dropped us back off – it was actually a really nice way to spent 3 hours. We grabbed some lunch at La Kasa Rustika and chilled on our hostel roof until it was time to get the bus to Arequipa.

Nazca Summary

• Length of stay: 1 night
• Where to stay: Anywhere really, our hostel Hostal Nasca Lodge was absolutely fine for a night, but I know there are some nicer hotels with pools.
• Itinerary: Night – Platetarium, Day – Aquaducts & Cauchahi Pyramids or a Nazca Lines Flight
• Top tip: If you are in a rush, you can skip Nazca

Arequipa

We arrived at 5:30am – always the worst thing about getting overnight buses! We were really lucky though and when we checked into our hostel, Selina, they not only gave us a free upgrade to an en suite room, but they also said that if we pre-bought breakfast (we only bought 2 out of our 4 mornings) that we could check in straight away! So by 7am we were all checked-in, showered and looking for a breakfast spot. Selina was a really nice hostel – good communal areas, a kitchen, pool, bar, library, cinema room etc! Our room was spacious and clean.

Arequipa is an old colonial town set in the shadow of the volcano Misti. It’s really beautiful, full of old Spanish, French and British buildings. The roads are narrow and there are so many fun bars, cafes and restaurants. The weather when we were there was perfect, 25 degrees with a light breeze during the day, cooler at night. It ended up being one of our favourite towns in Peru.

The main attraction in Arequipa is Colca Canyon, the second deepest in the world. We had planned to do a day trip but heard from others that this consisted of an 8 hour round bus trip with only 1 hour in the canyon, therefore the only viable way to do it is the 2 day trip which we didn’t have time for. Keep this in mind when planning your trip!

We went for breakfast at Eco Brunch which I would highly recommend. They open at 7:30am which is the main reason we went there, but they have a sunny roof terrace great coffee and food!

Later than morning, we went on a free walking tour – there are loads in the city so just choose one that suits you. Our guide took us round the town explaining the interesting architecture, showed us loads of places we can enter for free, gave us good food recommendations and took us into the alcapca experience – they are SO cute but watch out, you will get eaten alive by sandflies and they itch, a lot. We also tried a traditional Arequipa desert on the tour named Queso Helado – the name suggests it contains cheese but it is actually a vanilla ice cream with cinnamon. Lewis liked it but i wasn’t a fan.

After the tour we really needed a nap – not a lot of sleep was got on the bus! The rest of the evening was filled with a couple of Pisco (most places have happy hour 2 for 30 soles!) and then a few drinks at the hostel bar. We had a real Inbetweeners Movie 2 moment that evening when, sat round the campfire, a guy gets out his guitar and starts signing. After a couple of songs I knew it was time to head to bed.

The next morning, just before we got out of bed, there was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake! I’ve never felt an earthquake before so it was a weird experience. It lasted around 5 seconds but nothing really happened and I didn’t feel scared at all. After all that excitement we had breakfast in the hostel which wasn’t great so we went to find some good coffee. We found this super cute place called ‘KaffeeHaus’ which has a lovely garden and great coffee – we also saw that the breakfast looked good so made mental note to come back tomorrow.

Our main event for the day was the white water rafting. I have to admit it was really good fun and the tour really well organised, we just booked it through our hostel but you can book it through PeruHop as well. They give you everything you need so all you need to bring is a swimsuit and a spare pair of pants. This is a must-do activity.

After the rafting we were starving and taking our walking tour guides’ recommendation, went to a traditional Picanteria called La Mundial. One thing to note is there are two ‘La Mundials’ on the same street. Now, we couldn’t figure out if one was an overflow for the original but try and get into the smaller one if you can. We ordered Rocoto Relleno which is a traditional dish of fried spiced beef stuffed in a pepper with a dauphinoise style potato made with egg instead of cream. It was a huge portion and quite tasty to definitely give it a try when you’re there!

We spent the rest of the day chilling by the pool reading books and then made dinner in the hostel kitchen, Peru is not as cheap as you think it is…

On our final day in Arequipa we had a lovely breakfast in KaffeeHaus and wandered down to the central market (Mercado San Camilo) to see what it was like – I would recommend going here and getting a fresh fruit juice, there are so many stalls! The rest of the day was spent soaking in as much sun as we possibly could as for the next couple of weeks, we were going higher into the mountains and towards the rain in Cusco!

For dinner that evening we tried a Japanese place called Espacio Lagom. We both had the ramen which was OK but I think in hindsight the sushi looked nicer! The rest of the evening was spent packing as our bus to Cusco was leaving at 5am.

Arequipa Summary

• Length of stay: 2-4 nights
• Where to stay: Anywhere in the old town but we really liked Selina
• Itinerary: Day 1 – walking tour, Day 2 – Rafting (or 2 day Colca Canyon trip), Day 3 – Local markets and exploring the city more/chill day (or second day of Canyon trip)
• Top tip: It gets cold at night, bring trousers and a jumper