The other day I was talking about how the cacti were schrivelled? Well, we’ve taken to the bus down the coast a couple hours south of Lima, where there are NO cacti, and really no trees at all, at least not naturally grown ones. I guess we missed the desert.

We’re staying at the Hilton, double tree (nice name) hotel which lies just next to the Paracas Nature Reserve.We got warm home made chocolate cookies at check-in. Funny, because there’s nothing around but SAND. This, is the desert. Although, with one addition, its right on the ocean, which smells amazing. The view from our room is a palm tree, a small patch of grass, some sand, beach chairs, white sand beach, and ocean! The water isn’t a nice blue, but I like it anyway.

This morning, we went to the bus station and caught the Cruz del Sur Cruzero (VIP seats) for $25 each (one way) down to Paracas. We had to go down to the station last night because we’d tried several times to book the tickets online but they didn’t work. With big comfy leather chairs, foot rests and blankets the bus ride was enjoyable.

Basically, it seemed like we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, a long walk from the town of Pisco, and “luckily” there was a rep there from the bus company that called the local tourist cab. The bus station was a basic bamboo shelter (although it had computers set up)… but my book gave impression that we could walk one block to the plaza and catch a taxi there. It seems not. But its okay, we also were able to book our little tour in the morning to the Ballestas Islands (the galapagos of peru).

When we arrived at the hotel, (as in other cases, but in less of a remote location) the front desk didn’t have our reservation (booked on Expedia) so we ended up emailing it to them with our laptop at the front desk. This was after we had to go through the security gate with the taxi and he didn’t have our name. So funny, how they don’t know we’re coming. I recommend emailing the hotel you’re going to, with the reservation email from the online agency.

Tomorrow we head back to Lima, but for more than 24 hours we wanted to get away from the city. Unfortunately, its a bit chilly here, and although you can wear shorts, it would definitely bechilly to sit at the beautiful pool in a bathing suit, but people are doing it.

For lunch, we had some fettucine alfredo with seafood. Pretty tasty, but expensive. After that we had an enjoyable several hour nap, followed by a walk on the beach with the seagulls, and a dip in the “warm” tub. The shower wasn’t hot either. Perhaps they are trying to save money in the off season. It’s SO quiet here. I wonder how often english speaking tourists come along, but we are likely the only ones here right now. Bust out the Spanglish again.