Kris & Chris & The World

Hola from Nazca in Peru, home of the famous Nazca Lines which we will be seeing from the air tomorrow morning.

After a 2 hour delay from our flight to Peru Chris and I finally arrived in Lima Peru....very scary drive in, lots of poverty once more.

Met our crew for the next 45 days....3 other kiwis, 3 18 year old brits, some canadians (of the french variety) and the ineviable 5 aussies!!!! So far everyone is really cool and it is a good mix of people. Our tour guide is called Roberto and is Peruvian and excellent at his job and had wonderful knowledge.

as we arrived so late on the first day we didnt really do much at all....just learnt how to use the toilets and had a detailed discusion about whether to flush the paper or not (don´t!!!)

Went out to dinner at a cool outdoor place in a plaza in Miraflores (a very swanky part of Lima) good fun getting to know everyone.
Then the next day saw Chris and I take our first taxi down to the markets in lima, which was hilarious as the driver just spoke in spanish and we tried our best to understand, but we managed to get it in the end and he pointed out the national football stadium....it was the first time i really felt like i was out of NZ....taxis everywhere, no traffic lights, cops whislting people through from little booths above the street....hot and smelly....we loved it!

Then it was onto a local bus to travel about 250ks down the country south to Pisco. Nice Chris gave me the window seat and away we went with the X files playing loudly on the tv in spanish.....leaving Lima was heartbreaking due to the amount of poverty that sits directly next to Miraflores, it is like two different worlds, one is clean streets and manicured gardens and the next is a tiny brick shack (if you are lucky) with no power or santitation and it just went on and on and on, at one point i had to take deap breaths to stop from crying, it just blows you away and suddenly you know what it means to live in NZ and turn on the tap and have clean water. i found it really hard.

Pisco is famous for its alcohol and in particular the Pisco Sour, so at Chris and my suggestion we all went out after dinner in search of a bar. We ended up going up a flight of stairs that was so steep you had to hold on to the walls, like climbing up to a bunk bed. It was all brown wood, with creaking floor boards and balconys that looked like they would fall of the side. We ordered our Pisco Sours and the next thing you know there are 3 andean men with wind pipes and drums and gutairs singing and playing music ....so cool! But not only we had somehow picked a bar that was having a show (and packed with locals) , so for $5 soles (avbout 2.50) we saw 3 women and 2 mean shaking it to some drums with another guy singing a beautiful song each time they took a break. The women women were amazing....they shook their hips so fast it was just a blur of colour. Beyonce eat your heart out. AT the end of the show a guy and a girl attached a napkin to the backof their pants and took candles and tried to light each other on fire....the trick to it was that they were shaking their hips and dancing all over the room to the rhythm of the drums, so it was quite difficult, then the guy decided that Chris should have a go, so in the middle of the bar Chris was dancing around trying to set this womens butt on fire!!! Hilarious.....but not only him, but next thing you know I have been dragged up and am trying to light the guys napkin. I danced so hard that I fell over on the waxy floor, but just got up and kept going and eveyone was cheering. It was so much fun and I kept saying to Chris, I can´t´believe we just did that.

Today saw us take a boat ride to the Ballesta´s Islands of the coast of Paracaz to see the huge bird colony. The white cliffs were packed with black birds and on the shore were Sea Lions and their pups, even saw some dolphins and a soliatry penguin. It was awesome. The islands are white due to all the bird poop and i think that Peru used to export it! It was a bit stinky.

Next it was off to Icas to see how they produce Pisco at a distillery which was really interesting as they use an ancient method. They store it in these amazing clay pots, they look like giant bullets. We also got to try some of the alcohol afterwards including one that was 42%...eek!!!

Then after that it was straight to Wakachea (not sure of the spelling) for Sand Boarding. We took off in these crazy buggy things and went hooning off into the desert. It was like being on a rollercoaster but without the saftey harness and tracks! The we would slide down massive dunes on boards. Everone got completely covered in sand and even a few sand burns....very extreme! Afterwards we all had a swim in a great pool at the Oasis.

And then it was back on the bus for the drive to Nazca where we arrived early evening and are settling in and awaiting our morning flight over the Nazca Lines.

There is so much more I could say, but that is the basics. We are having an awesome time, seeing amazing stuff and are very tired at the end of the day.

Have loads of photos, so will try and load some on, but this computer is in spanish and a bit strange so will have to see how that goes.....

Next stop is Arequipà and it takes a 9 hour overnight bus to get there....goodness gracious me.